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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.
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. 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. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2025 Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
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 professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
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.
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