On the Government Shutdown issue Republican Senate Leader John Thune is right and Democrat Senate Leader Chuck Schumer is wrong and it isn't even a close call! The country desperately needs eight "brave and wise" Democrat Senators to recognize this and vote to stop the filibuster on this CR and bring this bill up for a passage vote! Senator Thune is right because the Continuing Resolution (CR) bill that the House passed and the Senate won't pass is essentially a government funding bill that keeps the federal government open through November 21, keeping funding at current levels. Democrats are acting irrational here this is not the time to go to war November 21 is the time when Republicans seek to pass the government funding bill that will fund the government through September 30, 2026. Senator John Thune is right when he says Democrats are acting like they cannot accept yes as an answer, in this CR bill Republicans are not advancing their agenda to cut the Federal Government so they can maintain lower taxes on the wealthy and corporations this is a "postpone the fight to another day" bill and not only should the Democrats sign on to this CR bill they should see it as a victory because it is an acknowledgement that this Republican agenda already implemented in President Trump's second term and slated to be further implemented in Republican's plan for this fiscal year's government funding bill isn't really good public policy and isn't publicly popular!
The Media needs to stop acting like bad media here and stop just creating controversy for ratings sake by acting like the Democrats have a case here and do what is clearly best for the country and call this out for what it is a needless game of chicken created by the Democrats! Democrats instigated by the radical Democrat base argue that now is the time for a big fight because the sign up period for the Affordable Care Act insurance begins November I and so these twenty-two million Americans that get Federal Government help to pay health insurance premiums need to know whether or not they will be getting the enhanced insurance premium credit they got over the last two years which the Democrats are demanding as a condition for them to pass the CR! This point by the Democrats is a half-truth because the insurance enrollment period yes begins on November 1 but does not end until January 15, 2026 so Americans that need this health insurance and the government tax credit can just postpone selecting a plan until after November 21 when the Fiscal Year 2026 government funding bill should have been passed and they will know how much of a tax credit they will be getting. These Democrats could argue that the amount of the tax credit will affect enrollment in various higher end plans on the exchanges and so if the enhanced premium credit is not going to be extended the health insurance providers for these plans on the exchanges are going to want to charge a higher premiums so if this issue isn't addressed now it will cause higher insurance premiums for higher end plans on the exchanges! This is not a significant factor because Republican leadership both Speaker Johnson and Speaker Thune are both saying that in essence Republicans will agree to extend the enhanced premium credit Republicans want to slightly revise the program putting income eligibility limit on the premium credit and making it so that people on the lower income spectrum are at least pay something toward their premium. One aside note I have heard a couple of Republicans take exception with many enrollees for the plans on the exchanges that don't use their health insurance at all like that is a bad thing that needs to be stopped it is like these Republicans don't understand the great benefit of the insurance pool design of health insurance plans; health insurance claims are extremely expensive just the average cost for a hospital stay is $2900 per day, so it is good and desirable public policy that enrollees generally use their health insurance as little as possible so when they really need it like they go into the hospital their insurance company has the revenue in their plan to pay the claim - the underlying concept of insurance pools is non-users help pay for users and this works for non-users because definitely one day they will be users!
The other major point is that Democrats are acting so stupid here using their precious public capital (specifically public support for the Democrats in a government shut down) when they don't have to when they will definitely definitely need it when the Republicans try to pass their Fiscal Year 2026 Government Funding bill? Democrats need to ask themselves what will this Republican FY2026 Funding bill look like; Republicans will not only be seeking to not raise government funding to meet inflation but they are going to be seeking to dramatically cut funding to satisfy their far right caucuses in their Party like the House Freedom Caucus and the Republican Study Committee about budget deficits and the national debt. These anticipated Republican cuts will definitely do some real damage to work the Federal government should be doing. So then the Democrats are going to want to threaten and implement a government shut down to stop real harm to America. Then Democrats don't want an American publica weary from a long government shutdown that began on October 1. Further, Democrats are not ready to fight over government funding that may involve a shutdown because their policy positions have big holes in it and they haven't chosen the wisest positions! Seeking to repeal the Medicaid changes in the Big Beautiful Bill is a losing position because most Americans support able bodied people being required to work to get Medicaid health insurance; Democrats need to tailor their position to say that we want funding to poor hospitals especially rural ones to be maintained so that these hospitals aren't forced to being shuttered or close vital services! Also, Democrats are leaving out an important and strong cause reversing the Big Beautiful bills cuts to the SNAP (food stamp) program, the BBB requires state governments to pick up an additional twenty-five percent of the Administrative costs of the program and financially penalizes states significantly for eligibility mistakes over six percent; states cannot afford to absorb this expense and so this will lead to a lot of eligible Americans not getting SNAP benefits, that is, the working poor not getting this assistance they need to buy food for themselves and their family. This SNAP issue is a winning issue for Democrats because many Republican state government officials across the nation will support the Democrats on this issue they don't want to lose this benefit for their working poor!
Jasmine Crockett STORMS OUT of her own event after crying “they cheated!”
Zone1 For what it’s worth, I want you all to know I appreciate you being here with me.
