CASH MICHAELS

LESSONS FROM THE SHUTDOWN

by Cash Michaels

Once again, I’m beginning this column in the midst of the federal shutdown, this time on Oct. 10th, not knowing whether or not it will be over with by the time you read this. I’m pretty sure it won’t be.

That’s important because Oct. 15th is supposed to be payday for our troops and other federal workers. That will be my marker for ending this week’s commentary, whether or not our troops AND other federal workers got paid, and if not, why not. 

But today, Friday, Oct. 10th, seems like the perfect time to begin to offer some perspective on exactly who did what during this shutdown so far, and whether they did it well or did it lousy. Why is knowing any of this important? Because in my opinion, the manner in which this whole episode has been handled and mishandled, teaches us something about where our country is today, and where it will be tomorrow if we don’t pay attention.

So on Day 10 of the federal shutdown, let’s get started with our score card. 

As the shutdown days lead up to Day15, I’ll fill -in the pertinent details in each category to accurately portray how each player behaved, why, and what role they played in either prolonging the shutdown, or bringing it to an end.

To me, the answers to those questions may determine what party takes over Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. That’s how important this shutdown is. Voters won’t forget!

And since context can be everything, then let’s start this by saying that on Day 10, the country is NOT in a good mood, with rising costs of living, Washington, D.C. seemingly out of control, and definitely a growing sense that America is NOT changing for the better. 

THE REPUBLICANS

First of all, what have we learned from the behavior of the Republican Party during this shutdown? Simple - how NOT to act when you’re being out-flanked, outplayed and outmaneuvered. GOP congressional leaders are acting desperate right now, because they are. They think that because their MAGA voters were dumb enough to make them the majority in the U.S. House and Senate, that those voters will follow them anywhere. But Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG), that certified MAGA-nut from Georgia, has proven that at some point, you have to drop the pretense, and stand with the truth - shutting down the federal government just because you want to give big tax breaks to the very rich at the expense of vital health care access for everyone else in this country is a bad idea, simply because there’s no real explanation for it.

And there’s also little explanation for Republican Congressional leadership bending over and taking it from Donald Trump. He only has as much power as Republicans give him. He has clearly shown that he has no respect for them, or respect for the fact that Congress is supposed to be a co-equal branch of government.

Congressional Republicans are in deep, deep trouble over the shutdown in large part because they’ve allowed Donald Trump to put them there, and then walk away leaving them with the big bag of blame. They have gone too far out on the limb for him, and with him on this and many other important issues, with the notorious Jeffrey Epstein files being perhaps the biggest.

The MAGA base knows full well that convicted child sex trafficker Epstein was best buds with their leader and president, Donald Trump, and despite his denials to the contrary, they also know that something is in those files that he doesn’t want the world to see.

And that’s one of the main reasons why Republican House Speaker Mike “MAGA Mouse” Johnson won’t reconvene the House after almost a month of paid vacation (the House hasn’t been in session since Sept. 19th. This Sunday will be October 19th). Because of a looming discharge petition vote to release the Epstein files, which would leave Johnson powerless to stop it, he has to keep the House out of session.

Let’s be clear - Republicans hate Obamacare and have been trying to kill it for 16 years, but can’t do it. They’ve tried convincing folks that it’s a failure, but it’s more popular than ever, and folks aren’t buying that Republicans have something better to replace it with - not after 16 years.

So Democrats have them by the short hairs on this one, and the American people know it!

Republicans have also considered doing away with the 60-vote Senate filibuster, which would allow them to end the shutdown without the Democrats. If they had any guts, that’s a trigger they should pull, except that they what will happen when the Democrats take back the Senate, so they don’t dare touch it now.

This shutdown has exposed a lot of the fundamental weaknesses of the Republican Party, and no matter how much they continue to falsely beat their collective chests in their gambit, they already have “BIG LOSERS” painted all over their faces. On Day 13, “MAGA Mouse” Johnson was trying to continue to sound like a clown in control, but no dice. He warned that this federal shutdown could be the longest in U.S. history.

From where I come from, we call that MAGA Mouse bluff a “woof ticket”  because it’s all bark and no bite. Even MTG openly called Johnson and all other GOP males in the party “weak” for uttering such toothless nonsense. 

On Day 13, Johnson’s master, Trump, was over in Israel and Egypt soaking up applause for the successful ceasefire deal that freed 20 Israelis hostages and stopped, for now, the incessant bombing of Gaza. Talk about being detached.

The message couldn’t have been clearer - when there’s glory to be gotten, there’s only room for one on the big stage. And Republicans by now, know who that is.

The Lesson- disagree with Democrats and lick the president’s boots all you want, but when it comes to the welfare and well-being of the poor suckers who put you into office, always do what’s right, because one day, it will be time to count receipts for what you have, and have not done.

And that day may already be here for the Republican Party if they don’t get off the stick, and work with Democrats to end this shutdown now! 

DONALD TRUMP

The man is nothing but a user and a scammer. So if he sees somebody else with something he wants, and feels that he has to have, like power, he will do whatever is necessary to film-flam them out of it for his own designs. 

That is exactly what he’s done, and continues to do to the Republican Party and its voters.

And then, because he is who he is (as opposed to what he really is), Trump scares these people into doing his bidding, keeping them in line, and having them pay the price for such blind obedience.

If you’re paying even the slightest attention, that’s what happening now during the federal shutdown. The Republican Party is catching all of the hell, but Trump is the one actually throwing most of the partisan bricks. Why? Because he believes no one can touch him as long as he remains president. That’s another reason why he’s amassing so much power and ignoring the courts every chance he gets.

You’ve heard of the rule of law? Well Trump is master of the rule of flaws. He’s going to test established social and political norms until they break, a’la sending federal troops to major American cities under the guise of maintaining law and order. Or having his ICE agents grab innocent people and their children out of their homes in contradiction to their constitutional rights.

All of that brings us back to the federal shutdown, where Trump is labeling anything and everything he considers bad as “Democrat,” and issues threats of firing workers from “Democrat agencies,” or Democrats in Congress being responsible for shutting down the government, or not paying furloughed workers.

As The Atlantic reported last week:

With the government shutdown well into its second week, President Donald Trump’s strategy to break Senate Democrats has become clear: Maximize the pain of the closure to force them into retreat. His administration is firing civil servants en masse, threatening to withhold back pay from furloughed federal employees, and canceling billions of dollars in funding for states that voted for his opponent last year.

Of course, none of this would be complete from Trump without a healthy dose of bald-faced lying, which he believes a majority of Americans are falling for.

Again, another case of Trump joining the Republicans in assuming that the poor suckers who put them in charge of the White House, the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are going to stay dumb suckers, especially when the common sense issues of this shutdown begin to bite them and their families. With health care - an issue Trump and the Republicans have never really mastered - front and center, they are finding out that lying about stuff really has a short shelf-life when it comes to what really counts to most Americans.

By now you know that since I started this week’s commentary, Trump has buckled under mounting pressure, and ordered Secretary of War Pete Hegeseth to use “all available funds” to pay our troops by Oct. 15th, which may not even be legal.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also reversed itself in laying off hundreds of vital CDC staffers, saying now that they got “incorrect notifications.”

All of that leaves Congressional Republicans looking silly, and has weakened their argument for standing strong on the shutdown. They’ve been undermined by their own leader!

Trump sure knows how to pick the perfect chumps!

The Lesson - As the old adage goes, when you lie down with dogs, you wakeup with fleas. So when you do Donald Trump’s bidding, you’ll end up doing something that is supposed to be anatomically impossible.

Screwing yourself! Republicans are learning that everyday of this shutdown. 

THE DEMOCRATS

After the fateful 2024 presidential election. Many of us were of the opinion that the Democrats had severely lost most, if not virtually all of their credibility. What did they stand for? Who did they stand for? Did they even remember how to win an election anymore?

What added insult to injury was that Democrats had once again lost to Donald Trump, meaning that whatever powerlessness they experienced going against him when they were in leadership, would be now be made worse that he was back in power and stronger.

There was just no way to truly beat this guy, especially given that he now owns the White House, House, Senate and the Supreme Court - every avenue of power you could imagine.

Democrats indeed looked like a minority of chumps for a while there, until the federal shutdown happened, and Trump and the Republicans began overplaying their hand. For some unknown reason (stupidity, perhaps) Trump and his Republicans began acting like they were not the ones in charge of the government, and started blaming Democrats for the shutdown. But not only did House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his team saddle-up tough for the ensuing messaging war, but Democrats did their homework, and determined that health care, and specifically the Obamacare tax credit subsidies paid for by the federal government so that people with private insurance could afford the monthly premiums, would and could be a prime area of focus during the shutdown.

Republicans had the power to fix the looming problem of affordability, but wouldn’t because then they would have to screwup Trump’s massive tax cuts for the rich which they provided by gutting hundreds of billions in healthcare for regular people.

Hakeem and the Dems kept their message plain about Trump and his Republicans being willing to crash the government just to screw their voters, and their message was so effective, even Marjorie Taylor Greene had to sing along.

So now the Democrats are in a strong position during the shutdown, maneuvering Trump and his Republicans into unforced errors like firing thousands of federal employees, taking glee in posting that many furloughed workers wouldn’t be paid; refusing to call the House back into session over the Epstein files.

And Senate Democrats, who are key to much of this, are holding firm by not breaking the filibuster. That means Leader Chuck Schumer still has some juice in him. They should remain united.

I don’t know if Dems are going to maintain their strong position in the messaging war (they should), but this much I do know - forcing Republicans to at first say out loud that they weren’t paying the troops (which then forced Trump to break down and order Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” in the Dept. of War to indeed ante up on time), along with allowing air traffic controllers to walk off the job, clearly shows who’s responsible for this mess.

Democrats don’t have the power to fix these catastrophes. Trump and his Republicans do, and the American people know it! Dems, make sure you keep reminding us!

The Lesson - Stay on message, don’t talk down to the American people; always be seen fighting for ALL of us, even the ones who didn’t vote for you; and consistently stand strong against a sorry tyrant who is the president.

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