Donald Trump says he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats to reopen the government, making clear that he has no plans to negotiate as the government shutdown will soon enter its sixth week.
In an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday, Trump said that Democrats who are demanding an extension in health care subsidies “have lost their way” and predicted that they will eventually capitulate to Republicans who have said they won’t negotiate until they vote to reopen the government.
“I think they have to,” Trump said. “And if they don’t vote, it’s their problem.”
Trump’s comments signal that the shutdown could continue to drag on for some time as federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are set to miss additional paychecks and as there is uncertainty over whether 42 million Americans who received federal food aid will be able to access the assistance. Senate Democrats have now voted 13 times against reopening the government, insisting that they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first on an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
But why though? Republicans haven’t offered literally anything. Giving up now nukes the ACA and allows this lawless admin to continue with the blessing of the DNC. Voters consistently blame Republicans for the shutdown. The Rs could just get rid of the filibuster anyway if they really wanted to. Conceding at this point accomplishes Republican goals and harms the Democratic party in every conceivable way.
I’m not saying they won’t do it. I’m just rejecting your framing that they “have to.” It’s not “say uncle and I’ll stop torturing you,” it’s “say uncle and I will continue torturing you and your family anyway”
Because Republicans have no interest in giving anything anyway. There is damage being done to people regardless, and keeping the government shut down will add to that damage. The Democrats are willing to have some of that happen temporarily, but the Republicans wouldn’t care if it went indefinitely. The Democrats seem to care about helping people so hurting people now is going against that desire, but it’s something they’re willing to do for a “greater good.” Republicans are counting on this “weakness” so they’re just going to keep saying “fuck you” until it goes too long and too many people get hurt for the Democrats to want to continue. I think the Republicans are avoiding the “nuclear option” for fear of a future use against them. It’s been their favorite tool to stop Democrats from accomplishing anything.
I see this more like “say uncle and we’ll partially stop torturing you and your family” (SNAP, government employee pay) “but we’re still kicking your genitals regardless” (healthcare) I say the Democrats will “have to” because the Republicans are perfectly fine with hurting as many people as the need to so they can keep feeding the ultra wealthy. I don’t really think public perception matters anymore, Trump never drops below a specific % of support from his cult, I don’t think Republicans have much to worry about.
At this point cooperation won’t save SNAP benefits. They’re going byebye no matter what. Everything the government does that helps people in any way is going away. Only the parts of the government explicitly designed to hurt people will remain.
The question at this point is if the Democratic party wants to cosign that vision of the future or not.
Well stated