Watching our national political dumpster fires — the longest government shutdown in history, the nearly eight-week shuttering of the House of Representatives — one really has to wonder: What the hell was that?

The shutdown occurred because Democratic senators withheld their votes on a resolution that would continue to fund the government. Why? They wanted to reverse Medicaid cuts and extend the tax credits that make health insurance possible for millions of low-income Americans. Republicans, who would rather give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires, insisted they would deal with the health insurance issue separately, at a later date. (Insert eye roll here.) For 43 painful days, Democrats held firm. And then they caved.

Six Democrats and one Independent joined every Rep

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