Senator Jeanne Shaheen just threw the minority leader under the bus.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen revealed that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer knew the entire time about the plan for a few Democrats to capitulate to Republicans on the government shutdown.
Shaheen, one of the seven Democrats (and one independent) who dropped their demand for a guaranteed extension of Obamacare subsidies, spoke to Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade on Monday morning.
Aside from serving as further proof that the Democrats are failing to act as an opposition party in any meaningful way, Shaheen’s comments also reveal one of two possible scenarios. Either Schumer was scheming to end the shutdown behind the scenes, only pretending to be against it while pinning the blame on the eight people who aren’t up for reelection anytime soon, or he has no control over his party. Either way, it proves the need for Democrats to jettison the minority leader.


Apologies, anything you would suggest for better format of talking about it?
Yes, I would use the term “European politics”. If that makes you go “wait that sounds weird”, then don’t make that comparison.
Sorry but this is a huge pet peeve of mine. Too many people assert that what is true mostly fir Western Europe is the case for all nations and that’s silly at best.
Nah, it’s really important to have external framing otherwise you start to accept the present Overton Window as just the way things are. Things like 32 of 33 developed western democracies don’t have the problems the US does with healthcare. Sure, those other countries aren’t the US, but that’s kind of the point, and still relevant to conversations about US healthcare.
But that’s a singular issue. It isn’t as if everyone agrees as to the role of the police or to what degree they may become violent and under which conditions. I would argue that is an issue that is more indicative of what a society’s views on power are than healthcare would be.
Right now the GOP would be extremely progressive in Iran. There’s no “world scale” that really works.
Would the GOP be extremely progressive in Iran?
I would suspect if the GOP was in Iran they would want to dismantle much of the State Welfare Organization which provides universal health insurance, including mental health and addiction treatment.
And even if we focus on Iran’s horrific, regressive LGBT policies, are you so confident that the majority of the GOP disagrees? The current Overton window does not allow Republicans to openly propose making gay marriage or being trans illegal, but it’s safe to say that’s what many of them want. It’s practically written in Project 2025.
And on foreign policy, the GOP would never stand for Iran’s cautious de-escalatory approach. When Israel attacks, the GOP would be braying for bloody revenge.
I don’t claim to be an Iran expert, but I feel like the GOP would be center right.