I hope Dems are serious about threatening a government shutdown.
Hoyer predicted that, because House budget hawks will almost certainly oppose any spending package that can pass both chambers, Republican leaders will need to reach across the aisle for Democratic support to keep the government open — a process that must yield “a consensus,” he said, “not a take-it-or-leave-it” proposition.
With Congressional Dems it can kinda seem like they don’t always get the message, but I hope in this case, they realize they need to be serious about the threat of a government shutdown.
To begin with, the budget cuts proposed by Trump and Republicans are so severe, so draconian, that making deals to overall allow such a heinous budget to pass at the expense of preventing a shutdown is seriously counter-productive, like painting a burning house.
It is also a monumental political opportunity that cannot be allowed to be passed up.
Because under a President Trump, whose persona and base support is premised on how he is this uber-Mensch winner who always wins and lives and eats and breathes wins, a shutdown under his regime would be a total humiliation. It would be a mortal wound to the Trump agenda, not just symbolically, as it will only strain relations between the White House and Capitol further.
This goes to show that Trump should want nothing more than to avoid a shutdown. But not just Trump, but the Republicans in control of Congress, as well.
With the previous shutdown, Republicans held the majority in the House, so whether it was to avert or undo the shutdown, it required Republican votes. So it was all about obstruction.
In this scenario, where the GOP controls everything, mathematically they should need zero Democrat votes to prevent/undo a government shutdown. Meaning as long as Democrats play hard ball, it is entirely on the GOP and their incompetence if the government shuts down.
Possibility of a government shutdown will also put the GOP in the position to having to explain why running huge government deficits was so goddamn immoral under Obama, but suddenly totally OK and not that big of a deal now. If I were in the media, I would be licking my chops at the chance to eviscerate Republicans on this hill.
This is where it may be a tough leap for some Dems: They need to play real hardball, and call for real concessions if the GOP wants to avert a shutdown, not mealy-mouthed compromises. The starting point should be Progressive agenda planks like expanding social security, raising the minimum wage, and undoing the Muslim Ban (i.e. actual concessions from Trump too as he would have to undo Executive Orders).
Not that all these demands necessarily need to be met to avoid the shutdown, but in negotiating, it is important to anchor the expectations. This is what the GOP does everytime the possibility of a shutdown presents itself. Democrats need to do the same, and quit letting Republicans set the baseline at cat food all the damn time. But, put those proposals out there clearly and unequivocally. Let Americans see: when they vote in Republicans, these are the policies they are giving up.
Because, and this may be a news to some Dems: they are the minority party in Congress. As such, one of the few political cards they still have in their hand is the power to resist.
And if Congressional Democrats are paying attention, they would see that power, the resistance is working. Through things like Indivisible and the frequent protests, resisting the Trump agenda has not only been effective in these few short months, but is also political gold.
So this is my simple message to Democrats in Washington: Resist, and the demands should be actual Liberal ones, not Republican-in-disguise BS.