Brave Sir Robin ran away.
Bravely ran away away.
When danger reared it's ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly he chickened out.
Swiftly taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat.
Bravest of the braaaave, Sir Robin!
I've had enough of this "you can't blame democrats for what Republicans are doing." They've set up and maintained a system where they're the only people who can push back on the fascists, and now that the time has come they're refusing to stand up, and keeping anyone else from standing up.
They're not just incompetent, they're complicit. The billionaires and Republicans are our Nazis, and the Democrat leadership are our Vichy France.
Don't worry both sides are not the same though so you can take that to the bank, not the same bank that the democrats are cashing their corporate checks in though because that would be unseemly.
For real, all last year they were telling us that democracy itself is at risk, but now that it's actually collapsing they're proceeding with business as usual?
Well, yes, although that sounds like asking people to safely dispose of their lit cigarette butts when the forest fire is raging. Of course it's going to sound ridiculous now.
The lawmaker said Democrats are worried they would get the blame for a shutdown if they voted to defeat the House bill. The House is out of session for the rest of the week, upping the pressure on Senate Democrats.
Voters haven't punished Republicans for their numerous shut downs. But that said, voters are always more likely to blame Democrats for anything at all.
In the article there are definitely some interesting points. Like how Elon would probably use the shut down to fire even more people. Or Trump would use it to take even more power from Congress.
I still think the Democrats need to stand firm and refuse to vote for it, make Republicans pass it via reconciliation. Shut it down if necessary. But there's definitely a lot of possibly terrible outcomes to a shut down to consider.
The Republicans literally control the entire government. Everything that is happening is their fault and if the Democrats feel like that won't be the case they suck at their fucking job.
I've said this before (fucking search my comment history if you dare), Both parties are two sides of a shit sandwich (yes, the republicans are the side where the actual turn is in). We need a 3rd party to compete, and actually organize to push both of these parties out. Won't be overnight, but we can -- and should, do it.
An important thing you all need to understand about the Filibuster: it's not the final vote. It's basically a vote to stop talking and hold a vote. So all the Democrats can do with a Filibuster is delay (perhaps indefinitely).
But as a wise Canadian philosopher once noted: "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice". What to Democrats gain by delaying this indefinitely? Without some action, the government gets shut down. All they gain is a closed government and a bunch of fingers pointed at them. Republicans know this, and will not give any concessions for Democratic votes.
The best move is to allow the vote, and then vote against the actual bill. They make their objection known, but still allow the government to stay open.
Didn't hurt the Republicans every time they threatened a shutdown when the Democrats were in power. And if the Dems think they can get some concessions from the R's by forcing the country to get hit, then it might be worth it to stop some crazy shit in the long run.
They will get no concessions, because Republicans do not care if the Federal government shuts down. They want to drown it in the bathtub. Republicans are effective weaponizing the government shutdown because they know they don't care, and Democrats do.
However, government shutdown in general are very unpopular. When Republicans go there, their immediate popularity takes a hit. The problem is that American voters have short memories, and are likely to forget before the next election.
I wonder if elon could be blocked from terminating another few thousand jobs if the government is shut down.
That might be a good reason to block the bill. In addition to all of the bullshit that's in it that should be blocked anyways.
Shutdowns really suck if you're employed by the federal government. Nothing makes you feel more powerless than either being told you're not allowed to do your job because your employer can't figure out its shit or you're told you have to work, but you aren't guaranteed your next scheduled paycheck until the shutdown ends, and in 2018-19, it was really unclear when it would end. And if you're furloughed and get back-pay for not working, you're viewed poorly by the public for getting paid not to work, even though it wasn't your fault. I could definitely see Democrats being blamed for all the bad things resulting from a shutdown, even though it's provisions in the GOP bill that are ultimately causing it to happen. Holding federal employees' paychecks and government services to the public hostage is absolutely the shittiest way to conduct political business.
I'm a federal employee. Being furloughed for awhile scares me less than what DOGE is doing. Every coworker I've discussed it with (and it's frequently discussed at my office) feels the same way.