Kyle Cave

Staff Writer

Last week, the Republican Spending Bill was passed through Congress. Democrats were determined to fight back against this bill due to the enormous cuts it would make to many government programs and to the government.

House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, were unified in resisting the bill.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer originally said he wasn’t going to vote for the spending bill, but less than a day later, Schumer said he and Senate Democrats were going to vote for the Republican spending bill.

Ultimately, he and ten other Senate Democrats voted for the bill.

One part of me understands Schumer’s logic is not voting for the bill would result in a government shutdown which would thwart the country into an extremely bad situation where many people could lose their jobs, and the government could be closed for weeks to months. But the main part of me wanted the Senate Democrats and Schumer to fight against this Republican agenda for the better of the country in the longer run.

Democrats are already at a disadvantage with not holding majorities in the House or Senate. There is not much on a political level they can do at a lot of points.

This was the one opportunity, in my opinion, to let the government shut down. They should have let the Republicans figure out a better bill to pass through and held the line until they did so.

Republicans in recent years have let the government shut down for other matters. I understand that a government shutdown would ultimately most likely be blamed on Democrats, but fighting for what’s right is the most important thing in my book.

Schumer has done the people a great disservice in voting for this bill. The Democratic Party at this moment is facing some of its lowest approval ratings in over 20 years. Part of this is because this same CNN poll, showed people wanted the Democrats to fight back much harder against Trump’s agenda rather than work with him.

Schumer is failing to understand that these modern Republicans we are dealing with now are not about rules and or bipartisanship. They want things their way or the highway and their agenda often hurts the American people.

We are no longer in the era of bipartisanship where you will have both Democrats and Republicans agreeing to do things for the American people. We are in an era where extremist right-wingers have control of the government and want to do everything in their power to get their agenda done. That includes breaking the law as well.

A time and era like this requires strong willed leaders willing to do what is necessary to fight foe what they believe in at every step of the way.

When an enemy has the advantage in a fight, you do not see boxers leaving the ring and giving up. Even with every punch that is thrown at you and how hurt you are you keep going until the match is over.

Schumer is not the man for this moment for Democrats. If the Democrats want to win back over the American people in the fight for Democracy and our rights, it must come from the young.

Schumer is a product of a past generation of politicians who fought the way they fought for their time. We are in a different era that requires a fresh new perspective and a willingness to stand up for party ideals and the people.