GIL GUTKNECHT: A Dumb Fight Dumbly Fought By Democrats

Democrats Lost the Shutdown Fight, Exposing Their Real Priorities

After 41 days, enough Senate Democrats blinked. After blocking more than a dozen efforts to pass a clean continuing resolution, eight acknowledged reality and voted to get the gears of government moving again. As a former member of Congress who’s seen my share of political standoffs, here’s my take.

Democrats Were Looking For A Fight

Since the re-election of President Donald Trump, Democrats have wandered aimlessly in the political wilderness. After four years of denying there even was a border crisis and demanding “immigration reform” (amnesty laws) to solve the problem, Trump demonstrated that this was never the case.

In a few short months, the border was secure, and over one million criminal aliens were sent packing. The Democrats got rolled on tax cuts and energy policy. Politically correct policies like biological males in women’s locker rooms were jettisoned. Inflation has been cut from 9% to below 3%. The contrast was stark. Republicans were delivering growth and security. Democrats offered woke lectures and lame excuses. The Democratic Party’s base was deflated, and heading into the off-year elections, the Democrats desperately needed something to anger their base. The shutdown offered just the ticket to manufacture outrage.

The Shutdown Was Never About Obamacare

The “Affordable” Care Act-Obamacare is the Left’s Holy Grail of legislation. Despite more than a decade of evidence that the law has driven up costs dramatically while enriching health insurance companies and undermining the quality of healthcare, they will defend the law as if it were handed down from the Almighty on Mount Horeb.