There is nothing to negotiate. SCOTUS has given Trump the ability to violate any agreement on spending. SCOTUS has removed the requirement that Trump faithfully execute the laws. So no agreement with this white house is worth anything.
The only thing the Democrats can demand is the release of the Epstein files before funding government. They could demand the end of tariffs, but Trump can just tweet them back into existence according to SCOTUS.
SCOTUS has basically reduced congresses role to overall funding only and impeachment. They have no other power. So, if you want to fund a project in your district as its representative, you can negociate, get a bill passed and signed into law for that project funding, then Trump can just delete it at will. Why participate at all in governance as a member of Congress. SCOTUS has made it pointless.
I'm shocked, surprised, and a little hopeful that D leadership actually held the line. However, according to the NYT:
"Three senators who caucus with Democrats have voted for Republicans’ measure: Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Angus King of Maine. Republicans need eight if one of their own, Rand Paul of Kentucky, keeps voting against his party’s spending plan."
Jeffries and Shumer need to be drummed out of office. Kill the consultants! Your analysis is spot on. Not one vote to extend thus madness RESISTANCE 'TIL DEATH.
Sorry, Rick, I love ya but you're off base here. It's the job, the DUTY of Congress members to negotiate in a bipartisan fashion. While the Republicans are clearly not doing that, the Dems have to hold space for that to happen. Also you seem to be suggesting that healthcare is a "culture war" issue, but it absolutely is NOT. It's an issue that affects everyone in this country. I don't appreciate the gratuitous swipe at the battle for abortion rights either.
And now little Mikey has shut the Capitol doors and told his people not to show up so no vote can be taken. Melanie Stansbury (D-Albuquerque) posted a video this morning of herself driving to the Capitol and showing all the locked door. She did find a way in and filmed the locked doors of the House chamber. Same Rep who trolled MTG over a doctored photo in a committee hearing. We need more Dems like her. Jasmine Crockett can't do it all by herself.
I would go further than Rick. I would demand Trump's removal from office as a condition of funding the government. Especially after Trump just turned the military against the American people: he just directed that American cities be training grounds for the military. Must we wait for a live fire exercise?
And what did Schumer and Jeffries get out of their meeting? A disgusting, classless, and derogatory video with Jeffries wearing a Mexican sombrero - probably posted by the honorable Communication Director Steven Cheung
“On election night, when turnout falls short, remember this moment. Democrats should be talking about the economy and corruption, about Epstein and Trump’s criminality, and tying it directly to the pain felt by farmers, manufacturers, businesses, and workers.”
Brilliantly argued and 100% spot on. But Schumer and Jeffries appear already to have walked into the trap described by Rick, with healthcare their only demand to pass the extension and they’ve been told to pound sand on that. These guys are absolutely hopeless. How could they have been in Congress so long and have learned nothing about how power works? My god they are pitiful.
Wow, you have it all wrong. The Democrats are using healthcare as their line in the sand, which is exactly correct. Holding fast to that requirement will cause the Republicans to have to talk about healthcare all the time, which frames the conflict in Democrat terms. The Republicans DO NOT WANT to talk about healthcare, because they have zero solutions, and their budget cuts to healthcare will cause horrific pain for millions of Americans. The Democrats are hanging this anchor around the Republicans' necks.
Heather, you either didn't read Rick's column or you disagree with it. I, however, agree completely with his arguments. In two columns published this morning, entitled "The age of pretend is over" and "Chuck Schumer sold you out," Steve Schmidt makes virtually the same points. I suggest that you read both of them. Schumer and Jeffries are ludicrously unfit for handling this showdown with the Republicans. At best they will conclude some phony deal in an attempt to save face. At worst they will unconditionally surrender. This is tragic, because they finally have the leverage to push back on some of the outrageous things Trump is getting away with, and to do so in a way that would be readily understood and supported by any rational person. To frame this as yet another fight over healthcare when our institutions are collapsing around us is to completely miss the point. Their incompetence is breathtaking.
I don’t understand how Chuck and Hakeem, with so little knowledge of political strategy, can get elected, much less be the leadership. Leader? Some kind of sick joke. Shut it down. And make Trump own it. Start calling it The Trump Shutdown now and loudly. Send that to my inbox instead of pitiful requests for more money. Do it. Because TACO.
And this attitude is why the Democrats will lose. Breaks my heart as a lifelong Dem to see such arrogance (only a re-elected Senator can criticize?)and dismissal (“armchair quarterbacking”). And I opened my email today to 15–count em—15 solicitations for $$.
They have been doing that. You need to pay more attention. And quit the armchair quarterbacking when you haven't been re-elected several times to your Senate seat.
By the time the election comes around in 13 months most voters won’t even be thinking about subsidies. Schumer and Jeffries just aren’t very good at this. The only ad I’ve seen, probably on Twitter was from my democratic congresswoman pointing to a chart that shows how many people will lose ACA coverage or home much their premiums will rise.
On the bright side Gavin Newsom and a handful of Democratic Senators and Congressmen get it, Newsom especially.
"The public knows Republicans control every lever of power in Washington: the White House, both chambers of Congress, and the courts, particularly the Supreme Court."
I'm not so sure about this. Certainly every time I turn around I see people all over social media crapping all over the Democrats for not solving all of the problems in America.
As a lifetime Democrat, I've seen it my whole life. We Democrats _embrace_ lacerating self-criticism; we think it's a ticket to ideological nobility, which some of us seem to want more than to, you know, win elections.
I don't thwack my Democrats like that. I don't think the way to beat nihilism is to become a bigger nihilist. I want Schumer and Jeffries to resign as much as the next guy, but I'm not in an apoplectic rage about it. We have to win each battle at a time as it comes along.
That's an entirely respectable perspective, Heather-Rose, but it seems that every Democratic activist and leader of Democrats like Rick are all lining up to take turns shitting on Chuck and Hakeem in the most disrespectful ways possible.
Look, I agree that both of them shouldn't be as close to AIPAC. But I'm not sold on the idea that shutting down the government wouldn't be worse.
Rick, I worked in leftist non-profits in DC for a couple of decades.... and my mother worked for the DNC back in the Truman administration.
You are 100% correct.
I stopped giving when they fired David Hogg at the DNC.
I think the only demand that will get through to them: demand the Epstein files, a bipartisan issue of concern, and then watch the fur fly when Trump is proven to be a pedophile.
I have believed Katie Johnson's account of Trump raping her repeatedly in collusion with Epstein when she was 13 years old since she first filed her Jane Doe lawsuit before the first Trump administration...... and was threatened into silence.
Rick, blessings of safety to you and yours at this pivotal time in American history, and thank you always for your work.
There is nothing to negotiate. SCOTUS has given Trump the ability to violate any agreement on spending. SCOTUS has removed the requirement that Trump faithfully execute the laws. So no agreement with this white house is worth anything.
The only thing the Democrats can demand is the release of the Epstein files before funding government. They could demand the end of tariffs, but Trump can just tweet them back into existence according to SCOTUS.
SCOTUS has basically reduced congresses role to overall funding only and impeachment. They have no other power. So, if you want to fund a project in your district as its representative, you can negociate, get a bill passed and signed into law for that project funding, then Trump can just delete it at will. Why participate at all in governance as a member of Congress. SCOTUS has made it pointless.
I'm shocked, surprised, and a little hopeful that D leadership actually held the line. However, according to the NYT:
"Three senators who caucus with Democrats have voted for Republicans’ measure: Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Angus King of Maine. Republicans need eight if one of their own, Rand Paul of Kentucky, keeps voting against his party’s spending plan."
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/01/us/government-shutdown-trump-news/846fc7a0-c720-513c-ab4a-1957c7d977e2?smid=url-share
Jeffries and Shumer need to be drummed out of office. Kill the consultants! Your analysis is spot on. Not one vote to extend thus madness RESISTANCE 'TIL DEATH.
I am sick and tired of Democrats capitulating. Fight back, damn it!
Sorry, Rick, I love ya but you're off base here. It's the job, the DUTY of Congress members to negotiate in a bipartisan fashion. While the Republicans are clearly not doing that, the Dems have to hold space for that to happen. Also you seem to be suggesting that healthcare is a "culture war" issue, but it absolutely is NOT. It's an issue that affects everyone in this country. I don't appreciate the gratuitous swipe at the battle for abortion rights either.
And now little Mikey has shut the Capitol doors and told his people not to show up so no vote can be taken. Melanie Stansbury (D-Albuquerque) posted a video this morning of herself driving to the Capitol and showing all the locked door. She did find a way in and filmed the locked doors of the House chamber. Same Rep who trolled MTG over a doctored photo in a committee hearing. We need more Dems like her. Jasmine Crockett can't do it all by herself.
I would go further than Rick. I would demand Trump's removal from office as a condition of funding the government. Especially after Trump just turned the military against the American people: he just directed that American cities be training grounds for the military. Must we wait for a live fire exercise?
But they did what's right! On with the shutdown. Democrats have the momentum. Let's go Dems!
And what did Schumer and Jeffries get out of their meeting? A disgusting, classless, and derogatory video with Jeffries wearing a Mexican sombrero - probably posted by the honorable Communication Director Steven Cheung
Fear not, my Canadian cousin told me recently not to worry, because, "the institutions will hold ..."
Is there anything any of us can do at this point except watch in horror as the Democrats prove incapable of learning from history?
“On election night, when turnout falls short, remember this moment. Democrats should be talking about the economy and corruption, about Epstein and Trump’s criminality, and tying it directly to the pain felt by farmers, manufacturers, businesses, and workers.”
Brilliantly argued and 100% spot on. But Schumer and Jeffries appear already to have walked into the trap described by Rick, with healthcare their only demand to pass the extension and they’ve been told to pound sand on that. These guys are absolutely hopeless. How could they have been in Congress so long and have learned nothing about how power works? My god they are pitiful.
Wow, you have it all wrong. The Democrats are using healthcare as their line in the sand, which is exactly correct. Holding fast to that requirement will cause the Republicans to have to talk about healthcare all the time, which frames the conflict in Democrat terms. The Republicans DO NOT WANT to talk about healthcare, because they have zero solutions, and their budget cuts to healthcare will cause horrific pain for millions of Americans. The Democrats are hanging this anchor around the Republicans' necks.
Heather, you either didn't read Rick's column or you disagree with it. I, however, agree completely with his arguments. In two columns published this morning, entitled "The age of pretend is over" and "Chuck Schumer sold you out," Steve Schmidt makes virtually the same points. I suggest that you read both of them. Schumer and Jeffries are ludicrously unfit for handling this showdown with the Republicans. At best they will conclude some phony deal in an attempt to save face. At worst they will unconditionally surrender. This is tragic, because they finally have the leverage to push back on some of the outrageous things Trump is getting away with, and to do so in a way that would be readily understood and supported by any rational person. To frame this as yet another fight over healthcare when our institutions are collapsing around us is to completely miss the point. Their incompetence is breathtaking.
I don’t understand how Chuck and Hakeem, with so little knowledge of political strategy, can get elected, much less be the leadership. Leader? Some kind of sick joke. Shut it down. And make Trump own it. Start calling it The Trump Shutdown now and loudly. Send that to my inbox instead of pitiful requests for more money. Do it. Because TACO.
And this attitude is why the Democrats will lose. Breaks my heart as a lifelong Dem to see such arrogance (only a re-elected Senator can criticize?)and dismissal (“armchair quarterbacking”). And I opened my email today to 15–count em—15 solicitations for $$.
They have been doing that. You need to pay more attention. And quit the armchair quarterbacking when you haven't been re-elected several times to your Senate seat.
By the time the election comes around in 13 months most voters won’t even be thinking about subsidies. Schumer and Jeffries just aren’t very good at this. The only ad I’ve seen, probably on Twitter was from my democratic congresswoman pointing to a chart that shows how many people will lose ACA coverage or home much their premiums will rise.
On the bright side Gavin Newsom and a handful of Democratic Senators and Congressmen get it, Newsom especially.
"The public knows Republicans control every lever of power in Washington: the White House, both chambers of Congress, and the courts, particularly the Supreme Court."
I'm not so sure about this. Certainly every time I turn around I see people all over social media crapping all over the Democrats for not solving all of the problems in America.
As a lifetime Democrat, I've seen it my whole life. We Democrats _embrace_ lacerating self-criticism; we think it's a ticket to ideological nobility, which some of us seem to want more than to, you know, win elections.
I don't thwack my Democrats like that. I don't think the way to beat nihilism is to become a bigger nihilist. I want Schumer and Jeffries to resign as much as the next guy, but I'm not in an apoplectic rage about it. We have to win each battle at a time as it comes along.
I don't want them to resign. They are doing a terrific job under awful conditions.
That's an entirely respectable perspective, Heather-Rose, but it seems that every Democratic activist and leader of Democrats like Rick are all lining up to take turns shitting on Chuck and Hakeem in the most disrespectful ways possible.
Look, I agree that both of them shouldn't be as close to AIPAC. But I'm not sold on the idea that shutting down the government wouldn't be worse.
Rick, I worked in leftist non-profits in DC for a couple of decades.... and my mother worked for the DNC back in the Truman administration.
You are 100% correct.
I stopped giving when they fired David Hogg at the DNC.
I think the only demand that will get through to them: demand the Epstein files, a bipartisan issue of concern, and then watch the fur fly when Trump is proven to be a pedophile.
I have believed Katie Johnson's account of Trump raping her repeatedly in collusion with Epstein when she was 13 years old since she first filed her Jane Doe lawsuit before the first Trump administration...... and was threatened into silence.
Rick, blessings of safety to you and yours at this pivotal time in American history, and thank you always for your work.
Hogg is a loudmouth idiot.