Government is STILL Shut Down – The Certainty of the Closed Mind

Doug Smith

November 3, 2025

The government is still shut down, with no end in sight.  Republicans have been very vocal about blaming this on Democrats, but is that true?  No, it’s not.  Republicans were HOPING Democrats would insist on negotiations on the health insurance issue before voting for a debt ceiling bill.  By keeping the government in shut down mode, it gives the president and his minions a free hand to slash and burn parts of the government that they don’t like. 

Chief among those are the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.  Since Obamacare health insurance went into effect in 2014, Congress voted over 100 times to try and end it, and not one of those votes was successful.  This year they’re trying a different strategy.  Instead of ending it outright, they’re trying to raise the cost of it so high (30% higher on average) that the people who need it can’t afford it. 

And that is already law through the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed earlier this year, cutting $1.2 trillion from programs that help the poor so that billionaires could have more tax cuts.  With the government shut down and Republicans refusing to negotiate, the law will stay in effect and millions will suffer for it.  Thousands of Americans will die next year for lack of affordable health insurance, if the Republicans refuse to negotiate.

Furthermore, if Congress remains inert for an extended period of time, as seems likely, it just gives the executive branch greater freedom to act with impunity.  Without oversight, they might just tear down the White House and build a palace.  Wait… they’re already doing that! 

Who could be so heartless?  Who could think up a plan this diabolical?  Russell Vought and his fellow Christian nationalists at the Heritage Foundation.  He’s now the head of the Office of Management and Budget, pulling the strings as to what gets cut and what doesn’t, and deciding who gets paid during the shutdown and who feels the pain.  Politically active evangelical Christians are behind all the chaos of the Trump administration, including the current shutdown, because of who they voted for.  If that version of Christianity causes the sick and hungry and poor among us go without, I believe they have profoundly twisted the message of Jesus beyond recognition. 

I wish I knew why they were doing this.  I used to be one of them until about 20 years ago, when I could finally see how I was lied to and manipulated into voting Republican all those years.  But the majority of evangelicals still believe they are voting for righteousness by electing Republicans.  They cannot or will not see how the people and the policies they vote for are diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus.  It’s the certainty of the closed mind.

Ultimately (and ironically), it’s the evangelicals who have the power to end this chaos.  It won’t be until they turn against Trump that we will see a change in direction.  Some may change because of the moral imperative of loving our neighbors as ourselves, but I’m not holding my breath on that.  What seems more likely is that they will eventually feel the pain of their own votes.  Already we’re seeing “buyers’ remorse” from farmers hurt by trade wars, from teachers and librarians who’ve been muzzled, from seniors trying unsuccessfully to get help with Medicare and Social Security questions, from air travelers put at risk because air traffic controllers are working without pay and feeling the stress, from Trump voters who are losing their low-cost health insurance, and many more who are now regretting their vote for Trump.

We can’t stop demanding a better world.  We don’t have to live like this.  Vote carefully for City Council and School Board elections on Tuesday, November 4th.  Know what the candidates believe and which policies they want to implement.  The power in this nation ultimately belongs to We the People. We can build a better and more just world, but only if we ALL care enough to get involved. 

You can read all of the essays Doug has written over the past several months at: https://substack.com/@dougsmith801323.