SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Senate Majority Leader John Thune leads a news conference with (L-R) U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on the Upper West Terrace of U.S. Capitol Building on October 1, 2025 in Washington, DC. The government shut down early Wednesday after Congress failed to reach a funding deal.
(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Don't Cave, Democrats—Explain!
My strong advice to Democrats today: Tell the public what’s at stake. Tell Americans why the big ugly bill is horrific and should not be “continued.” And why the rescission cuts shouldn’t be continued, either.
Oct 01, 2025
The government shutdown is here, folks.
The Trump regime, along with Senate Republicans, say they’re only trying to fund the government with a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR) that keeps everything as is.
Rubbish.
The CR bakes in all of the terrible policies that were in the regime’s big beautiful (Ugly!) bill, as well as its rescission cuts of $7.9 billion from international assistance and $1.1 billon from public broadcasting.
To remind you: The big ugly bill is the most anti-environment legislation ever passed. It will have disastrous impacts for clean energy, electricity costs, and the health of our communities and environment.
The big ugly also provides tens of billions each year for additional ICE agents, arrests, and detentions.
And the big ugly gives the richest people in America a giant tax cut, financed largely by cuts in Medicaid and food stamps. It also makes some $500 billion in cuts in Medicare.
That big ugly was passed in the Senate using reconciliation procedures that required only 51 senators. Senate Republicans bragged at the time that they didn’t need any Democratic votes. (JD Vance provided the tie-breaking vote.)
But now Republicans do need Democratic votes to fund or “continue” these big ugly policies and rescissions.
Any Democratic senator who now votes in support of the CR is in effect voting in favor of those indefensible policies.
In arguing against the CR, Democrats are focusing on one aspect of the big ugly bill — the cuts Republicans made in Medicaid and Obamacare. These are truly awful.
But Democrats also need to explain the broader aspects of the CR — how it harms a far wider range of Americans than do the cuts in health care.
My strong advice to Democrats today: Tell the public what’s at stake. Tell Americans why the big ugly bill is horrific and should not be “continued.” And why the rescission cuts shouldn’t be continued, either.
Hang in there. Don’t cave.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2025 Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
The government shutdown is here, folks.
The Trump regime, along with Senate Republicans, say they’re only trying to fund the government with a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR) that keeps everything as is.
Rubbish.
The CR bakes in all of the terrible policies that were in the regime’s big beautiful (Ugly!) bill, as well as its rescission cuts of $7.9 billion from international assistance and $1.1 billon from public broadcasting.
To remind you: The big ugly bill is the most anti-environment legislation ever passed. It will have disastrous impacts for clean energy, electricity costs, and the health of our communities and environment.
The big ugly also provides tens of billions each year for additional ICE agents, arrests, and detentions.
And the big ugly gives the richest people in America a giant tax cut, financed largely by cuts in Medicaid and food stamps. It also makes some $500 billion in cuts in Medicare.
That big ugly was passed in the Senate using reconciliation procedures that required only 51 senators. Senate Republicans bragged at the time that they didn’t need any Democratic votes. (JD Vance provided the tie-breaking vote.)
But now Republicans do need Democratic votes to fund or “continue” these big ugly policies and rescissions.
Any Democratic senator who now votes in support of the CR is in effect voting in favor of those indefensible policies.
In arguing against the CR, Democrats are focusing on one aspect of the big ugly bill — the cuts Republicans made in Medicaid and Obamacare. These are truly awful.
But Democrats also need to explain the broader aspects of the CR — how it harms a far wider range of Americans than do the cuts in health care.
My strong advice to Democrats today: Tell the public what’s at stake. Tell Americans why the big ugly bill is horrific and should not be “continued.” And why the rescission cuts shouldn’t be continued, either.
Hang in there. Don’t cave.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
The government shutdown is here, folks.
The Trump regime, along with Senate Republicans, say they’re only trying to fund the government with a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR) that keeps everything as is.
Rubbish.
The CR bakes in all of the terrible policies that were in the regime’s big beautiful (Ugly!) bill, as well as its rescission cuts of $7.9 billion from international assistance and $1.1 billon from public broadcasting.
To remind you: The big ugly bill is the most anti-environment legislation ever passed. It will have disastrous impacts for clean energy, electricity costs, and the health of our communities and environment.
The big ugly also provides tens of billions each year for additional ICE agents, arrests, and detentions.
And the big ugly gives the richest people in America a giant tax cut, financed largely by cuts in Medicaid and food stamps. It also makes some $500 billion in cuts in Medicare.
That big ugly was passed in the Senate using reconciliation procedures that required only 51 senators. Senate Republicans bragged at the time that they didn’t need any Democratic votes. (JD Vance provided the tie-breaking vote.)
But now Republicans do need Democratic votes to fund or “continue” these big ugly policies and rescissions.
Any Democratic senator who now votes in support of the CR is in effect voting in favor of those indefensible policies.
In arguing against the CR, Democrats are focusing on one aspect of the big ugly bill — the cuts Republicans made in Medicaid and Obamacare. These are truly awful.
But Democrats also need to explain the broader aspects of the CR — how it harms a far wider range of Americans than do the cuts in health care.
My strong advice to Democrats today: Tell the public what’s at stake. Tell Americans why the big ugly bill is horrific and should not be “continued.” And why the rescission cuts shouldn’t be continued, either.
Hang in there. Don’t cave.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.