Why does Shaheen trust Republican promises?
Senator Jeanne Shaheen has a distinguished record as a pragmatic moderate who manages to steer a principled middle course. My own politics are more progressive than hers, but in the past I’ve been able to understand and respect her positions even when we disagreed. That ended this week when Senator Shaheen joined Republicans in voting to end the government shutdown, gaining little more than a promise of a vote on a compromise package down the road. Such a promise means nothing: members of the current administration, at every level, have repeatedly reneged on “promises” when it suited them, as Senator Shaheen surely knows. I cannot understand why a politician with her experience would give up the only lever Democrats currently have to stave off disastrous changes to Americans’ healthcare and oppose a damaging and unpopular Republican agenda. Her decision to join Republicans in this vote tarnishes the legacy of a long political career serving the people of New Hampshire.