It’s now three weeks into the government shutdown, and there is no sign that either side is anywhere near making a deal.
The slow-motion shutdown is beginning to pick up speed. Federal workers haven’t been paid during the shutdown. Efforts to release funds to pay them failed after Democrats — the party of the “little guy” — thought it was a good idea to stiff federal workers in their efforts to show the public that Trump is to blame for the chaos.
In addition to unpaid federal workers, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, will run out of cash in November. That’s 80 million people, many in red states, who will be looking for food.
And wouldn’t Democrats just love that?
Republicans and Democrats had strong incentives to bring on the shutdown in the first place and even stronger incentives to keep it going.
Both sides think they’re “winning.” Neither side wants to be left standing while everyone else in this game of musical chairs finds a seat.
Most importantly, both sides are terrified of their bases, who are adamantly opposed to any kind of compromise that would reopen the government. Of course, the government will have to reopen at some point. Millions of people are dependent on that monthly government check, and eventually, the money to write those checks will be gone.
But both sides of the aisle generally believe that only Donald Trump, taking an active role in negotiations, will be able to force the two sides to accept a deal.
If he does get into negotiations and is successful, he will almost certainly emerge as a “hero,” said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
Democrats are betting on Trump to take their side in the Obamacare subsidy brawl that’s been the primary obstacle to the short-term funding bill that the House passed but where Senate Democrats are balking.
And despite the fact that the Democrats triggered this shutdown, Republicans are nervous because Obamacare subsidies remain popular. They’re especially popular in red states, in fact. Georgians are heavy Obamacare users, as it turns out, which may be why Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has been a MAGA firebrand for most of her time in Congress, has been calling on her party to compromise.
For now the GOP is standing firm, acting on its own powerful incentives, which are to own the libs and to use the shutdown to give White House budget director Russell Vought time to make major layoffs in the federal workforce. Republicans are hoping that voters will shift to blaming Democrats when they start to feel real pain.
The Obamacare subsidies were expanded during the pandemic to include upper-middle-class people who can afford to pay the full price for any insurance policy. Resetting the subsidies to where they were before the pandemic would have to be part of any compromise. There should also be some sort of sunset provision for the subsidies.
Democrats are hoping that the Republicans will begin to suffer at the polls and that Trump will sit down with them to negotiate. That’s not going to happen, says the White House.
“The administration is maintaining that Republicans provided the only stopgap funding bill that will get a vote, viewing the reopening of the government as non-negotiable,” reports Semafor.
“Democrats have this theory that the president is going to roll over his own congressional leadership and save them from themselves,” a senior White House official told Semafor. “That theory is false.”
If it is, federal workers should plan on a gloomy Thanksgiving holiday.
The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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