the democrats lost control of congress. that means they don't get to pass their legislation; that is democracy. throwing a hissy fit and shutting down government because they lost the election is undemocratic and unsupportable on it's face. it doesn't matter why, and they shouldn't be given an opportunity to explain themselves; attacks on the democratic functioning of the legislative branch can never be justified and are never supportable.

rather than reach out to low income voters, which have historically formed the base of the party, and where my own class solidarity exists with, the democrats are pretending that they aren't responsible for the consequences of their juvenile behaviour, by blaming it on the ruling party. the media is following behind them in lockstep.

this won't work. rather, it's giving the republicans an opportunity to step in and fund the program, and continue to swing low income voters away from the democratic party, making it less and less likely that democrats are going to win elections in the near future. these low income voters may be criticized for voting against their own interests, but that criticism rings hollow when it's the democrats that are cutting funding and the republicans that are stepping in to save the programs.

if the democrats want to pass laws in congress, they have to win an election first. it doesn't matter if they disagree very strongly, or if they have religious opinions, or if they think the laws are "immoral". democracy is paramount, not morality. they lost, and they'll have to eat it.

but losers tend to act like losers and it just makes them bigger losers in the end when they do.