Adam Serwer: “Toward the end of the Biden administration, conservatives, fed up with the supposed imposition of liberal ideas by ‘woke capital,’ tried to create what The Economist described as a ‘parallel economy’ in which one could buy ‘anti-woke’ versions of goods such as beer and razors. Those products might come at a premium, but if that was the price of your beliefs, you were free to pay it.”

“Now, in Donald Trump’s second administration, that parallel economy is just the economy. Trumpist culture wars have made almost everything more expensive, effectively forcing all Americans to pay an anti-woke tax. Although conservatives usually use woke to describe some form of egalitarianism they oppose, it’s proved such an effective epithet that they’re now applying the label to anything they need their constituents to dislike.”

“Influential conservative groups with deep pockets are pushing Republicans to demand steep concessions from Democrats in exchange for extending health care subsidies, a move that risks prolonging a US government shutdown now in its 20th day,” Bloomberg reports.

“Activists on the right, including the billionaire Koch family’s political arm, are running ads and holding meetings to pressure Republicans to stave off Democrats’ demands. If they must negotiate, these groups argue, Republicans should at least leverage any health care talks to score political wins on abortion and other priorities resisted by Democrats.”