As I said yesterday, I despise the idiotic reflex of “blaming Democrats for every single thing that happens in America.” The people who screamed, cried and threw up over everything Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did and said are the same people who have blamed Democrats and screamed “where’s Kamala?” this year, as Republicans control every lever of government. All of which to say, when you’re in the business of hating Democrats no matter what, then you have zero credibility when the sh-t hits the fan and a handful of Democrats completely screw us over. Which is where we are now. Seven Democratic senators “defected” to give the Republicans a 60-40 vote to end the government shutdown. They needed to get to 60 to avoid a filibuster, the threat of which was literally the only power Democrats had in the shutdown/continuing resolution negotiations. So what did those Dems get after a 41-day shutdown? Absolutely nothing. Worse than nothing.
The Senate passed legislation on Monday night to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, after a critical splinter group of Democrats joined with Republicans and backed a spending package that omitted the chief concession their party had spent weeks demanding.
The 60-to-40 vote, on Day 41 of the shutdown, signaled a break in the gridlock that has shuttered the government for weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, millions of Americans at risk of losing food assistance and millions more facing air-travel disruptions.
The measure goes next to the House, which is expected to take it up no sooner than Wednesday and where the small Republican margin of control and intense Democratic opposition could make for a close vote. President Trump has indicated that he will sign it.
The breakthrough came after eight senators in the Democratic caucus broke their own party’s blockade of spending legislation Republicans have been trying to pass for weeks to reopen the government, prompting a bitter backlash in their ranks.
They said they had done so after concluding that Republicans were never going to accede to Democrats’ central demand in the shutdown fight — the extension of federal health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year — while millions of Americans continued to suffer amid the federal closure.
“We had no path forward on health care because the Republicans said, ‘We will not talk about health care with the government shut down,’” said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia. “And we had SNAP beneficiaries and those relying on other important services who were losing benefits because of the shutdown.”
It will still take days to reopen the government. Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday urged House members — who have not held a vote in nearly two months as they took an extended recess during the shutdown — to begin the process of returning to Washington “right now.” At the White House, Mr. Trump said that he approved of the plan. “We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,” he said, calling the package “very good.”
While the legislation omits any mention of the tax credits, Democrats said they would accept an offer by Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, to hold a vote on the issue later this year, when the subsidies are set to expire. But that measure, which would require 60 votes to pass, faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Senate and even less chance of advancing in the House, where Mr. Johnson would be unlikely to bring it up amid widespread opposition in his party.
I’m absolutely disgusted with Tim Kaine, who is one of my senators here in Virginia. “We had no path forward on health care because the Republicans said, ‘We will not talk about health care with the government shut down.’” Did he learn how to negotiate in a clown college?? Weak, stupid, short-sighted, utter cowardice. Tens of millions of Americans voted to reinstall Donald Trump and give him a Republican majority in both chambers of Congress. The Democratic position should have been: “We’re going to watch as Americans get exactly what they voted for.” But, but, but the Republicans wouldn’t talk to us about healthcare! Maybe they would have been more open to negotiations if all of the airports were shut down over Thanksgiving. Instead, Kaine and these defectors capitulated with absolutely NOTHING to show for it.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
