But after 40 days he "promised" to get help and she went back to their abusive relationship...

Yah; good look with a "promise" to hold a vote, let alone actually extend the ACA taxcuts.

end the ACA and I expect that there will be 8 specific Democratic votes for it...in the name of "comity" of course.

And I was a therapist for over 40 years.

with leaving. It's painful, frightening, and often very challenging and down right dangerous. It's not the same at all.

And examine the reasons they keep going back.

They must own their part of the abuse cycle or they will keep being victimized.
It is very dangerous to stay with abusive men.

Yes you understand and supportive the feelings but that is only half the job.
You must help them get to safety for themselves and children.

Just like a political party which keeps allowing itself to be victimized by the other party.

Same dynamic.

It's pretty sad we still have people virtue signaling in an attempt to score political points.

Schumer did not have control.
Most Democrats have hearts and listen to solutions.
Since all office holders represent a constituency, I suspect some constituents are more equal than others.
Thanksgiving is upon us and tables of discussion, no doubt, influenced these voters.
Air traffic controllers brought the end to the last one.
Perhaps getting home to families motivated some votes.

He does not deserve to be leader. This was an EPIC failure of leadership. EPIC. He should resign his leadership position.

The repubs are care less and cowering. While he stood fast with his vote, his leadership skills have waned.
Agreed. Time for new blood at the helm and in New York.

He's no Harry Reid.

Chuck has been nothing but cringe-worthy from the day he took over the Leader position.
And Durbin as Whip? What a joke.

Enough of this obtaining crucial positions by seniority crap.
Senators, put actual leaders in those positions.

They keep nagging us to rally out in the streets and vote and we do, then those senior leaders put a heavy wet suffocating blanket on it all.

aaargh

Answer: no one.

Maybe Nancy fucking Pelosi. That's about the only person I've seen be able to constantly hold a disparate caucus together.

I think the Old Guard has had its day. They are not suited to this new environment.

Schumer’s always taken a much softer approach, cajoling rather than coercion.

We need a Harry Reid iron fist atm. Not a wet noodle

Furthermore, do you think those retiring or someone like Fetterman now (Sinema/Manchin before) care about those threats? Hell, Fetterman probably wishes for it so he could just switch parties.

I mean, ffs don’t even try another way/another person atm?

Seriously?

I mean, we are talking about the ACA here and we all know how that got reduced by the same type of "moderates" that sold us out today.

I'm fine with trying something new, but I'm also rational enough to realize that there was nothing new that can stop a handful of Democratic-caucusing senators from doing what they did.

The only way to stop this is to put an end to it at the ballot box. We had multiple times throughout the past decade to do so and the American electorate failed us -- failed THEMSELVES.

You are making unreasonable demands.

This sort of heavy handed action would be more likely to cause a Senate leader to be sacked by his own members than anything else.

Of course Schumer wouldn’t be so dumb.

So I concur, not even remotely think he could lead DEMs in the Senate. He's happy to use DEM resources, but he is not a member of the party and he is never gonna get anything passed.

For all the talk about how """you have to give someone a reason to vote FOR you, not just reasons to vote against your opponent!""" the ones often claiming that are the ones that promise a lot but deliver very little, if anything -- and then blame others for their inability to actually enact the policies they say they are """fighting""" for.

a certain set of skill sets.

They need to be able to communicate and coordinate and cooperate with a wide range of personalities. They need to do what is best for the citizenry, not their ego. They need to communicate to the public in a way that instills confidence.

And in these times, they need to be fierce and think outside the box.

Behind the scenes the Senators know who the good leaders are. They know who van work with everyone and get things done. I don't know who they would vote for. From my seat in the peanut gallery, it looks like Chris van Hollen has the chops.

The Obama election gave us hope, but it reinvigorated the under rocks racism and white supremacy.
We all knew Hilary was a superior candidate, but we overlooked the reality that America, since before its founding, is more proud of its whiteness and maleness than we could fathom. We thought we were past that.
Progressive policies have been slowly implemented since the Constitution. We were caught unprepared for the republican machine lurking in the red states, angry at losing control of the social dynamic.
We have had faith in government and expected leadership to follow the rule of law, our template to manage discord.
Our leadership has been slow to grasp the complexity of an opposition bent on destroying the fabric of our nation. We have sewn the rips but that fabric is more threadbare than we noticed.
I would say you have pointed to a shortcoming in our party leadership. The old guard has not been up to the fight against a lawless foe.
Our party has not done well in using the airwaves and social media in exposing the flaws to a corrupt administration.
While late to the show, the recent protests and elections have shown that the losses to our gains have consequences. Maybe this momentum will carry, but most of what happened took place in blue areas.
Granted, across the nation democrats spoke well, but I think we are in the middle of an assessment to define our future.
Much of that will rely on us getting to a place of unity over our special interests.
Our opponents have a narrow strategy. Reduce taxes and hinder the others. They propagandize to a phallanx that loves the order.
I see some issues on the horizon that will test us further. We must rise to the task.

Those 8 didn't independently decide this on their own. The party leadership orchestrated this.

Not to put words in your mouth, but I’ve thought of his critiques many times today. Unbelievable what the party establishment expects me to swallow.

So that pressure point was about to be eliminated.

Air travel was always going to be what forced the GOP to the negotiating table and Dems folded after 48 hours of a 10% slowdown.

It’s infuriating.

I’m one of the millions who will drop out of the ACA marketplace because I can’t afford it, which will end its existence.

What a futile waste of energy. In fact, it’s really soured me on the Dems.

Corporate lobbying to end the shutdown and keep all flights was probably going on. Even CEOs’ private planes need air traffic controllers. Add the pressure of one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, and you get a deal to reopen the government.

We should all realize that the ACA will soon be history. Without subsidies, millions will not be able to afford it.

I think the time is right for Democrats to push for a transition to a single payer system. I say transition because those with employer-sponsored health insurance should be given the opportunity to keep it, especially since a new system would most likely have difficulty enrolling everyone at once. According to KFF (Kaiser Family Research), only 49% of companies offer health insurance for their employees. That’s a huge number of people without health insurance.

As we saw with the response to the killing of the United Healthcare CEO, many people are fed up with insurance companies that deny as much medical care as possible to increase their profits.

Have we finally reached the point where single payer is appealing, especially to younger voters?

Dems caved after an epic blowout election and while Traitor was getting booed at the Commanders game.

We were pretty close to being able to really negotiate a win.

Now?

Bupkus. Just more fucking gaslighting. Im so over it.

when 20M of them lose their ACA. They want ZERO Government health care except THEIRS.

to vote and rid many places of R control — but appears the message is “we tried but people need to get to their Thanksgiving holiday places”.

My bigger question is - on Jan 30 when the same thing happens again - why bother shutting the government down? There’s no election momentum. The Ds cant go back to the subsidy well again since by Jan 30 the ACA will be dead. So nothing gained and another win for the Rs.

My biggest question though is - why do Dems give Rs anything? Why do they reward their narrative. And why do a handful of useless idiots have the power to go against the big Dem majority?

And the last question I have I am taking from Hamilton…and Lin Manuel

Maybe the whole spectacle was just a way to motivate turnout for Democrats.

what will happen.

And...it's not the first time. Anyone remember Al Franken?

Health care prices are set for next year.

Could insurance companies keep the money and then return it when everyone gets next years tax return check?
NOTE: That is after the midterms.

So we go into the midterms with high payments anyway. Then they take credit for the return after the midterm elections.

I'm not so sure we were not screwed either way.

You're coaching up a team, that sometimes runs the wrong way.

We're tired of losing

Each critical play,

So we can lose another day

we are in for a reckoning in this country. We have been trying to change things peacefully, that is how we were raised.

But generations coming up now are having everything pulled from under them. That's how revolutionaries are created.

Epstein file, says it all

First, an estimated 50,000 people are going to die annually due to the lack of health insurance brought about by skyrocketing ACA insurance premiums. Personally I don't think that's worth being able to possibly see the Epstein files.

Secondly, even if the Epstein files are released due to Grijalva being sworn in, don't you think that those files aren't redacted and altered to the point of meaninglessness by the Trump cronies? They've had, literally, thousands of people working around the clock sanitizing those files in preparation for any such release. We're not going to see a clean, complete, unaltered copy of those files until Trump is either out of office office or dead.

The ACA was/is a band-aid, because the Republicans gutted the original proposal from Obama. The subsidies help but for the average person ACA is still ridiculously expensive for really crappy insurance.

We have done NOTHING to cull the power of the heath care providers, Big Pharma and the insurance industries. These vultures are poised to take everything you squirreled away in your lifetime. Instead we have granted them almost total power over us.

The only way out is a strong single payer healthcare system. But until we get that, the ACA was a much needed bandaid that saved lives. You don't go ripping away the bandaid while the wound is still bleeding, especially not for a worthless promise and a handful of supposedly magic beans.

see the Epstein files and just b/c MJ said he would swear her in doesn't mean they will be released.

Of brining a crayon to a gun fight. This is ridiculous and most Dems I believe feel like Chuck just took the air out of the proverbial sails. We just had a statement on election night and now we bend the knee?

Unreal

They had a perfect hand. Voters fully had their backs and showed it. Trump was pressuring his own party to end the filibuster. We were in a completely winning position. And they folded like a cheap, cheap accordion.

Weakest, weakest sauce ever!

The most effective strategy corporate Dems ever devised was convincing their comfortable supporters that they are powerless to change the party.

Enough voters won't forgive this betrayal.

These traitorous senators better have gotten rich from surrendering because they just ended their political careers and will have to live their lives in shame ‼️

We should all donate to every one who primaries these traitors ‼️

So that they understand that the next time, they should expect 2 months of government shutdown and the additional erosion of theur public support that goes along with a long shutdown.

The Republicans didn't and don't care about public support, they're too busy planning and preparing to make this past election the last election. You don't need public support when you've rigged the election process six ways from Sunday.

He's not going anywhere soon,he has FIVE years left on this term.

A psychopathic autocrat who absolutely does not care about those who were and will be suffering. The Supreme Court was not guaranteed to order the restoration of SNAP benefits.

All they had were awful choices. Ending the shutdown now to prevent adults, seniors, and children from starving now, forced into bankruptcy, possibly losing their homes, and the trauma that economic upheaval causes to families and marriages. Or skyrocketing insurance premiums with many losing health insurance, some with pre-existing conditions, medical bankruptcies, some with losing their homes. They voted to end the one that involved starvation. They did gain attention on the skyrocketing health insurance premiums, as well as the Big Ugly Bill and its consequences. Plus Trump has been exposed as someone who will use hunger to compel people to bend the knee.

But I feel for the Senators. This kind of moral dilemma is devastating to have to consider, with no least-bad options.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20789989

Look, the lack of food stamps and paychecks is no fun, I know, I've been there in my life. But as I said originally communities were seriously stepping up to help, stocking food banks, free meals, it was bringing people together in the face of an evil opposition. In part because this was all very public, very much out in the open. But sky high premiums, and the lack of insurance due to that, that's not public, that's not something people are going to rally around, that communities can unite against. So people are going to slip through the cracks and die, fifty thousand every year for the foreseeable future. That is the worst choice. People and communities will rally to feed people, they're not going to rally to pay your sky high premiums, especially when they have their own to deal with.

But the public is fickle and their fury could have flipped on a dime and been aimed at Dems, if…
• two passenger planes collide killing people
• Thanksgiving travelers can't get to their families and get stuck in airports
• people die for lack of needed meds, heating fuel, or starvation due to the shutdown.

My niece is an air traffic controller based out of northern Colorado. She and her husband have a two and four year old. The system is so short-handed that everyone is having to do a lot of overtime, without pay. She had to take a day off work week before last to see if she could get a loan to tide them over and to get financial advice on what bills could wait. That job eats up so much time that she couldn't get a part-time job to help make ends meet.

I wanted to send her a gift card but I'm buying groceries for a disabled friend on SSI and SNAP.

Let the republicans (billionaires) win. Hastings wanted Biden removed because he was under Lena Khan scrutiny.

They play us for fools over and over.
We fall for it every time.

SNAP benefits? Isn't that a good thing?

bad.

But the optics of this deal are absolutely hideous. And the momentum and esprit de corp that had developed after Tuesday has just been wiped away.

So on balance this was a bad deal. Schumer needs to be replaced.

Won't remember them, if indeed they even are reading of them. Americans are not big on learning details and nuance, and not really even on compromise. They (we) recognize winning and losing, power and weakness, determination and capitulation. Black and White, "W" and "L," whether such dichotomies are factual or fair.

What voters WILL remember is what is to come: Trump et al. boasting about bringing the Democrats to heel, defeating the "Democrat insistence on giving illegal immigrants free healthcare with your tax dollars."

And who amongst our Party will attempt to say nay, to "explain," when nobody is listening then? When ONCE AGAIN we hear "they're all the same"?

There will be no Republican keeping of any promise, agreement, or deal. Only the most naive could possibly believe otherwise.

Charlie Schumer Brown will, however, be invited to kick the football.

Maybe on the new Rose Patio.

...and track those retiring Vichy Dems to see what cushy corporate board jobs they turn up at in their retirement years.

They did not just make the sacrifice of federal workers and their families pointless, they did not just piss all over the community responses to help feed the needy and the families of federal workers, they jumped on board the 'cut DEM momentum and possibly even voter engagement' GOP effort. They jumped in to save the GOP on so many levels I have not had enough coffee to count them all.

…milked the political value from the shutdown as far as they could. That cow was close to dry, and giving a “victory” to the GOP was by this point something the bad guys would be unable to exploit beyond their base. What the Democrats wouldn’t want was real pain falling on the citizens— which was the next outcome, if the shutdown had continued.

Sounds callous, I know, but that’s how these things work. They’ll take the heat for it from their own base, confident that no Democrat is going to vote for Trump. Might get some newer, younger Democratic candidates in play in states, however, which is fine by me.

And an estimated 50,000 dead annually due to lack of health insurance. Sorry, but that doesn't make sense.

...the growing swell of political power from the grassroots in the form of massive No Kings protests, and the election returns being a massive, massive win, and were afraid of anything changing, most especially their own positions and gravy train, so they moved to kill enthusiasm, and preserve the status quo. At the end of the day, Democratic Party leadership by and large are comfortable with the current state of the country.

1. TRY to FORCE Republicans to extend the ACA subsidies. This was always doubtful, given that their long-term goal embodied in Project 2025 is to destroy the "Welfare State." The shutdown serves that goal, which is why Trump was gleeful about it.

2. PIN the PAIN on Republicans, with an eye towards the midterm elections. The loss of ACA subsidies will cause a lot of pain, and even death, when people pay a lot more for health insurance or go without healthcare entirely. If Democrats had rubber-stamped the CR at the end of September, public perception on who to blame for the pain would be much different. The Democratic Party made a very visible PRINCIPLED STAND to save ACA subsidies during the longest government shutdown in US history.

When it became apparent that #1 above could not succeed, another PRINCIPLE persuaded eight senators to change their votes: as much as possible, stop the suffering. Millions of people, including children, are going hungry. Federal workers are losing their jobs, or working without pay. Flights are being canceled as Thanksgiving approaches.

For those of us (such as myself) not much impacted by the shutdown, it's easy to demand Democrats remain firm on the ACA subsidies -- despite almost zero chance of three things happening: Republicans pass it in the Senate; Republicans in the House pass it; and Trump signs it.

While the suffering and destruction of our government continues even worse with the shutdown, advancing the Project 2025 agenda.

It may have taken more political courage for eight Democratic senators to break ranks, than to maintain a principled stand almost certainly doomed to failure.

The question is whether Democrats will succeed in #2 above. Family budgets will be squeezed by skyrocketing health insurance costs, and some without will die.

So much depends on the 2026 midterms. Political calculations are no sure thing. I have no crystal ball, but I think it should not be too difficult to pin the pain on Republicans. Aside from health insurance costs, inflation is getting worse. Stagflation is here, and AI speculation (which could crash) is just about the only thing propping up the stock market. Increasing numbers of voters don't like ICE and military in our cities, or Trump alienating our closest allies. Millions are taking to the streets in protest.

Things will get worse over the next 12 months, and voters tend to blame the president and party in power. My greatest fear is martial law rendering our elections as meaningless as in Putin's Russia.

No matter how long we left the Gov shutdown the ACA extension was never going to get a vote and approval. The only thing it was doing at this point was causing people to suffer. It was never going to lead to people’s insurance being cheaper. So while the Gov was shutdown republicans could point at the Democrats and say that we were the reason that there was no vote. Now, the repubs will have to make their own move and they alone will be the ones that will reap the rewards of what they do. They will not vote for the extension and people’s healthcare will skyrocket and that is the same as what would have happened if the shutdown continued.

It amazes me how people on this site are ince again blaming Democrats for something the republicans are doing.

So they get public credit for being strong and Democrats get public blame for standing for nothing. That is the problem.

This maneuver doesn’t help in 2026. It cements a reputation of Democrats as wimps who won’t “fight for people like me” as the polling question goes. That is the problem.

If some Senate Dems wanted to negotiate something short of the full demand and spin it as a win, they completely could have, but they should have done so transparently.

You have to build your case with effective messaging so you can build momentum for your evolving position. You don’t do it behind closed doors in the dark of night and then have federal employees wonder why you put them through this. Six weeks without pay and for what???? People on SNAP concerned they will not have enough to eat and for what???? It just looks like Dems were playing games with people’s lives and just caved in because they got tired or bored.

That is the problem: poor strategy, poor messaging, poor reception of the unexplained change. Stealing defeat from the jaws of Tuesday’s victory.

This is the danger, in my opinion.

and the so called party leadership.

This better be four-dimensional chess with some tangible wins ahead.
We don’t need highly-paid help just to lose ground.