The debate over a continuing resolution (CR) has had the federal government shut down for more than 40 days, the longest such standoff in history, and until Sunday, it appeared as though the impasse was going to last much longer.
However, a small group of Democrats broke from the party’s line, bucking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to craft bipartisan legislation that will reopen the government without an immediate extension of the hotly debated Obamacare subsidies.
Now, some Democrats are furious over the break in unity, and they are calling for Schumer to be ousted since the shutdown resulted in no win at all for the party he leads.
I really do hate using the word “cave” in this instance, as I would consider what happened to be more of a common-sense move by Democrats, especially for someone like Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who has a large military contingent that has gone without pay as part of his voter base.
In addition to Kaine, Sens. Angus King (I-ME), John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.)., Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) broke party lines to get the deal done.
After the agreement was announced, King stated, "The question was, does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits? Our judgment was that it will not. It would not produce that result. And the evidence for that is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make that happen."
Schumer was not happy with the break in the line, stating, "This healthcare crisis is so severe, so urgent, so devastating for families back home that I cannot, in good faith, support this CR that fails to address the healthcare crisis.” Contrary to what Democrats are saying, this “crisis” was created by Obamacare and Democrats, not Republicans.
The whole purpose of the holdout was to get the GOP to cave on healthcare subsidies, and the deal now in place does not do that, which means the rest of the Democrat Party has to explain to its constituents why the government has been shut down for more than a month with nothing to show for it.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), one of the more outspoken members of the Democrat Party, wants to turn the whole cart over, stating, "If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?" He further stated that Schumer "is no longer effective and should be replaced."
Schumer, for his part, continues to spew his failed narrative, stating, "America is in the midst of a Republican-made healthcare crisis -- a crisis so severe, so urgent, and so devastating for American families that I cannot support a continuing resolution that fails to address it.”
Again, the GOP never supported Obamacare in the first place, so how was this possibly a crisis created by Republicans? Democrats put a system in place that is heavily reliant on subsidies in order to work, which, by its very definition, means it is not a structure that is fundamentally sound.
Khanna was far from the only Democrat to call for Schumer to be replaced in leadership, a scenario that really opens the door for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for his New York Senate seat.
Liberal influencer Nina Turner, a former Ohio state official, stated, “Chuck Schumer is unable to lead the Democratic Party. Step down from leadership.”
Blue Sky, the Democrat social media echo chamber, was blowing up over the controversy. For instance, one user posted, “If democrats want to retain any amount of integrity they need to immediately vote out Chuck Schumer as party minority leader.” And that was one of the nicer remarks. Most of them we cannot even print here.
The most damning aspect of the breakdown on the left is that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who is the number two Democrat in the Senate, was among the defectors. Rule number one in holding out… You'd better have a united front, or you look foolish. Right now, Schumer is taking it on the chin, and I really don’t see a way back for him.
