America Unspun

I understand the Democrat Party is a political party.  I also understand they seem to be in complete disarray after their losses in the House, the Senate, and the White House.  I am not a Democrat, but I firmly believe that America needs a strong, thoughtful, reasonable dissenting voice in the halls of government.  Sadly, we do not have that at the moment.  Since the Presidential election, I have watched the Democrats wander aimlessly without cohesion and melt down consistently.  The discord among them about the budget and how the Senate Democrats will vote is causing vicious infighting. 

On Tuesday, March 11, 2025 the Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against a Republican sponsored bill to fund the federal government until September.  Of course, this is not a budget; it is yet another continuing resolution.  The House Democrats staunchly and almost unanimously voted against the bill, with the only House Democrat to vote for it being Jared Golden of Maine.

The House Democrats expected their Senate colleagues to join them at the barricades and to toe the line.  The House Democrats decided that rather than acquiesce to a continuing resolution and dodge the blame for a shutdown, they would accept the fallout of a shutdown in an attempt to push back on a continuing resolution they disagreed with. They had reason for optimism, because in order for this continuing resolution to pass seven (7) Senate Democrats had to agree to vote for it.  The Democrats all agreed that this seven Democrat Senators voting for cloture was impossibility.  They were right, but not the way anyone thought.  One independent Senator and nine Democrat Senators including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted to allow the bill to reach the floor.  While many Democrats hoped that forcing the government to shut down would have created an opportunity to force the Republicans to negotiate, Mr. Schumer disagreed.  He feared that allowing a shutdown would have offered the Republicans the opportunity to “allow DOGE to shift into overdrive”.  The repercussions were immediate.  Democrats from both the House and the Senate have condemned Mr. Schumer for wasting an opportunity for political leverage for the first time since the Presidential Election.  Once the bill moved forward, the Senate voted and the measure passed with a simple majority.  It is worth noting here that Mr. Schumer voted against it.

Several Democrats have spoken out against Mr. Schumer for his vote and for his decision to keep the government afloat.  Even his longtime friend and ally Ms. Nancy Pelosi turned on him saying “Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.”   The Progressive wing of the party is furious and has mobilized against Mr. Schumer and against the passage of the continuing resolution.  No less a personage than New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came out swinging on March 13^th in an attempt to change the course of the vote.  She said that  Mr. Schumer’s move to allow the resolution to move to a vote created a “deep sense of outrage and betrayal” among Democrats. 

The outrage among Democrats over Mr. Schumer’s decision to vote to move the bill forward have caused Democrats to ask Ms. Ocasio-Cortez to run against him for his Senate seat.  Thus far she has declined to comment, but the Democrats’ anger at Mr. Schumer is unlikely to dissipate soon and I suspect that they will soon demand a change of leadership.  The Democrats are deep in the throes of an identity crisis.  They must let go of their internal divisions and rally if they have any hope of regaining legislative power anytime soon.  America does not need unlimited one-party rule; it needs a strong, thoughtful, reasonable, and united dissenting voice in the halls of government.  If not the Democrats, then who?

Unspun 1966