I don’t trust the democrats to handle a shut down right now. I think with savvy political leadership they can come out of either a shutdown or not ahead of the GOP in messaging (which is infuriatingly what politics amounts to right now. Not substance or policy—goddamn messaging). I want to see them all pile onto nationalized healthcare. Call it something different than Medicare for all so it sounds fresh. Message the hell out of it. The GOP want to take away your healthcare. We’re the party of “it’s covered.” Your kid has an ear infection? It’s covered. You need physical therapy? It’s covered. You go into anaphylactic shock and end up in the ER? It’s covered. No more worrying about astronomical medical bills for routine or necessary care. I don’t care if they shut down the government. They need a plan and so far they don’t seem to have one. They could see this funding fight coming, there’s literally a deadline on it. And we’re still wondering what they’re gonna do? Why on earth. I thought not shutting down the government last time would buy them time to figure out what to do now. Apparently not. I think healthcare is at the end of the day a cost of living issue which is what most people care about right now. Say something about cost of living. I don’t care if you can’t back it up right now. Just say that you’re going to lower prices. Just say that you’re going to stop the rich getting richer at the expense of everyone else. Figure it out later. Everything needs to be building towards the midterms and taking back control of both houses of Congress. And the dems as a congressional delegation aren’t doing that, haven’t been doing that and so I don’t think what they decide here ultimately matters because it isn’t in service of anything else.
After this week I'm firmly in the "Shut. It. Down" camp. And I think the line should be around gun control. I believe getting some movement on gun safety would go very far in the public's eye. It would address the crime issue and take leverage (money) out of the hands of powerful lobbying groups. If this worked it could lead to other wins (like reigning in military spending - maybe). I do think it would get the public's attention and be well received.
I'm scared to put this out in the universe but I do wonder if there is a chance that the administration just ignores a shut up down and leans all the way into authoritarianism and says "nah, we just keep going". Or gets outside funding from billionaires or (worse) another country in exchange for who knows what. I would not put it past these people to sell us out.
OMG. Was dying to be in this conversation with you both!! Sarah -- yes! Do something! Leadership IS risky. It's just so cowardly to do nothing in this moment, waiting for the perfect plan that doesn't hurt anyone. People are being hurt right now. Just own it. We are not voting for this budget because X, Y, Z.
I think of the bus boycotts, which lasted months, which resulted in death, which resulted in more black suffering. But they had a vision and they took the risk.
Things seems like the place to ask for sing along/dance/collective experience recommendations for mostly gen z college students at a conference for civic skill building. I'm trying to tap into my inner Priya Parker and build the event we would want to attend. It's just also a little hard to navigate as the millennial organizer who doesn't want to be cringey.
This was a fantastic episode. I really enjoyed the healthy debate. The outside of politics section reminded me of my high school choir director who was a big stickler for people behaving respectfully at our choir concerts. She was like “if your family members shout your name, act a fool, etc then minus 50!” Your grade will suffer if your family can’t behave.
I am ok with a shut down and not sure where it will go. Because honestly we have to say stop. Stop the ice the raids and the occupation of USA cities.
I know we don't know how it will end but we also never thought we would be here before.
Second thought I can't listen to Ezra anymore. About 2 months ago he was interviewing someone and mentioned how everyone gets a new car. I realized how out of touch he was and determined I couldn't listen to him anymore.
I love a singalong so much!! I have four live and in person ones on my calendar this school year - two shanty nights, one beer choir, and Handel’s Messiah. They bring me so much joy!
Shut. It. Down. My husband is our main breadwinner and a federal employee. We have both written our representatives encouraging them to shut it down. He will have to work and not get paid. We are lucky enough to feel like we will figure it out.
(It won’t prevent a disaster air traffic controllers have to work without pay during a shutdown)
Everything is loud, YES! THANK YOU! Sarah, you just changed my life. It never occurred to me to just bring earplugs.
I think event planners can do everyone a solid by naming the expectation up front. Let the crowd know what you want. Even if some people ignore it, it's still helpful for all the people who are like, "what are we supposed to do here?!"
I can't help but think about how the GOP would never spend all this time handwringing about doing something questionable. (Obviously.) I don't know if I want a government shutdown or not (leaning yes, I'm also federally funded and we don't have reserves anymore so it could mean I don't get paid, not sure yet). But I do want to get to DO SOMETHING and I'm not sure we can do that without some misses. The GOP just shoots and shoots and shoots. Some things land, some things don't. But clearly they're winning so...
I’m in Alabama, and sometimes it seems like aspects of this state is a canary in a coal mine. The Democratic Party here has been absolutely broken for a while.
To the “then what” topic…I think congressional dems should do two things: 1) shut down to change one thing. That’s it. Make it an easy win, I don’t care what it is. Make it a super short shutdown with an easy win. But really…2) use the attention to announce that all congressional dems are now registered republicans.
I’ve brought this idea into one pantsuit politics chat before. But the more I think of it and talk to people about it, I don’t see a major issue with it. It makes a splash, puts the responsibility and attention for everything happening on republicans. Then, in the midterms/next presidential election, all congressional dems become the primary opponents for incumbent republicans, and new blood can take seats of Dems. It’s a major swing tactic that puts republicans not named Trump on the defensive, so much so that they need to ask Trump for so much help that it fractures the party because he doesn’t want to do anything for anyone. It’s not fully fleshed out, but that my thoughts right now!
The chaos demon part of me says what the hell, shut it down until they release the Epstein files.
But in all seriousness, I think the most effective, clearest demand is to “stop the waste.” Under that umbrella they could specifically ask for the ICE funding to be rolled back, the renewable energy projects that were almost done to be restarted/finished, and something with the tariffs- maybe end the ones that hurt US farming. Or restore safety net spending. But pick 2 or 3. All of these demands would meet progressive goals but it would be sold to the public as stopping the waste. I really think Beth’s message of squandering would reach a lot of middle of the road voters.
Ha! Ani DiFranco also does a bit of crowd management. Like she gives the crowd cues-- "Get up and sing along" on some songs, and a "Sit down and listen" for quieter moments. I love her performance style.
I don’t trust the democrats to handle a shut down right now. I think with savvy political leadership they can come out of either a shutdown or not ahead of the GOP in messaging (which is infuriatingly what politics amounts to right now. Not substance or policy—goddamn messaging). I want to see them all pile onto nationalized healthcare. Call it something different than Medicare for all so it sounds fresh. Message the hell out of it. The GOP want to take away your healthcare. We’re the party of “it’s covered.” Your kid has an ear infection? It’s covered. You need physical therapy? It’s covered. You go into anaphylactic shock and end up in the ER? It’s covered. No more worrying about astronomical medical bills for routine or necessary care. I don’t care if they shut down the government. They need a plan and so far they don’t seem to have one. They could see this funding fight coming, there’s literally a deadline on it. And we’re still wondering what they’re gonna do? Why on earth. I thought not shutting down the government last time would buy them time to figure out what to do now. Apparently not. I think healthcare is at the end of the day a cost of living issue which is what most people care about right now. Say something about cost of living. I don’t care if you can’t back it up right now. Just say that you’re going to lower prices. Just say that you’re going to stop the rich getting richer at the expense of everyone else. Figure it out later. Everything needs to be building towards the midterms and taking back control of both houses of Congress. And the dems as a congressional delegation aren’t doing that, haven’t been doing that and so I don’t think what they decide here ultimately matters because it isn’t in service of anything else.
After this week I'm firmly in the "Shut. It. Down" camp. And I think the line should be around gun control. I believe getting some movement on gun safety would go very far in the public's eye. It would address the crime issue and take leverage (money) out of the hands of powerful lobbying groups. If this worked it could lead to other wins (like reigning in military spending - maybe). I do think it would get the public's attention and be well received.
I'm scared to put this out in the universe but I do wonder if there is a chance that the administration just ignores a shut up down and leans all the way into authoritarianism and says "nah, we just keep going". Or gets outside funding from billionaires or (worse) another country in exchange for who knows what. I would not put it past these people to sell us out.
OMG. Was dying to be in this conversation with you both!! Sarah -- yes! Do something! Leadership IS risky. It's just so cowardly to do nothing in this moment, waiting for the perfect plan that doesn't hurt anyone. People are being hurt right now. Just own it. We are not voting for this budget because X, Y, Z.
I think of the bus boycotts, which lasted months, which resulted in death, which resulted in more black suffering. But they had a vision and they took the risk.
Another perspective - a critique of Klein's article: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/09/09/the-education-of-ezra-klein/
Things seems like the place to ask for sing along/dance/collective experience recommendations for mostly gen z college students at a conference for civic skill building. I'm trying to tap into my inner Priya Parker and build the event we would want to attend. It's just also a little hard to navigate as the millennial organizer who doesn't want to be cringey.
This was a fantastic episode. I really enjoyed the healthy debate. The outside of politics section reminded me of my high school choir director who was a big stickler for people behaving respectfully at our choir concerts. She was like “if your family members shout your name, act a fool, etc then minus 50!” Your grade will suffer if your family can’t behave.
I am ok with a shut down and not sure where it will go. Because honestly we have to say stop. Stop the ice the raids and the occupation of USA cities.
I know we don't know how it will end but we also never thought we would be here before.
Second thought I can't listen to Ezra anymore. About 2 months ago he was interviewing someone and mentioned how everyone gets a new car. I realized how out of touch he was and determined I couldn't listen to him anymore.
I love a singalong so much!! I have four live and in person ones on my calendar this school year - two shanty nights, one beer choir, and Handel’s Messiah. They bring me so much joy!
Shut. It. Down. My husband is our main breadwinner and a federal employee. We have both written our representatives encouraging them to shut it down. He will have to work and not get paid. We are lucky enough to feel like we will figure it out.
(It won’t prevent a disaster air traffic controllers have to work without pay during a shutdown)
Everything is loud, YES! THANK YOU! Sarah, you just changed my life. It never occurred to me to just bring earplugs.
I think event planners can do everyone a solid by naming the expectation up front. Let the crowd know what you want. Even if some people ignore it, it's still helpful for all the people who are like, "what are we supposed to do here?!"
I can't help but think about how the GOP would never spend all this time handwringing about doing something questionable. (Obviously.) I don't know if I want a government shutdown or not (leaning yes, I'm also federally funded and we don't have reserves anymore so it could mean I don't get paid, not sure yet). But I do want to get to DO SOMETHING and I'm not sure we can do that without some misses. The GOP just shoots and shoots and shoots. Some things land, some things don't. But clearly they're winning so...
I’m in Alabama, and sometimes it seems like aspects of this state is a canary in a coal mine. The Democratic Party here has been absolutely broken for a while.
To the “then what” topic…I think congressional dems should do two things: 1) shut down to change one thing. That’s it. Make it an easy win, I don’t care what it is. Make it a super short shutdown with an easy win. But really…2) use the attention to announce that all congressional dems are now registered republicans.
I’ve brought this idea into one pantsuit politics chat before. But the more I think of it and talk to people about it, I don’t see a major issue with it. It makes a splash, puts the responsibility and attention for everything happening on republicans. Then, in the midterms/next presidential election, all congressional dems become the primary opponents for incumbent republicans, and new blood can take seats of Dems. It’s a major swing tactic that puts republicans not named Trump on the defensive, so much so that they need to ask Trump for so much help that it fractures the party because he doesn’t want to do anything for anyone. It’s not fully fleshed out, but that my thoughts right now!
The chaos demon part of me says what the hell, shut it down until they release the Epstein files.
But in all seriousness, I think the most effective, clearest demand is to “stop the waste.” Under that umbrella they could specifically ask for the ICE funding to be rolled back, the renewable energy projects that were almost done to be restarted/finished, and something with the tariffs- maybe end the ones that hurt US farming. Or restore safety net spending. But pick 2 or 3. All of these demands would meet progressive goals but it would be sold to the public as stopping the waste. I really think Beth’s message of squandering would reach a lot of middle of the road voters.
Outside of politics: My husband just sent me this in IG. Jeff Tweedy always has such a way with words 🤣https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOKR6lLDpWU/?igsh=OG5ycWI3ejRnYnEx
Ha! Ani DiFranco also does a bit of crowd management. Like she gives the crowd cues-- "Get up and sing along" on some songs, and a "Sit down and listen" for quieter moments. I love her performance style.
Love Ani 🙂
What do I have to do to get on the “Pantsuit Politics Group Chat” though