#Shutdowns (Institutional)

[eraserdude6226]

Let's get this on everyone's page and let them see that we will not put up with this a second time!!!

[fincrif]

How to Handle Loan Repayment If Your Bank Shuts Down?

Introduction

A sudden bank closure can be alarming, especially if you have an ongoing personal loan with that institution. Borrowers often wonder what happens to their repayments, outstanding balances, and whether their loan obligations still hold. In such cases, it’s crucial to understand the steps to take and how to protect yourself legally and financially. This article will guide you on handling loan repayment if your bank shuts down, ensuring you remain compliant while avoiding unnecessary financial stress.

Understanding Bank Closures and Loan Obligations

When a bank shuts down, it does not mean that your personal loan is forgiven. Banks are regulated institutions, and their loan assets are typically transferred to another financial entity. This means that:

Your loan is still legally valid.

A new lender may take over the loan agreement.

You must continue making repayments as per the original terms unless stated otherwise.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or the financial regulatory authority in your country will oversee the process, ensuring that the bank’s assets and liabilities, including outstanding loans, are handed over to another institution.

Step-by-Step Guide to Handling Your Loan Repayment

1. Stay Updated with Official Announcements

Once you learn that your bank is shutting down, follow official communications from the regulatory authority and the bank. The RBI or other financial watchdogs will usually announce the transfer of liabilities, including personal loans, to another bank or financial institution. Stay informed through:

Official bank notices

RBI or central bank announcements

News articles from reputable financial sources

2. Contact the Bank or Assigned Lender

If a new financial institution takes over your loan, it’s important to reach out and confirm the repayment details. Ask the following questions:

Has my loan account been transferred to another bank?

Will my repayment schedule remain the same?

Where should I send my future payments?

3. Check for Changes in Loan Terms

Sometimes, a new lender may adjust certain terms of the personal loan. This could include:

Interest rate adjustments: Some institutions may alter the rates based on their internal policies.

Repayment methods: A new lender might introduce a different repayment system.

Prepayment or foreclosure rules: Ensure there are no unexpected penalties or changes in prepayment options.

4. Update Your Loan Payment Methods

If your payments were previously set up as direct bank transfers, you might need to update the beneficiary details. Ensure that:

Automatic payments are redirected to the new lender.

Post-dated cheques (if any) are updated.

EMI deductions from your salary or savings account are transferred accordingly.

Failure to update these details may result in missed payments, leading to penalties or a negative impact on your credit score.

5. Obtain a Written Confirmation from the New Lender

Once your loan is transferred, request official documentation confirming the transition. This should include:

The outstanding loan amount

The new repayment schedule

Interest rates and additional charges (if any)

The new account number for loan payments

This confirmation ensures that you have legal proof of the transition and can avoid disputes in the future.

6. Monitor Your Credit Report

A sudden change in your loan servicing bank could result in errors in your credit report. To prevent any negative impact on your credit score:

Regularly check your credit report from agencies like CIBIL, Experian, or Equifax.

Ensure that your loan repayment history is updated accurately.

Dispute any incorrect information immediately with the new lender and the credit bureau.

7. Continue Making Timely Payments

Regardless of the bank’s closure, your personal loan remains active. Late or missed payments could result in penalties, increased interest, or a damaged credit score. If you're uncertain about the new repayment details, set aside the monthly EMI amount while you wait for clarity.

8. Seek Legal Assistance If Necessary

In rare cases, disputes may arise regarding loan transfers or repayment terms. If you face issues like:

Unjustified interest rate hikes

Unexplained penalties

Misinformation about the new lender

Consider consulting a financial lawyer or consumer protection body to safeguard your rights.

What If No Lender Takes Over Your Loan?

In some cases, a failed bank's loan portfolio might not be immediately transferred. If you find yourself in this situation:

Do not assume the loan is canceled.

Keep written records of all your past payments.

Await official communication from regulatory authorities.

Contact the central bank or financial ombudsman for guidance.

Conclusion

If your bank shuts down, handling your personal loan repayment efficiently is crucial to maintaining your financial stability. By staying informed, updating payment methods, and monitoring credit reports, you can navigate the transition smoothly. Always communicate with the new lender and seek professional advice if any disputes arise. Taking proactive steps will ensure that your financial obligations remain manageable and your creditworthiness remains intact.

[youthchronical]

Trump Signs Spending Bill to Fund Government, Spokesman Says

President Trump on Saturday signed the government funding bill passed by the Senate on Friday, a White House spokesman said. The bill was passed just hours before a midnight deadline to avoid a lapse in funding, which would have shut down the government. The signing of the bill ended a week of drama of Capitol Hill. On Tuesday, the House passed the legislation, which funds the government through…

[townpostin]

Heavy Rain Forecast Prompts School Closures in Jharkhand on August 3, 2024

State government suspends classes from KG to 12th on August 3, 2024, for student safety Jharkhand authorities have announced a one-day closure of all schools due to anticipated heavy rainfall on August 3, 2024. JAMSHEDPUR – The Jharkhand government has ordered the closure of all schools on August 3, 2024, in response to a heavy rain forecast. The decision affects both government and private…

[ladybugmania]

BE AWARE: HISTORY IS REPEATING ITSELF

Trump & Hitler Compared

Comparison 1: Nationalism and Scapegoating Minorities

Hitler (1930s Germany):

Hitler’s rhetoric emphasized an ethnically pure German identity and national rebirth, exploiting economic despair and cultural anxiety following WWI. He blamed Jews, communists, and other minority groups for Germany’s defeat and economic troubles. The Nuremberg Laws institutionalized racial discrimination, stripping Jews of their rights as citizens.

Trump and the GOP (2015–Present):

Trump has repeatedly used xenophobic and racially charged language, calling Mexican immigrants “rapists” and proposing a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the U.S. His administration instituted the Muslim ban, attempted to eliminate DACA, and enacted family separation at the border. Republican-backed state laws increasingly target immigrants and minority voters, using the guise of security or voter integrity, echoing exclusionary policies of the past.

Comparison 2: Undermining Democratic Institutions

Hitler:

After becoming Chancellor, Hitler manipulated the Reichstag Fire in 1933 to invoke emergency powers. The Enabling Act gave him the authority to legislate without parliamentary consent, effectively dismantling democracy. He repeatedly painted political opponents as traitors or enemies of the state.

Trump and the GOP:

After losing the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede, launched dozens of baseless legal challenges, and incited the January 6 insurrection—an unprecedented attack on the peaceful transfer of power. He and his allies have labeled political opponents as “deep state,” “communists,” or “enemies,” aiming to delegitimize dissent and create a hostile political climate. Many GOP figures continue to downplay or deny the events of January 6, paralleling historical patterns of rewriting or ignoring threats to democracy.

Comparison 3: Control of Media and Disinformation

Hitler:

Joseph Goebbels led the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda, controlling all media, art, and public messaging. The regime spread disinformation, suppressed dissenting voices, and crafted a narrative that glorified the regime while demonizing its enemies.

Trump and the GOP:

Trump labeled mainstream media “the enemy of the people,” a term used by authoritarian regimes to delegitimize journalism. He and GOP-aligned media outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN have been pivotal in spreading conspiracy theories (e.g., QAnon, election fraud), while vilifying fact-based reporting. This creates an alternate reality for supporters and undermines trust in factual information, similar to propaganda methods used by authoritarian regimes.

Comparison 4: Cult of Personality and Loyalty Above Law

Hitler:

The Nazi regime revolved around the Führerprinzip—absolute loyalty to Hitler. Personal loyalty to him was expected above all else, including law, ethics, or reason. Independent institutions were absorbed or dismantled.

Trump:

Trump demands personal loyalty from public officials, often attacking or firing those who disagree with him (e.g., FBI Director James Comey, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, or military leaders). Loyalty to Trump—not the Constitution or democratic norms—has become a defining feature of many in the GOP. Those who criticized his actions, including former allies, are frequently branded as traitors or RINOs (“Republicans In Name Only”).

Comparison 5: Militarization of Patriotism and Law Enforcement

Hitler:

The SA (Sturmabteilung) and later the SS were paramilitary forces used to intimidate opposition, enforce Nazi ideology, and maintain “order.” Hitler used them to blur the line between state power and partisan violence.

Trump and the GOP:

During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, Trump deployed federal agents (often unmarked) to suppress demonstrations, particularly in Portland, Oregon. He encouraged violent responses to protesters, infamously saying, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Some extremist groups like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and others that support Trump have acted as quasi-paramilitary forces—prominent among those who stormed the Capitol.

Conclusion:

While the U.S. remains a functioning democracy, the parallels between Hitler’s authoritarian rise and the tactics employed by Donald Trump and elements of the Republican Party are real and well-documented. They include:

Scapegoating and demonizing minorities

Discrediting democratic institutions

Spreading propaganda and disinformation

Fostering a cult of personality

Encouraging or ignoring political violence

These tactics, if unchecked, threaten the foundations of democratic society—just as they did in 1930s Germany. As history shows, democracies often crumble not from external attack, but from internal erosion.

Be Aware: History will repeat. This has happened in the past and it can happen again.

[filosofablogger]

Thoughts On Everything And Nothing ...

I just seem to have a jumble of thoughts bouncing around in my head today – I think that extra hour is somehow to blame for my lack of focus.  So, bear with me for just a few very short thoughts ‘n snippets … Generally, when a child throws a temper tantrum, only a handful of people at most hear it.  But when that child has his own social media platform and the press follow him around 24/7…

[ghostpalmtechnique]

If not now, when?

Historically, I have been an institutionalist. I opposed government shutdowns, because they hurt both public employees and everyone who relies on government services. I consider the debt ceiling unconstitutional, and failing to honor US financial commitments would be economically disastrous.

However.

You may have noticed that public employees and those dependent on public services are already being severely harmed by Elon Musk's illegal rampage through US institutions, and our ability to make credible commitments to the outside world has also already been severely compromised by the assertion that the executive can unilaterally decline to pay individual recipients that it objects to.

The deadline to fund the government is 14 March. The debt ceiling is likely to be breached again sometime in 2025.

If you have a Democratic representative in the House, I encourage you to call their office and tell them not to support any budget or debt proposal that does not include the funding for an Independent Counsel -- that cannot be fired by Trump or the Attorney General -- to investigate DOGE's illegal activities.

And if you happen to have a GOP Freedom Caucus representative, I encourage you to call them while pretending to be a right-winger and ask them to stick to their (insane) principles, which will force GOP majority to rely on Democratic votes to pass anything.

You can find your representative here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Generally, a couple of dozen phone calls on a specific issue is considered a lot of pressure by congressional staffers. You will make a difference by participating. Please be polite but firm (maybe a little less polite if you are doing the pretend right-winger part).

Please reblog this widely; this is one of the few remaining points of leverage a free citizenry still has before much uglier and more dangerous approaches become unavoidable.

[madeleinejubileesaito]

Dictators, fascists, and oligarchs want us to believe that they are all-powerful and that we would be nothing without them. The reality is: They don’t create anything. We, the people, create EVERYTHING!

I made this poster for the Justseeds graphics library and it’s under a creative commons license and free to download and use! More details + download high-res files on my website: here.

Inspired by this passage from the Daniel Hunter article 10 ways to be prepared and grounded now that Trump has won:

“It will be helpful to have a power analysis in our minds, specifically that’s known as the upside-down triangle. This tool was built to explain how power moves even under dictatorships.  The central tenet is that like an upside-down triangle, power can be unstable. It naturally topples over without anything supporting it. To prevent that, power relies on pillars of support to keep it upright. Casually, the left often focuses on pillars of support that include governments, media, corporations, shareholders and policy makers. Describing the pillars of support, Gene Sharp wrote: ‘By themselves, rulers cannot collect taxes, enforce repressive laws and regulations, keep trains running on time, prepare national budgets, direct traffic, manage ports, print money, repair roads, keep markets supplied with food, make steel, build rockets, train the police and army, issue postage stamps or even milk a cow. People provide these services to the ruler though a variety of organizations and institutions. If people would stop providing these skills, the ruler could not rule.’ Removing one pillar of support can often gain major, life-saving concessions. In response to Trump’s 2019 government shutdown, flight attendants prepared a national strike. Such a strike would ground planes across the country and a key transportation network. Within hours of announcing they were “mobilizing immediately” for a strike, Trump capitulated.”

[autisticadvocacy]

"The decision [to eliminate the Administration for Community Living (ACL)] by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s HHS is only the latest Trump administration action to bring harm to disabled people."

[warningsine]

Bangladeshi student protesters stormed a prison and freed hundreds of inmates Friday as police struggled to quell unrest, with huge rallies in the capital Dhaka despite a police ban on public gatherings.

This week's clashes have killed at least 105 people, according to an AFP count of victims reported by hospitals, and emerged as a momentous challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's autocratic government after 15 years in office.

Student protesters stormed a jail in the central Bangladeshi district of Narsingdi and freed the inmates before setting the facility on fire, a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"I don't know the number of inmates, but it would be in the hundreds," he added.

Dhaka's police force took the drastic step of banning all public gatherings for the day -- a first since protests began -- in an effort to forestall another day of violence.

"We've banned all rallies, processions and public gatherings in Dhaka today," police chief Habibur Rahman told AFP, adding the move was necessary to ensure "public safety".

That did not stop another round of confrontations between police and protesters around the sprawling megacity of 20 million people, despite an internet shutdown aimed at frustrating the organisation of rallies.

"Our protest will continue," Sarwar Tushar, who joined a march in the capital and sustained minor injuries when it was violently dispersed by police, told AFP.

"We want the immediate resignation of Sheikh Hasina. The government is responsible for the killings."

'Shocking and unacceptable'

At least 52 people were killed in the capital on Friday, according to a list drawn up by the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and seen by AFP.

Police fire was the cause of more than half of the deaths reported so far this week, based on descriptions given to AFP by hospital staff.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the attacks on student protesters were "shocking and unacceptable".

"There must be impartial, prompt and exhaustive investigations into these attacks, and those responsible held to account," he said in a statement.

The capital's police force earlier said protesters had on Thursday torched, vandalised and carried out "destructive activities" on numerous police and government offices.

Among them was the Dhaka headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh Television, which remains offline after hundreds of incensed students stormed the premises and set fire to a building.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP that officers had arrested Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, one of the top leaders of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

"He faces hundreds of cases," Hossain said, without giving further details on the reasons for Ahmed's detention.

'Symbol of a system'

Near-daily marches this month have called for an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

Critics say the scheme benefits children of pro-government groups that back Hasina, 76, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Hasina's government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Her administration this week ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely as police stepped up efforts to bring the deteriorating law and order situation under control.

"This is an eruption of the simmering discontent of a youth population built over years due to economic and political disenfranchisement," Ali Riaz, a politics professor at Illinois State University, told AFP.

"The job quotas became the symbol of a system which is rigged and stacked against them by the regime."

'Nation-scale' internet shutdown

Students say they are determined to press on with protests despite Hasina giving a national address earlier this week on the now-offline state broadcaster seeking to calm the unrest.

Nearly half of Bangladesh's 64 districts reported clashes on Thursday, broadcaster Independent Television reported.

The network said more than 700 people had been wounded throughout Thursday including 104 police officers and 30 journalists.

London-based watchdog NetBlocks said Friday that a "nation-scale" internet shutdown remained in effect a day after it was imposed.

"Metrics show connectivity flatlining at 10% of ordinary levels, raising concerns over public safety as little news flows in or out of the country," it wrote on social media platform X.

(AFP)

[ouroborosmoons]

Hamas - Statement by the Government Media Office

5-5-2025

Urgent Warning: Gaza’s Hospitals on the Brink of Collapse Within 48 Hours Due to Israel’s Ban on Fuel Access and Ongoing Siege

We issue the strongest possible warning of an imminent catastrophe threatening the lives of thousands of patients and wounded individuals in the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli occupation continues to prevent international and UN institutions from accessing fuel storage sites designated for hospitals, under the pretext that they are located in so-called “red zones” — a move that constitutes a continuation of the deliberate policy of blockade, starvation, and collective punishment.

According to the Ministry of Health’s announcement on Sunday (May 4, 2025), the available fuel quantities are sufficient for only three days. Today (May 5, 2025), we renew the warning that the remaining fuel is sufficient for just two more days. This means hospitals are only 48 hours away from a complete shutdown — including intensive care units, neonatal incubators, and operating rooms — signaling an unprecedented health and humanitarian disaster.

We strongly condemn this systematic crime committed by the Israeli occupation in preventing fuel from reaching hospitals. This act is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, a clear breach of the Geneva Conventions, and a direct contribution to the ongoing health catastrophe in Gaza.

We hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for this deliberate crime. We also hold the countries complicit in and supportive of the genocide — foremost among them the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France — accountable for their involvement in this collective atrocity.

We call on the international community, as well as humanitarian and medical organizations, to take immediate and urgent action to prevent the collapse of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip and to save lives that are now on the brink of death due to the lack of fuel, electricity, and ongoing starvation.

[wilwheaton]

Needless drama, posturing in place of governing, doing damage to institutions and norms for the sake of it. It’s old hat for Republicans now. It’s been tiresome for the rest of us for a long time.

Government Shutdown Averted By 45-Day Continuing Resolution

[youthchronical]

The Democratic Divide: Would a Shutdown Have Helped or Hurt Trump?

When Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, announced that he would vote with Republicans to clear the way for passage of a stopgap spending bill, he argued that a government shutdown would further empower President Trump and Elon Musk to defund government programs and shrink federal agencies. “Under a shutdown, the Trump administration would have full authority to…

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Olga Lautman at Unmasking Russia:

In just over two weeks, Trump has crippled U.S. national security, delivering massive wins to Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. One radical move after another, he has dismantled America’s defenses against foreign interference, corruption, and election meddling—deliberately exposing the U.S. to attack—while simultaneously waging war on our law enforcement and national security agencies. By unraveling critical national security protections, Trump has signaled to adversaries that the U.S. will no longer actively counter their influence. These moves not only endanger America’s electoral integrity but also open the door for authoritarian regimes to expand their control and further infiltrate key institutions with impunity.

Dismantling America’s Defenses: A Direct Gift to Russia

One of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s first acts was to disband the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, a unit dedicated to countering adversarial interference in U.S. politics. Created after Russia’s attack on the 2016 election, the task force investigated foreign hacking, cyberattacks, election infrastructure breaches, and influence operations—including on social media. Now? Russia, China, and Iran have free rein to attack U.S. elections with barely any FBI oversight. Bondi also gutted enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)—ensuring that foreign political operatives can work in America without disclosure or consequence. This means that lobbyists, political influencers, and even disinformation agents working on behalf of foreign governments can now operate freely within the U.S. without fear of repercussions. The removal of these enforcement mechanisms effectively greenlights covert foreign influence on U.S. lawmakers, policies, and political campaigns.

[...]

If You Think It Stops There—Nope.

Bondi also shifted enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a key tool for targeting bribery and illicit financial networks. By deprioritizing white-collar crime and corruption cases, her office has effectively signaled to foreign entities that violations will no longer be aggressively prosecuted. This move will embolden corrupt officials, business figures, and oligarchs to engage in unchecked financial manipulation, further entrenching foreign influence in critical sectors of the U.S. economy. [...]

USAID Shutdown: Our Adversarie Dream

And all of this while Trump has also shuttered USAID, one of the U.S.’s strongest tools for countering authoritarian influence abroad. USAID has been essential in stabilizing fragile states, promoting democracy, providing life-saving humanitarian aid, and blocking Russian and Chinese expansionism. By shutting it down, Trump has given autocratic regimes free rein to dominate vulnerable nations. Without USAID, U.S. allies will be defenseless against foreign influence. Russia and China will expand unchecked, filling the void with economic coercion and military partnerships. Countries in Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe will lose resources to resist foreign domination, making them easy targets for authoritarian control, corruption, and manipulation. [...]

Trump’s National Security Purge

All this is happening as Trump continues an further assault on America’s intelligence infrastructure and is pushing buyout offers to the FBI, CIA, NSA, and other national security agencies, aiming to purge career officials and replace them with loyalists. These potentially illegal forced exits will cripple intelligence operations at a time of heightened global threats.

Great column by Olga Lautman on how Donald Trump’s two-plus weeks of his 2nd term has been a gift to America’s enemies.

[mariacallous]

As German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck famously said, “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best.” But as Bismarck also recognized, effective politicians define what is possible thorough their actions and strategies.

At this lynchpin moment in the history of the United States — with our democratic institutions and the rule of law under attack by an authoritarian in the White House — some leaders of the Democratic Party, the sole institutional opposition to the fascist assault, are falling down on the job. Their fundamental problem — evident from the catastrophic surrender by nine Senate Democrats to the GOP’s DOGE continuing resolution (CR) bill last week — is a lack of strategy.

Much of the discussion since Trump took office has been about the failure of Democrats in DC to yell loud enough and “break norms” of courtesy and decorum. But a lack of rudeness or ability to snark is not the fundamental problem here.

There are plenty of Democrats good at formulating creative insults and getting wide attention for making them. What has been missing for months in DC, however, is a unified Democratic strategy for publicly defining, and relentlessly opposing, the MAGA GOP’s battery of the nation and its most cherished institutions. And the absence of a strategy is all the more glaring given that the public’s tolerance for Trump’s course of illegal conduct is lessening by the day.

A bad hand

Certainly, Democrats find themselves in a tough spot as a result of last November’s elections, being in the minority in both houses of Congress, as well as losing the White House. But nonetheless, they have played their hand disastrously.

It was clear for months that the March 14 expiration of the continuing resolution that passed in December of last year was going to be the first big opportunity of 2025 — and potentially the last — for Democrats to use the legislative process to push back against the Trump assault. This was because a new CR had to pass to avoid a shutdown, and it would have to do so through a narrowly GOP controlled House and avoid a filibuster in the Senate (where the GOP holds only 53 seats), which requires a vote of 60 senators.

In recent weeks, the stakes for the March CR vote increased as the Trump administration’s illegal attacks on the government, the rule of law and the constitutional authority of the Congress became ever more audacious. These events made it all the more clear that Democrats had no choice but to try to score a win with their bad hand of cards.

Meanwhile, thanks to effective pushback from Democrats and others, Trump’s position was weakening. Most importantly, state and local leaders drew attention to Trump’s often nihilistic attacks on the rule of law and essential government services. And state attorneys general — working hand in glove with networks of legal advocacy groups — implemented litigation plans they had been developing and perfecting, in some cases for years, to challenge Trump’s illegal actions in courts throughout the country.

What has made this litigation effort so effective has been the extraordinary level of coordination, expertise, and strategic thinking that has gone into it. In many cases, illegal actions, like the mass firing of federal probationary workers, have been challenged in multiple venues (sometimes including both courts and administrative bodies) at the same time. This both increases the chances of success and the attention being paid across the country to the recklessness of the Trump administration’s use of their power to tear down American institutions. The result has been to place on the defensive not only Trump, but also the GOP elected leaders who have rendered themselves and their party into mere appendages. As a result, the court proceedings have played a key role in demonstrating that Republicans’ allegiance is to Trump and Musk, not the American people.

As the administration has become more openly antagonistic to the nation it’s charged with governing — as demonstrated, for example, by the mass firings of veterans, threats to Social Security benefits, and a House Republican budget resolution that will require gutting Medicaid — Trumpers are now placing themselves at direct odds with huge numbers of citizens, among them many of the the independent voters that decide elections.

While anger toward the Trumpers’ nihilism was growing, the March 14 deadline approached. The opposition outside DC reasonably assumed that Democratic leaders in the Senate and House had a coordinated plan in place to meet the moment, and to leverage the success opponents of Trumpism had in bringing public attention to the stakes facing the country.

They were wrong.

The seeds of failure

In attempting to explain away their surrender of last Friday, Schumer and some of his fellow Democratic senators have unintentionally confessed to their political malpractice — they viewed the March deadline entirely through the lens of budget battles as they have been fought in DC since the 1990s.

The surrendering Democrats based their game plan on the assumption that Republicans would not be able to pass a continuing resolution in the House without Democratic votes. It made sense if one operated with the assumption that history always repeats itself. The GOP has a minuscule House majority, and a number of purportedly “Freedom Caucus” Republicans have virtually never voted for a CR, especially if doesn’t massively cut the deficit.

Yet there were a number of warnings signs that such a principle was not worth much. The far right’s “commitment” to fiscal austerity long ago became nothing more than a pretense. And just days ago, almost every House Republican, including virtually the entire Freedom Caucus, voted for a profligate budget resolution that calls for increasing the debt limit and massive tax cuts while at the same time promising to impose huge cuts on the neediest and most vulnerable Americans.

As the budget resolution vote made all the more clear, loyalty to Trump — who now fully controls the GOP — is all that matters to elected Republicans. That development alone provided good reason for Democrats to question the assumption that their votes would be required to pass a CR in the House. Furthermore, Democrats in both the House and the Senate must have noticed the conspicuous absence of any effort by GOP leaders to open negotiations with them over the terms of a CR even as the days ticked down toward March 14. In sum, relying on the assumption that the usual rules would apply was foolhardy.

But the surrendering Democrats’ problems went far beyond that. Their key failure was a lack of strategy. There was no indication that Democrats in the two houses of Congress had unified around a goal they hoped to achieve as a result of the CR fight. That is, frankly, both stupefying and unforgivable.

The issue presented was clear: The rapid Trumpist dismantling of government is not only cruel and nihilistic, it’s also illegal and a direct attack on the constitutionally assigned authority of Congress. Trump was, and is, selectively gutting, and even shutting down, parts of the government that he (or Musk) dislikes, in direct defiance of the legislative prerogatives of Congress that established and funded the agencies he’s destroying.

At a minimum, Democrats should have set out to use the CR process — which was their one near-term opportunity to deploy the filibuster — to demand, and insist, on guardrails that would place a stop to Trump’s illegal course of conduct. Those bottom line demands should have been agreed upon and become part of a carefully planned campaign well before the March 14 deadline.

Some members of Congress – together with commentators including, for example, Brian Beutler — had been saying as much for weeks and offering up specific ideas, such as a short-term CR packaged together with mandates for ending the DOGE assault, that had to be satisfied for Democrats to vote for longer future funding periods. These proposals made legislative and political sense, because they offered a path by which Democrats could make clear that they were not seeking to shut down the government, as the GOP (including Trump himself) has done in the past, but rather were trying to prevent the ongoing lawless MAGA rampage. Furthermore, polling demonstrated that the public was likely to (properly) largely blame Trump and his captive party, not the Democrats, for any resulting shutdown.

Had Democrats offered up such a bill and presented a unified front in support of it ahead of March 14, Democratic senators would not simply have been in the position of deciding whether or not to vote in favor of a shutdown. Instead, they would have been able to wrong-foot their GOP colleagues about their support for a DOGE “dismantle government services bill” rather than their alternative “keep essential services intact” proposal.

The popularity of such a Democratic alternative would likely only have grown as the public dissatisfaction grew with Trump’s atrocious “management” of the government and his administration’s increasingly overt threats to, among other things, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and veterans’ benefits. But no such proposal was presented.

Having failed to develop a legislative plan to oppose the Trump coup scheme, Democrats rendered themselves into sitting ducks. They lost this crucial battle before Schumer announced his intention to not block the House Republican CR.

Trump, Musk, and Mike Johnson are atrocious legislative strategists. During his first term, Trump managed to be the first president to engineer a government shutdown. And last December, before Trump had even entered the White House, he and Musk almost bumbled into causing, and being blamed for, a government shutdown for no particular reason.

Yet even these legislative incompetents had little difficulty realizing that, by choosing a path of passivity, Democrats had left themselves open to a devastating defeat.

And MAGA leaders took their opportunity, using the complete political dependence of virtually every Republican legislator in the House on Trump as a lever to extract votes for a GOP-only CR. Johnson sweetened the pot for some of his members by including in the bill a gutting of the budget of Washington DC and an assault on programs for the needy. He also sold it as a mechanism to give Musk and OMB Director Russell Vought a clear runway for the next six month to complete their scheme to dismantle the federal government.

That was all it took to pass the CR on the same party-line vote that had just passed the budget resolution. Then Johnson called the House to a recess and dared Democrats to filibuster the House CR. While Johnson might not be particularly savvy, he calculated that Senate Democrats would ultimately surrender — and he was right.

Having chosen, over the previous weeks and months, not to take elemental political steps to prepare for the eventuality he and his colleagues were presented with last Friday, Schumer’s contention that Democrats were faced with no good options had a curious ring of truth. They left themselves with no good options, then justified their surrender on the ground that there were no good options.

In announcing the Democratic cave, Schumer emphasized the parade of horribles that would ensue if the government shut down. He asserted that a shutdown would have given Trump and his cronies license to do great damage to the government.

Schumer’s argument was both somewhat true, but also absurd. On one hand, it’s all but certain that Trump would have tried to leverage a shutdown to further his nefarious ends. But on the other, as the past two months have made clear, Trump does not need a shutdown to destroy the country. Put otherwise, Schumer and his colleagues voted to give Trump license to do just what Schumer was warning against.

So where do we go from here? One terrible option is for the Democratic Party to descend into an orgy of infighting. While this may be a tempting course of action for some, such division is just what Russia and Trumpers benefit from (as we saw most dramatically during the 2016 campaign) and use every tool at their disposal to foment.

In this dire moment for the nation and its democratic institutions, the most significant cleavage in the Democratic Party is not ideological but strategic. One cohort of the party is willing — despite the emergency presented — to continue forward in a reactive mode, biding their time with the expectation that Trump’s authoritarian project will peter out on its own. But the larger faction of the party understands, or is beginning to understand, that watchful waiting is neither a cogent nor responsible approach. This is not an argument for “breaking norms” as an end in itself. But it is an argument for taking chances based on rational strategies.

The surrender of March 14 should serve as a model of what not to do. While a key opportunity was needlessly lost, Democrats have a responsibility to the nation to avoid indulgent finger-pointing. They need to seize new the opportunities that will inevitably arise as Trump’s project to tear the United States continues, and to do so in a coordinated and strategic way. Reactive meekness must be a thing of the past.

[thoughtportal]

The Seattle General Strike was a five-day general work stoppage by 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington from February 6 to 11, 1919. The goal was to support shipyard workers in several unions who were locked out of their jobs when they tried to strike for higher wages. Most other local unions joined the walk-out, including members of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The national offices of the AFL unions were opposed to the shutdown. Local, state and federal government officials, the press, and much of the public viewed the strike as a radical attempt to subvert American institutions.

The strike's demand for higher wages came within months of the end of World War I, the original justification for the wage controls. From 1915 to 1918, Seattle had seen a big increase in union membership, and some union leaders were inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917. Some commentators blamed the strike on Bolsheviks and other radicals inspired by "un-American" ideologies, making it the first expression of the anti-left sentiment that characterized the Red Scare of 1919 and 1920.[3]