General Discussion

I think we actually had a shot at getting the subsides extended, particularly as MTG and other maga-friendly folk started speaking up. Plus, the giant break on the tariffs. I don't think it was a hopeless battle from the start.

As it started to become clear the Trumpublicans were being stubborn playground bullies with their line in the sand, egged on by the malignant narcissist-in-chief, I wish we had had more of our communicators shift to hammering on the fact that we are using the only leverage we have to get the subsides extended, but if Trump and his Congress are truly determined not to budge on that, they need to end the shutdown right now by eliminating the filibuster. If the American people have no hope that this administration will do the right thing, then end the pain you are inflicting with your shutdown.. End the filibuster and reopen the government now.

If that message had been clearer, sooner, I think the shutdown would have ended sooner. I just didn't hear this kind of message from enough people:

"They may have their line, but we have ours. We will NOT be accomplices in any budget or process that paves the way for them to make the catastrophic cuts they are hellbent on making. We will NOT be accomplices in policies that kill people in red states and in blue states. They need to accomplish the great harms they plan for the nation all on their own. This is their shutdown. They are in control. And it is theirs to end. If they won't do right by the American people, end the filibuster immediately and let federal workers get back to their jobs.