The Common Ills: The Snapshot

Monday, November 10, 2025. Chuck Schumer leads a betrayal that demonstrates he is not fit to be the party's leader in the Senate, what the betrayal means for the party and the voters, the one possible bright spot of the betrayal, Chump's insanity's on full display as he continues attempting to con the American people, and much more.

It is time for Senator Chuck Schumer to step aside as the Democratic Party's leader in the US Senate. He needs to do so immediately.

Why?

Senate Dems have caved on healthcare. Yesterday, Catie Edmondson and Michael Gold (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

The Senate on Sunday night took the first step toward ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history, after a group of Democrats broke their party’s blockade and voted with Republicans to advance legislation to reopen the government.

The 60-to-40 vote paved the way for the spending agreement to begin making its way through Congress, where it would still need to be debated and passed by the Senate, win approval in the House and be signed by President Trump to bring the shutdown to a close.

Eight senators in the Democratic caucus voted to advance the measure, which would fund most federal agencies through January. That indicated there were enough votes to end weeks of gridlock that has shuttered the government for 40 days, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, millions of Americans at risk of losing food assistance and millions more facing air travel disruptions.

But the deal prompted a quick and fierce backlash among Democrats, many of whom were livid that their colleagues had backed down from the party’s central demand in the shutdown fight: the extension of health insurance subsidies that are slated to expire at the end of the year, sending premiums soaring for millions of Americans.

It should prompt a huge backlash. Saturday, at THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, Robert Kuttner explained what was going on:

Most commentators, including me, concluded that the Tuesday election victory saved Democrats from capitulating to Republican demands to pass a simple continuing resolution to reopen the government, in exchange for vague assurances of a vote on Affordable Care Act subsidies that amount to nothing. But my reporting finds that at the Thursday meeting of the Senate Democratic caucus, two days after the election, Democrats very nearly capitulated once again.

Here’s what occurred. It has been widely assumed that the group of eight mostly centrist Senate Democrats, who have been looking to broker a hollow deal on Republican terms, were freelancing. In fact, they were acting with the express approval of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and were reporting to him daily.

At Thursday’s meeting, they told their caucus colleagues that they now had ten votes to reopen the government in exchange for no real Republican concessions. At that, much of the rest of the caucus went ballistic, and some of the supposed ten said that, in fact, they were not willing to vote for any such deal.

The leaders of the proposed Democratic cave-in, Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, both of New Hampshire, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, then backed down. Only after that did Schumer go public with his proposal to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension of the ACA subsidies, along with a bipartisan commission to figure out a long-term solution.

Chuck is not a leader and needs to give up his title. Emine Yücel (TPM) notes:

After 40 days of the government shutdown, a small — but large enough — group of Democrats has caved. For more than a month, the party incessantly demanded Republicans get on board with its effort to protect expiring Obamacare subsidies, preventing significant premium hikes for millions of Americans. But on Sunday, several Senate Democrats broke ranks with their caucus, setting in motion an end to the shutdown without a promise of extending said tax credits.

Sens. Angus King (I-ME), John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) voted in favor of the continuing resolution (CR) following the bipartisan deal.

[. . .]

The House Democratic leader almost immediately expressed his frustration with the deal after it became public, saying he will not be supporting the bill the Senate is expected to pass in the coming days.

“House Democrats have consistently maintained that bipartisan legislation that funds the government must also decisively address the Republican health care crisis,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in a Sunday statement. “It now appears that Senate Republicans will send the House of Representatives a spending bill that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits … We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives.”

What a list of losers. John Fetterman who was Bernie's man and the dream of Justice "Democrats" (Socialists too scared to cop to it). Then there's corporatist Jeanne Shaheen. I will never forget being at the DNC 2008 convention and people in the party structure laughing at Amy Goodman who sat down with Shaheen and promoted her as this great leftist. She was nothing of the sort and party big whigs laughed at Amy Goodman and her stupidity. Laugh or cry? Senator Dick Durbin will be remembered for one thing only during his overly long time in the US Senate. Crying.

That's all he ever did: Cry like baby.

What a bunch of losers one and all.

And the biggest loser? Chuck Schumer.

I haven't trashed Chuck or even called him out much over the years. That's in part because Senator Harry Reid refused, following the 2006 mid-terms, to rally the Senate to end the Iraq War. Because Reid was a man, the leftians of the internet back then protected him. I was at the conference/mass interview, Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House, provided to THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. And I covered it here. We delivered both house of Congress to the Democratic Party. So why was the Iraq War continuing? Nancy explained she did her part. The House lined up to end it. She suggested that the reporters assembled ask then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid why he didn't do the same in the Senate? Harry Reid was trash and mixed up with the mob. That goes back to the days when there were hearings on Frank Sinatra. Harry repeatedly popped up in all of that. He was corrupt as hell and he destroyed the Democratic Party's efforts to end the Iraq War.

So after Harry thankfully stepped down (a little after that incident with the hustler that left Harry injured), anything would have been an improvement. And I honestly beliee that Chuck accomplished a number of things as Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader.

But this has not been a good year fr him and we can't afford him.

From the March 18th snapshot:

Another disappointment is the Senate Minority Leader and that call is probably one that those of us who are Democrats can all agree on. Last week, Robert Kuttner (TAP) explained:

For three days, Senate Democrats privately debated whether to support a House-passed continuing resolution (CR) keeping the government funded through September 30, or to block it with a filibuster, thus letting the government temporarily shut down.

At midweek, it looked as if Chuck Schumer had devised a deft plan: Propose an alternative resolution to keep the government open for 30 days and send that back to the Republican House. That way, if the House did not go along, the shutdown would be on the Republicans.

On Wednesday, Schumer emerged from two days of meetings to declare that the caucus was unified against the Republican six-month resolution and supporting the 30-day plan instead.

But it turned out that he was simply floating the idea to keep Senate progressives happy. He was confident that the more centrist Democrats would reject the idea and vote cloture to end a filibuster and send the six-month continuing resolution to President Trump. In a more sinister maneuver, he would allow Republicans to end debate on their CR in exchange for a vote on the 30-day resolution—a vote that would fail, leaving Republicans able to pass their bill by majority vote.

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Marin Scotten (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:

Democrats are turning on Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi is leading the charge.

Schumer announced Thursday he would vote to pass Trump’s disastrous budget bill to avert a government shutdown, flipping on his own party just 24 hours after he signaled he would vote against the bill. Pelosi issued a statement the next day urging Senate Democrats not to follow his lead.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across American,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable,” Pelosi continued, referencing Schumer’s betrayal. “I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill.”

The GOP bill would gut funding for health care, increase military spending, and fund mass deportation. It narrowly passed the Republican-led House, with just one Democrat voting to pass. Schumer argued that a government shutdown would give Trump and Elon Musk a “carte blanche” to gut federal services. Pelosi disagreed.

There is no excuse for caving. Not in these times. Every day, Democrats get up and fight for this country -- that's every day actions by everyday Democrats. And they need to see their officials doing the same damn thing.

Prior to her uncommitted nonsense, I liked Rashida Tlaib and I defended her here and we reposted anything her office sent. I don't care for her now, you don't stab a party in the back. She is responsible for Donald Chump getting back in the White House.

And THE DAILY SHOW made fun of her recently.

It didn't go up here. Would have loved for it to but it didn't.

They made fun of her and others for using the auction paddles during Chump's speech.

I was not a fan of the auction paddles. But that 'joke' or 'commentary' didn't go up here because it was a few Democrats trying to do something. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't.

But they tried it and I will applaud them for that -- even Rashida.

Americans need evidence that there's a point, a reason, to keep fighting.

I can sit outside all day by the pool. Someone else can lose themselves in books or watching television or just tuning out. If we're on our own, if our officials aren't going to do a damn thing, that's probably what we should do for our own sanity.

And the minute we do that right now, the republic has ended.

So we don't need Democratic officials selling us out or doing nothing.

Try something and make a mistake? Fine. We all learn that didn't work and then try something else.

But if you're actually trying something, I'm not going to throw eggs and rotten fruit at you.

Chuck did nothing, he tried nothing. He just collapsed and he does need to go.

[. . .]

But Chuck Schumer isn't just any elected official. He is a US senator. In terms of prestige, that's only below the president -- and, in the past, a Supreme Court justice.

And he's not just any senator, he's the Minority Leader.

He is the face of Democratic leadership and he failed and he demoralized.

This is not a minor issue. You inspire the troops, not enrage them.

Chuck has not spent the last months rallying Democrats across the country. That's what you've done, that's what I've done. Chuck hasn't done it.

In fact, he hasn't done s**t.

But you worked your butt off as did I. And last week, on Tuesday, we saw our work pay off.

Those huge victories.

All Chuck Schumer has done is betray the party and feed anger towards the party.

If you were part of the effort to turn out the vote, you know how hard it was. You met the voters who said that the Democrats weren't doing anything and they weren't going to do anything.

Schumer's cave over the weekend means it's going to be that much harder to turn out voters in 2026.

He should have built on the energy from Tuesday, tht's what a leader does. Instead, his actions tell us that Tuesday didn't matter to him -- those victories don't mean anything to him.

He's lost the ability to lead, if he ever had it. He needs to step down. His betrayal hurts the party.

He's also become a lousy communicator. During the shutdown, where was he? He couldn't even manage to issue press releases (plural) on the shutdown. He didn't even try to shape the message. One press release on the longest shutdown ever?

That's all he offered.

And he failed here as well because if he was going to cave, he needed to be out front explaining to the party why that was, explaining to the voters, why that was.

He doesn't feel he owes us loyalty or even an explanation. He's the perfect mate for Donald Chump, but he's the worst leader our party could have right now. He needs to be eased out of leadership immediately. They can go with someone older or younger or the same age, but he needs to leave. The party needs to make sure that happens because only his departure at this point will give any hope to voters going into the 20026 election.

What is the point of a voter fighting and giving everything they have to give when the response is Chuck Schumer sells them out?

The betrayal has taken place and it's not going to be walked back. So there need to be consequences.

We also need to grasp that there's a positive to this sell out.

That's not an excuse for it. This was a betrayal, absolutely.

But stream the video below.

I believe it's 48 days. That's how long ago Adelita Grijalva was elected to the US Congress. And Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson refuses to seat her still.

The cave means the House will have to go into session. That means Johnson has to swear Adelita Grijalva in. Which means she becomes the needed signature on the petition to force a floor vote in the House on releasing the Epstein files.

That's not why the betrayers sold us out over the weekend. Don't let them after-the-fact try to pretend that it is. But if one good thing comes of their betrayal, it will be that.

There was talk that Johnson was going to wait until the first week of December to bring the House back in session to protect Chump from the Epstein scandal. December 2nd, the 7th district in Tennessee holds a special election to fill a Congressional seat. The GOP thinks Matt Van Epps is going to beat Democrat Aftyn Behn. If that happens, Epps would cancel out Grijalva's signature.

I'm not trying to sell anyone on the betrayal being a good thing. But I am trying to point out one bright -- and unintended by the betrayers -- spot in this.

Fat and crazy Donald Chump's had another embarrassing moment. Will Neal (DAILY BEAST) notes:

President Donald Trump, 79, enthusiastically shared a screenshot on Sunday from a website that has clearly labeled its content as complete and utter fiction. “WOW!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, accompanied by a screenshot of a post that read: “DOGE halts yearly payment of $2.5 million to Barack Obama for “royalties linked to Obamacare.’ Obama has collected this payment since 2010, for a total of $40 million in taxpayer dollars’.” This is indeed completely false—something the current president did not disclose when he posted it. The source of the story, the Dunning-Kruger Times, has a pretty clear explanation on its site. “Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real,” a disclaimer from the outlet reads. “If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.”

Big fatty combing the internet to find something to rage over, anything, and immediately believing it. He's they typical over-75 y.o. FOX "NEWS" viewer. All the more reason that the idiot shouldn't be president. And he's fat, he's morbidly obese, his efforts at creating rage are just going to march him off to a massive stroke all the faster. Chump wasn't the only one spreading lies. Peter Wade (ROLLING STONE) observes, "Meanwhile, Trump administration officials took to the Sunday news shows to spread the message of good economic cheer. But actual economic indicators, such as the 3 percent inflation the U.S. saw in September, point to rising prices, although it wasn't as bad as the 3.1 percent economists had predicted. When Trump first announced his tariffs in April, inflation was at 2.3 percent. In September alone, consumer prices rose .3 percent, and prices increased for four of the six major grocery store food groups. We won't know the October numbers until Nov. 13."

Reality is very clear about Chump's failing economy. Mary Walrath-Holdridge (USA TODAY) reports:

Fast food chain Wendy's is planning to close hundreds more stores just a year after shuttering 140 locations.

Interim CEO Ken Cook told investors in a Friday, Nov. 7, quarterly earnings call that the company would be closing a "mid single-digit percentage" of locations. With around 6,000 locations still operating nationwide, this would amount to roughly 240 to 360 stores. One investor estimated the number at about 300 locations during the call. "When we look at the system today, we have some restaurants that do not elevate the brand and are a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective," said Cook. "The goal is to address and fix those restaurants."

Shay Johnson (PENNY GEM) notes, "Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the United States, is planning to close about 60 stores over the next year and a half. These locations, which represent around 2% of the company’s total stores, are mostly ones that have been performing poorly. The decision highlights how the grocery business is changing as people shop differently, costs rise, and competition grows tougher." BUZZ60 notes, "Winn-Dixie, a staple of Southern grocery shopping for generations, is facing its most dramatic shift in decades. In October, parent company Southeastern Grocers (SEG) announced plans to close or sell 40 stores—32 Winn-Dixie and 8 Harveys Supermarkets—across Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi by year’s end."

So that's eateries and grocery stores, what about retail? Dominick Reuter, Sarah Jackson, Sarah Perkel, Brent D. Griffiths and Jordan Hart (BUSINESS INSIDER) report:

A Business Insider tally of disclosures from 16 retail chains found that more than 3,700 stores have closed or are set to close across the US so far in 2025.

The current number is up from last year's total and 2023, when the collapse of Bed Bath & Beyond contributed to the shuttering of more than 2,800 locations, by Business Insider's count.

UBS analysts estimated last year that US retail closures could reach 45,000 stores by 2029, primarily due to smaller stores going out of business.

As this more evidence piles up, Chump lies to the people. And some let him et away with it. There's one area where his lies don't work. Groceries. As SV Date (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:

President Donald Trump’s relentless lying finally appears to have encountered a problem it cannot overcome: grocery prices, which, in large part because of his tariffs, have been rising nearly twice as quickly as they had under predecessor Joe Biden.

“Grocery prices are way down,” the president has been saying, time after time after time after time, for months, including twice on Thursday and once again on Friday.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement on a deal to fund the government without lowering health care costs.

“I will not support a deal that does nothing to make health care more affordable. The fight to lower costs is a righteous fight, and we must not give it up.

“Republicans in Congress extended tax breaks for billionaires and billionaire corporations, but they refused to extend tax credits to lower health insurance premiums for millions of working people. A simple one-year extension of these tax credits would cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina.

“Donald Trump has made clear that he is willing to hurt people—hungry children, federal employees, working families—in order to get his way. The wannabe king may declare victory today, but Americans will remember his actions.

“While Trump and Republicans inflict more pain on people, Democrats’ most important job is to fight back. We will keep fighting to fix our broken health care system and lower costs for working people, but a vote for this legislation is a mistake.”

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The following sites updated: