Democrats Are Losing the Shutdown Battle! And Here's Why...

Required reading for eyecu2, txdot and Gristle.

Julian Epstein nails it! And he's a lifelong Democrat!!


How Democrats threw a government shutdown and no one cared

By Julian Epstein
Published Oct. 26, 2025, 9:16 a.m. ET


The party of big government lost the presidency and both houses of Congress, then demanded a federal shutdown to impose its welfare-state agenda on the nation -- and no one seemed to notice.

Imagine if you threw a party and no one came. Pretty humiliating, right?

Well, imagine if you represented the party of big government, lost the presidency and both houses of Congress, then demanded a federal shutdown to impose your welfare-state agenda on the nation — and no one seemed to care much.

In that scenario, you’ve become your own worst enemy: You’ve inadvertently made your adversaries’ case that there really isn’t a meaningful voter constituency for a big-government leviathan.

The Obamacare premium subsidies which you have made the central issue in your shutdown stand aren’t beloved the way you thought.

You are hoisted with your own petard.

This is what the Democrats have done to themselves.

Democrats are screaming about the impact of THEIR government shutdown.

The AP-NORC poll last week reported that 54% of voters either have no opinion about or outright oppose extending the subsidies, and a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 61% of voters know little to nothing about them.

There is no organic street energy on the issue.

The markets have gone up since the shutdown started.

The average voter seems to be pretty “meh” about the whole Washington drama.

Ironically for Democrats, the shutdown actually exposes how the welfare state Ponzi scheme works — and in fact helps make the case for smaller government.

“Give us a temporary increase in health-care subsidies, including for the very wealthy, to help us get through COVID!” the Democrats cried in 2021.

But now it’s clear that was just a bait-and-switch.

The moment Republicans allowed the COVID “bonuses” to expire in 2025, as the Democrats promised they would, the Democrats called the GOP “authoritarian” for doing exactly what the Democrat-written law originally intended.

And this is how the big-government Ponzi scheme is always played: Find a crisis, fund it massively on the backs of taxpayers in hopes of gaining a new base of voter patrons, then call the other side bad names for not giving your new patrons more free stuff.

When they resist, you have your next campaign issue. Voilà!

This “feed the patronage beast” mentality may keep liberals in office, but it is fundamentally unpatriotic.

The United States is running a $38 trillion debt, 123% the size of our annual GDP, and our entitlement programs are rapidly headed towards insolvency.

Nearly two million Americans are improperly enrolled in both Medicaid and Obamacare, or in government health-care programs in multiple states.

The Paragon Institute estimates that about 6.4 million people are improperly enrolled in Obamacare itself.

Americans making $500,000 a year now get Obamacare support.

Further, the goal of Obamacare, when first passed, was to control soaring health care premiums — but premiums have continued to skyrocket.

The commissars of the welfare state are never held accountable for failure or abuse.

For them, it’s never about subtraction to save taxpayer funds for the truly needy; it’s always about expansion to grow the voter base at others’ expense.

Americans have a healthy spider sense for when they’re being snookered, and polls consistently show voters want smaller government in the face of soaring public debt.

The collective yawn over the shutdown proves just how much steam the political Ponzi game has lost.

“Health care hasn’t been front and center for years,” says pollster Nate Cohn, with fewer than 1% of voters reporting it as their most important issue.

It all means that taming the runaway welfare state seems far less politically risky today than it was in previous eras.

Democrats got their heads handed to them in the last election because the public believes the party has no economic program to speak of and is intolerably too far left of the median voter on just about every major cultural issue.

The GOP continues to hold double-digit leads on these major issues, and voters trust Republicans more on key questions surrounding cost of living, the economy and attaining major life goals (having a good job, ability to retire, creating wealth for children.)

No shutdown can cure this problem for the left.

What the Democratic Party needs is a leader with the guts to say that progressive socialism may have appeal in deep-blue urban enclaves and with the downwardly mobile podcast class, but nationally it is a very unpopular brand.

A leader with charisma and courage enough to challenge the progressive socialist left the way President Bill Clinton did in 1992.

A pro-growth, culturally centrist, modest-government message just might salvage a party that seems otherwise marooned on “woke island” as far as the eye can see.

Julian Epstein is the former chief counsel for the House Judiciary Democrats and the former staff director of the House Oversight Committee

https://nypost.com/2025/10/26/opinio...-no-one-cared/

Lusty, they lost it years ago, they never thought Trump would win again. But he did. Because they controlled the rigging this time around.

Let's not get too cocky, bam. California is being suffocated by one-party rule. And the Big Apple is veering toward catastrophe if it elects a Jew-hating commie on Tuesday.

Democrat misgovernance and maladministration is painful for ALL of us, whether we have to watch it or experience it directly. I don't take a lick of pleasure in it.

Neither does the author, Julian Epstein. As he put it:

"A pro-growth, culturally centrist, modest-government message just might salvage a party that seems otherwise marooned on “woke island” as far as the eye can see."

Good advice, if there were any thinking Democrats left to follow it.

Let's not get too cocky, bam. California is being suffocated by one-party rule. And the Big Apple is veering toward catastrophe if it elects a Jew-hating commie on Tuesday.

Democrat misgovernance and maladministration is painful for ALL of us, whether we have to watch it or experience it directly. I don't take a lick of pleasure in it.

Neither does the author, Julian Epstein. As he put it:

"A pro-growth, culturally centrist, modest-government message just might salvage a party that seems otherwise marooned on “woke island” as far as the eye can see."

Good advice, if there were any thinking Democrats left to follow it. Originally Posted by lustylad

Trump sent the DOJ to Cali and NJ to monitor the elections. We shall see. The 2020 election isn’t over either. The DOJ is investigating that too. As Trumpy said “We caught them all.”

“The Trump administration is sending election monitors from the Justice Department to California and New Jersey, not New York, to ensure transparency and compliance with federal law during contentious elections. This move has sparked criticism from state officials who view it as unnecessary and potentially intimidating to voters.”
PBS

Let them keep the Government closed. Trump will eliminate all their corrupt programs and agencies. Karmas a bitch!

It's not by chance that the Military is all prepped and ready all over America.

Connect the dots.

This thread is about how the Democrats are 100% to blame for the government shutdown and all of the associated pain it is inflicting on the country.

And how silly they look insisting the Schumer shutdown is somehow justified because Obamacare subsidies for people earning up to $500,000 a year are about to expire, even though Dems designed them to be temporary in the first place.

And finally, how most Americans have wised up to Democrat lies, know when they're being snookered, and now favor SMALLER GOVERNMENT in the face of our gargantuan and still-soaring $37 trillion national debt!

This thread is about how the Democrats are 100% to blame for the government shutdown and all of the associated pain it is inflicting on the country.

And how silly they look insisting the Schumer shutdown is somehow justified because Obamacare subsidies for people earning up to $500,000 a year are about to expire, even though Dems designed them to be temporary in the first place.

And finally, how most Americans have wised up to Democrat lies, know when they're being snookered, and now favor SMALLER GOVERNMENT in the face of our gargantuan and still-soaring $37 trillion national debt! Originally Posted by lustylad

I know it’s about the shutdown. But Trump is prepared for what may happen next week if the Lunatic Left doesn’t vote for the clean CR. I’m guessing they won’t. They’ll be responsible for the chaos and that’s exactly what they want. They don’t care about the blame game. They’ve realized they lost that battle. Now it’s just war.

Polls show the shutdown is a loser for Dems, the more so the longer it drags on. The ACA subsidy pretext is a joke. All they're really doing is trying to show they can "stand up to" trump. It's all about optics. Once the election is over on Tuesday, they will employ the "Gristle strategy" - i.e. proclaim victory, then capitulate by voting to reopen the government.

Polls show the shutdown is a loser for Dems, the more so the longer it drags on. The ACA subsidy pretext is a joke. All they're really doing is trying to show they can "stand up to" trump. It's all about optics. Once the election is over on Tuesday, they will employ the "Gristle strategy" - i.e. proclaim victory, then capitulate by voting to reopen the government. Originally Posted by lustylad

Maybe they’ll capitulate after the election, maybe not. Schumer and Jeffries aren’t in control. The people who are in control couldn’t care less about the American people or what they think.

They are leaderless, for sure. At least their shutdown temper tantrum has shown everyone, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they care more about illegal immigrants than they care about American citizens.

They are leaderless, for sure. At least their shutdown temper tantrum has shown everyone, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they care more about illegal immigrants than they care about American citizens. Originally Posted by lustylad

Exactly! It’s their only way to keep power. But it will fail. Miserably. Hence, the military buildup the likes we’ve never seen before.

WOW! Sen. John Fetterman is causing HUGE ISSUES for Chuck Schumer today, telling CNN the Democrats OWN the shutdown and resulting suffering of Americans

"I feel like the Democrats really need to own the shutdown."

"It's deeply deeply distressing to know that 42 million Americans are going to lose their snap benefits. And now that's one of the big reasons why I refuse to shutting our government down."

This isn't allowed in the Democrat Party. They will primary Fetterman in 2028.

Now that's on topic!

Fetterman is 100% correct - Democrats OWN THE SHUTDOWN and need to admit it if they want to regain any credibility with voters.

I'm registered as a Democrat. The 2028 primary is a long way off, but the way things are going I'll probably vote for him.

He’s come a long way from the braindead, incoherent guy at the debate a few years ago. Good for him. Likable guy or not, occasionally making sense or not, any generic republican is still better to hold the seat.

Now that's on topic!

Fetterman is 100% correct - Democrats OWN THE SHUTDOWN and need to admit it if they want to regain any credibility with voters.

I'm registered as a Democrat. The 2028 primary is a long way off, but the way things are going I'll probably vote for him. Originally Posted by lustylad

All my posts were on topic. Americans with a smidgin of sense knew the Democrats own it. It’s not really news. Libtards like Fetterman, Carville, Mahr and Epstein have admitted it. I’m not as confident as you that they’ll sign the CR this Wednesday. Things could get dicey after that. But Trump is ready to quell any mayhem. And the American people will be grateful.