“So far, nothing I have seen suggests that Democrats will lose leverage by signing the short-term deal unless they consider CHIP leverage. If so, that’s just straight crazy. CHIP is a Democratic platform policy (and policies like CHIP are why I am a Democrat.)”
Today, America woke up to anarchy. Okay, that’s not quite true but Americans did kick-off their weekend without a functioning federal government. Everyone has pointed fingers at everyone else, insisting that it is the other side who shoulders all of the blame. Yet a glance through social media websites, like Reddit, suggests that it’ll be Republicans who take the most heat.
These anecdotal observations are backed up by cold, hard polling data, which has found that 51% of Americans will blame either the White House or Republicans in Congress. A slight majority, but a majority none-the-less.
As someone who votes for the Democratic Party more often than not, I have to contend that Democrats deserve part of the blame as well. The complexities of continuing resolutions are, well, complex. However, it appears that the Democratic Party has refused to fund the government because a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) deal could not be reached. Apparently, the GOP leadership offered a bill that would fund the government for a matter of weeks. In exchange, Republicans were ready to sign off on six years for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Democrats so far have stated that they are unwilling to sign-off on the short-term budget deal because it doesn’t have a long-term DACA solution right here and now. Yet the question I have to ask myself, as a Democrat, is why they can’t sign the short-term extension and then negotiate the DACA deal for the February shutdown?
So far, nothing I have seen suggests that Democrats will lose leverage by signing the short-term deal unless they consider CHIP leverage. If so, that’s just straight crazy. CHIP is a Democratic platform policy (and policies like CHIP are why I am a Democrat.)
If I had to guess, the Democratic leadership in the Senate is shutting down the government for headlines. The fact that we are now on the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration makes for even more pointed sound and word bites.
Democrats can’t hold their own policies hostage, not if they want results, not if they actually want to compromise. There have been whispers of other poison pills, such as more tax cuts and less Congressional oversight over the White House, being inserted into the budget deals. So far, I’ve found little concrete information regarding poison pills within the latest funding packages to be proposed and refused.
Maybe those poison pills exist. If so, I want to learn more about them. However, if I had to guess, the Democratic leadership in the Senate is shutting down the government for headlines. The fact that we are now on the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration makes for even more pointed sound and word bites. If these suspicions are true, then the Democratic leadership in the Senate is acting a fool.
We need to move past partisan politics. Yes, Republicans have shut down the government in the past for their own partisan aims. I despised them for that. However, multiple wrongs never add up to a magical right. Meanwhile, if Democrats are willing to deny millions of underprivileged children health insurance, and willing to shut down the government, over DACA they risk losing ever more support on Main Street America. My biggest personal gripe with the Democratic Party is how far they’ve fallen out of touch with the heartland and working-class Americans. The current fiasco simply strikes me as being out of touch.
Democrats in the Senate seem to believe that CHIP is a bargaining chip that they can hold over the GOP’s head. You don’t hold your own policies hostage. Doing so is absurd.
The federal government needs to be funded. Tens of thousands of hardworking American bureaucrats, military veterans, and others will go unpaid and unsupported. Active-duty soldiers will continue to be paid until February 1st, but if a deal is not in place by then, they’ll be protecting America for free. While I am sure most soldiers will gladly continue to serve, their families will go unsupported and be exposed. That’s not right, not for our troops, not for their families.
But Republicans control all three branches of the government, so this is all their fault! This is perhaps the most common claim. There are some truths to this statement. The Republicans hold an absolute majority in the House, and House Republicans did their job by passing a continuing resolution. The White House and President Trump have also made it clear that they were ready to sign off on a four-week deal.
The Senate is the holdup, and Republicans do not hold an absolute majority in the Senate. They need sixty votes. The GOP can only muster 51 votes from its own party. They need Democrat votes. In this sense, the GOP does NOT control the Senate.
While I am sure most soldiers will gladly continue to serve, their families will go unsupported and be exposed. That’s not right, not for our troops, not for their families.
Of course, that means the GOP needs to compromise. To me, six years of CHIP funding in exchange for four weeks of federal government funding is a hell of a deal. Again, if there are poison pills in the continuing legislation, Senate Democrats need to bring those to the public and explain why they don’t support these particular measures.
Democrats trying to hold CHIP hostage is flat out crazy. The GOP was never going to go out of their way to pass CHIP even if many Republicans agree with the gist of the program. Republicans were always going to use CHIP as a bargaining chip because that’s how common sense politics work. It’s a Democratic policy, so of course, Republicans are going to use it to get concessions they want in exchange for votes. They’d be flat-out incompetent if they did otherwise. Yet Democrats in the Senate seem to believe that CHIP is a bargaining chip that they can hold over the GOP’s head. You don’t hold your own policies hostage. Doing so is absurd.
Again, if there are poison pills in the continuing legislation, Senate Democrats need to bring those to the public and explain why they don’t support these particular measures.
For the record, I support extending protections and yes citizenship to Dreamers. Most Dreamers came as young children and many have no connection to their motherland. Some don’t even speak the native language. My own ancestors came to America under similar circumstances but were granted citizenship.
True, Dreamers’ parents broke the law by entering or staying in the country without the proper authorization, but the notion that the sins of the father are not the sins of the son ring true here. (Also for the record, I would favor comprehensive immigration reform that would be more favorable to immigrants illegal and otherwise.)
It’s time for Senate Democrats to step up to the plate. Either outline genuine grievances with the current funding package and specifically poison pills, or sign the deal and keep the government open, and keep American workers, soldiers, and vets taken care of. With the deal in place and three or four weeks of funding, Democrats can shift focus specifically to DACA.
A poll has found that nearly 9 out of 10 Americans support Dreamers staying in the country. The American people will back Democrats up on measures to protect Dreamers. But first, we need Senate Democrats to back the American people up.
Fellow Democrats, sign the Continuing Resolution.
