Retreat and Regroup

I was as surprised as anyone last night when the news came out that the Senate had the votes to end the shutdown. And I’ll admit that I was pretty pissed about it too. I don’t like “rewarding” the Republicans for their reprehensible disregard for non-millionaire-Americans. Again, they counted on the Democrats having a collective conscience about the prolonged suffering thrust upon millions of citizens.

And this came just when Dems had one of the best weeks in recent history:

Eight senators turned our moment of strength into one of weakness. But if you think about it, it was inevitable. Due to their aforementioned lack of empathy, this shutdown could have lasted for months, and they wouldn’t have cared a bit.

They don’t want a functional government in the first place; they’re more than happy to turn all decisions over to a racist cabal of white billionaires. So, instead of having insurance prices spiking, we would have that plus SNAP gone, air traffic controllers on life support, millions of federal workers unpaid, personnel layoffs, and so on. The only real question was how long to extend the misery.

I know I’ve been keen to keep the pressure on, but I have to admit, I’m not suffering any of the consequences. I don’t draw Social Security (yet), I’m not on SNAP, I’m not traveling anywhere, etc. So it’s easy for me to say “keep it going.” It’s no skin off MY ass.

I think it went on long enough to make the point to the American people that the criminal escalation of insurance costs lay firmly in the lap of this Administration and all who support it.

What I worry about now is whether this “promised” vote will ever happen, and if it does, how are the Republicans going to put their thumb on the scales? Adding poison-pill amendments? Raising the threshold for passage? Obtaining guarantees that it will never get put to a vote in the House? (Which is probably a lock.) They have many ways of ensuring that the rate hikes they designed remain in force. Their only concern is how to blame it on the Democrats.

That’s why having the vote is so important; it will put Republicans on record as favoring such insurance prices. And they’ll have to answer for THAT next November, assuming the Democrats can make the case and keep it in the public’s mind. Americans are a forgetful lot, and Fox “News” and the conservative media echo chamber could ensure this whole issue will be long forgotten, shoved to the deep recesses of the collective memory by the next crudely manufactured “crisis.”