Dear Democrats

An open letter to Senate Democrats. Seven specific ones, really, plus independent Angus King. And to one other, alleged minority leader Chuck Schumer.

To Senators Kaine, Durbin, Shaheen, Hassan, Rosen, Masto, Fetterman, and King, along with "leader" Schumer:

Today you voted to advance a Republican measure to reopen the government. (All of you except Sen. Schumer, but we'll get to you in a minute, Chuck.) You must have had your reasons for doing this. They might even make sense to you in some weird way. But that being the case, I have to ask one rather fundamental question of you all:

What the fuck is wrong with you?!

The Federal government has been shut down now for 40 days—insert Noah's Ark joke here—with Democrats holding firm on one comparatively minor demand, one that is politically beneficial for all parties, for agreement on ending the shutdown: Restore subsidies for the Affordable Care Act that Republicans eliminated in their Big Bloodbath of a Bill earlier this year. That's it, that's the one thing Democrats were demanding, and for a while it appeared that you all would stand together and force the issue.

Then came today.

Today, when the eight of you capitulated to the Republican terrorists who have been "negotiating" in bad faith and governing illegally for nearly ten months and counting. You voted to advance the GOP measure rather than use the leverage you had to actually get what you allegedly wanted and allegedly deemed important for the American people. Why?

Senator Shaheen said she voted for it because "this was the only deal on the table." Oh? So next time when the Republicans put up a measure that jails half of all Americans with Spanish surnames instead of all of them, you'll vote for it because it's the only deal on the table?

Last Tuesday the off-year elections showed us that the American people writ large do not support today's Republicans or their policies. Republicans got their clocks cleaned. We're approaching major holiday travel season, with air travel being disrupted in significant ways that are untenable. GOP officials are refusing to do their jobs in the House, taking literal wrecking balls to the White House, and committing crimes at a pace one can't even keep current with. They are exceedingly vulnerable.

They are behaving like authoritarians, and you had a significant piece of leverage to use against them. Until today, when you eight pissed it away.

For what? Let's look at the so-called "deal" you made with the Republicans. This measure does the following:

• Officially funds the government through January 30, 2026. I say "officially" because the Felon47 regime has demonstrated repeatedly that whey do not respect Congressional appropriations and have simply chosen not to spend money they're legally obligated to spend. So what did you get here? Things will be funded, but only at the whim of the regime.
• Guarantees retroactive pay for furloughed workers and those working without pay during the shutdown. Congratulations, you got a promise to OBEY THE EXISTING LAW. Well done.
• Likewise, SNAP benefits will resume being paid. Likewise, the courts were forcing that to happen anyway because the Republicans were withholding that money illegally.
• Rehires employees that were fired during the shutdown and prohibits new firings through January 30. OK, but what's to keep them from being fired again on January 31? Anything? No? Good job.
• Funds the VA and the USDA through fiscal 2026. Really? You believe that? You think the regime won't just decide not to pay those bills like they've refused so many others thus far? Suckers.
• Requires a Senate vote on ACA subsidies by the middle of December. Great, you got a promise for a symbolic vote. In one chamber of Congress. That won't pass. And even if it did, that the Speaker of the House has already said he won't put it up for a vote in his chamber. Utterly worthless.

That's it. Am I missing anything? No?

To paraphrase the late great Gene Wilder, "You got nothing. Good day and get bent."

If one were cynical, one might think you eight were more concerned with your own travel plans being disturbed than in advocating for your constituents. Yes, disrupted air travel is an inconvenience. Potentially a severe one. An untenable one. You know what else it was? Leverage.

Democrats have, once again, bailed out the Republicans. Rather than force them to face the consequences of their disastrous, painful, massively unpopular policy agenda, the eight of you have rewarded them by removing at least some of those consequences. Every time the Republicans enact some policy or other that will, by design, inflict great pain on the American people, they know Democrats will mitigate the damage. They're arsonists that count on the fire brigade to check some of the blazes while they continue to light other infernos with impunity.

I get that you don't want people to go without their paychecks and you don't want travel disrupted. But you were also supposed to be looking out for people's health care. What you have done is communicate to Republicans that terrorism works. That threats of starvation by illegally withholding SNAP funds is a viable tactic. That all it takes to get you to capitulate to their plan to make health insurance unaffordable for many and less affordable for all is to throw empty assurances at you and promise that this time, for real, you'll be allowed to kick the football.

And you, Chuck Schumer:

You didn't vote for this, so good on you for that, but you're supposed to be the leader here. You hold that title. How is it, then, that these defections were allowed to happen? You couldn't communicate the basic facts of the matter here, that this measure gets your party bupkis? That this is not only bad for the country but bad politics? That giving in tells people that there was a 40+ day government shutdown for what in the end was no reason whatsoever? You couldn't keep your caucus in line to prevent doubling and tripling health insurance premiums because flights were being delayed??!

This should have been a gimme issue for you, Chuck, and you blew it. Are you truly that feckless as party leader? Apparently you are. I implore you to recognize that you have failed and resign as leader. Right now. You clearly suck at this now.

May all eight of you—no, all nine of you, this goes for you too, Chuck—may you all lose in primaries the next time you're up for election. And for those of you that have already declared your retirements, may you reap the karmic consequences of your cowardice and spinelessness in whatever post-Senate ventures you undertake.

Assholes.

The only positive that might—might—come out of this is that once the final bill gets out of the Senate the House will have to vote on it, which means the House will have to be in session, which means Speaker Johnson will have to convene the House and swear in Representative-elect Grijalva, which will force a vote to release the Epstein files and bring that scandal back to the forefront. Johnson might invent some new reason not to, though. He's nothing if not craven, he's proven he'll stop at nothing to protect the pedophile in chief.

We'll see if the House Democrats will use their leverage or if they, too, will capitulate to the GOP terrorists.