Dems did the right thing
Thanks to Mark Dunn for his letter The Perfect vs. The Good, in which he defends the recent stance taken by senators Shaheen and Hassan on ending the government shutdown. The hateful criticism being aimed at them is unwarranted and destructive. In my opinion, they should be thanked for finding a way to end the terrible hardships inflicted by the shutdown and at the same time extracting a pledge to hold a vote on the ACA premium supports that are desperately needed by millions of people. Holding out and extending the shutdown indefinitely would not have solved anything and would only have inflicted more pain. The Republicans would have remained dug in and continued to blame the pain and suffering on the Democrats, with no guarantee they would ever come around and support the ACA premium subsidies. There is still no guarantee, but there is at least a chance. So thanks to senators Shaheen and Hassan, and the others who joined them, for their skillful negotiating and for ending the devastation of the shutdown.