The Hard Way

We need to deal with China.  The war in Ukraine goes on.  We need a decision about how to support them.  Gaza is a mess.  At home, another school shooting; we need movement on gun violence.  Too many children are in poverty.  Having health insurance doesn’t guarantee access.  We need answers now.

Meanwhile, Congress argues about who owns a stadium, when ethanol can be used, and whether or not to give themselves a pay raise.  Never mind the destruction of two hurricanes and a host of smaller but important climate related disasters.  Never mind that the farm bill is six years old because Republicans want to balance the budget by having yet more children go hungry in America.  With all the problems the country faces even the simplest things cannot be worked out in a bipartisan fashion.  And even if they are, if Elon Musk thinks it’s a bad idea, nobody dare vote for it.  

We are headed for yet another government shutdown.  This time around I don’t think I even care if it’s averted.  I am too fed up to give a damn.  Some of the things in the bill are real points of contention: child care, pharmacy benefit managers, aid to family farmers.  But as much as I agree with those goals, now is not the moment.  Pass the continuing resolution.  Show a willingness to move forward despite having to make concessions and let the Republicans be the ones who killed the bill for no good reason whatsoever.  

There are many times to fight; and there are many ways to fight at this time, but the CR is not one of the times, and is not the way to fight.  It is tempting to want things that will be difficult or impossible to get later.  But progressives have an opportunity to make it clear that it is the Republicans who are refusing to move forward, that they are the source of gridlock in Washington.  Better to make some sacrifices now and have a better chance of defeating the Republicans in two years.  If we can show the American people that the Republicans are walking away from a bi-partisan effort simply because a billionaire thinks it a bad idea, we can show the American people they made a mistake in electing the Republicans in the first place.   

Let Johnson contend with his party.  Let them look like the fools they are.  The achilles heel of the MAGA movement is that they cannot govern.  Compounding their problem is that they have made promises that cannot conceivably be kept.  For instance, the price of groceries does not go down.  This is an economic fact.  Deflation is actually the worst thing that can happen to an economy.        

Eventually, enough will be enough with the chaos and people will begin to regret their vote.  Maybe backing down on the CR sounds like the hard way, but sometimes the hard way is the best way, and sometimes it is the only way.