Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   The whole shutdown was over the election Date:   11/12/2025 7:48:10 AM

Democrats asked for four concessions to reopen the govt at the beginning of the shutdown: 1) Extension of ACA subsidies; 2) Reversal of BBB Medicaid reforms (healthcare for illegals); 3) Reversal of DOGE firings; and 4) Refunding of CPB/NPR/PBS.  On October 16th Thune guaranteed a vote on ACA subsidies if they pass the clean CR and reopen the govt, no filibuster by the GOP.  Dems rejected it.

Now here we are 24 days later and Democrats have caved and ended the filibuster in the Senate.  How many of these demands did they get?  Not a one.  Let's see, what happened between October 16 and November 9 when they took the same deal?  Oh yeah, an off-year election where it was extremely helpful to have all those Federal employees sitting on their butts at home and fired up to vote.

And a slew of leftists in the media have admitted that this was the goal.  Keep the govt closed until after the election and then fold like a wet paper tower.  When they began to panic wasn't over the SNAP benefits.  Videos of morbidly obese women crying that they were going to starve on videos in their nice cars or at home with a flat screen TV in the background using their iPhone17 didn't help.  Nope, it was the airline delays from ATC personnel refusing to work if they weren't being paid.

So they were willing to cause all this pain for Fedl employees and others to win an off-year election.  And it worked.  I have often said that the most important thing for the left is acquisition of power and this is prime facie evidence I am correct.