David Frum: “Previous shutdowns were fought over specific grievances: Republican pressure against new taxes in 1990, then for spending cuts in 1995–96 and again in 2013; Democratic resistance to Donald Trump’s border wall in 2018–19. At 35 days, that latter shutdown holds the record for the longest—for now.”
“These specific grievances were never the whole story, but they enabled each side to explain itself and offered an exit when the time came to resolve the dispute. For example, the 2018–19 shutdown ended when Trump dropped his demand for a $5 billion appropriation for his wall.”
“The present shutdown was also triggered by a single issue: the COVID-era tax credits that subsidize health-insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act, which Democrats want to extend before they expire at the end of the year. Yet a compromise over the stated cause will barely address the real issue at the center of this fight.”
“That real issue is Trump’s challenge to Congress’s constitutional taxing and spending powers.”
