LAWRENCE on! WHAT did Dems accomplish?

[elleng]

DEms got SNAP increased; guarantee rehire Fed employees, BACK pay guaranteed; airline prob ended/shutdown.

[Srkdqltr]

1. Listen to him. Republicans caved not Democrats.

[ancianita]

18. HE'S RIGHT.

[Demsrule86]

50. They killed the ACA.

It took decades to get the ACA and we lost the house. This is not a win.

[spooky3]

2. He's giving an alternative perspective on the "deal" - Republicans "caved"

and why voting "yes" makes some sense; why people not in the Senate may not understand.

[choie]

4. Bullshit.

[spooky3]

5. Have a nice day! nt

[Layzeebeaver]

38. He also said that John Glenn was the 1st person to orbit the earth

A LIE!!!

Therefore everything he said was also not true!!!



It was a good recap.

[Layzeebeaver]

39. John Glenn was not the first person to orbit the earth!

A LIE!!!

Therefore (according to the sentiment of others posting on DU) everything Laurence said was also not true!!!



It was a good recap. Thanks you for posting!

[Demsrule86]

51. We lost healthcare... likely forever.

It is not a win.

[choie]

3. They did not get SNAP increased.

That is untrue.

[Silent Type]

10. Got current payment levels restored. Whether that matters enough depends one's perspective.

[Jack Valentino]

29. increased BACK to what is already mandated by law,

possibly that is what he meant---
which of course, NO, is NOT an "increase"---

(but an increase from what the Bastard Admin
wanted to pay during the shutdown...)

[SunSeeker]

35. It was fully restored and guaranteed through September of 2026. That's a big deal.

It's a big deal because the "clean CR" only extends to January of 2026. So if and when we get in another shutdown fight over another CR on the budget in January, Trump can't starve America's poor to pressure Dems like he did this time.

This video talks about that September guarantee:

But, no SNAP money is flowing yet because the shutdown deal still needs to be approved by the House and signed by Shitler.

[choie]

48. SNAP was always going to be avialable through September 30, 2026.

The SNAP year runs from October 1-September 30th and there was nothing in the bill that says otherwise. The cuts will go into effect in October 2026.

So let's not rewrite history. Yes, November's SNAP is supposedly "restored" (although the SC extended the stay at trumps request). But there was no increase, nor were cuts in the offing until 2026.

[SunSeeker]

53. Wrong. SNAP ran out of money Nov. 1.

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/28/g-s1-95189/snap-food-stamps-government-shutdown-november

The MAGA 6 on SCOTUS refused to force Trump to use emergency money for SNAP. https://abcnews.go.com/US/supreme-court-extends-stay-order-requiring-administration-pay/story?id=127415450

The Senate deal only funds the rest of the government until January 31, 2026. SNAP was definitely NOT "always going to be avialable through September 30, 2026." Those 8 Dems were able to get SNAP funded through September 30, 2026, as part of the Senate deal.

[choie]

55. That was due to the shutdown.

Not the big fucking bill.

[SunSeeker]

57. In past shutdowns, SNAP was always paid out of emergency funds. Not this time.

Trump paid SNAP recipients during his last shutdown. I don't think those 8 Senate Dems expected that Trump would just shoot the hostages this time. I think these 8 Dems could not bear to watch 42 million poor Americans starving through the holidays and winter. We may be headed into another shutdown in January, but at least SNAP will be funded this time, so Republicans won't have that starvation leverage:

This means SNAP benefits would be fully appropriated, averting the risk of another food assistance cut off after January 30 if no appropriations bill is passed to fund the government beyond then.

https://www.newsweek.com/what-shutdown-deal-means-snap-benefits-11022221

[Jersey Devil]

6. Love Lawrence, but he's full of shit tonight

Sounds like Chuck Schumer's speach from last March claiming that caving was a brilliant strategy.

[mr715]

7. Is that what happened?

Or is that what we want to hear

[Bettie]

16. Remember: Being a woman

is a preexisting condition!

So that will be fun!

[fujiyamasan]

11. This is why I don't watch garbage like MSNow or whatever the fuck it's called now

Basically huffing their own farts; this is copium at its worst.

[Midwestern Democrat]

40. I used to like Lawrence, but he now takes the easy path to popularity - just tells the base what they want to hear.

I watch MSNBC occasionally, enough to make a general assessment of the other hosts:

Nicole Wallace - pure anti-Trump; almost nothing concerning actual liberal policy.
Ari Melber - good - willing to occasionally buck the party line when he feels it's necessary; wish he'd drop the hipster stuff
The Weekday Trio - Michael Steele, Symone Sanders, and Alicia Menendez - skippable; I actually find the Weekend group - Ayman, Antonia, Elise, and Catherine to be more interesting.
Chris Hayes - same as Ari Melber except for the hipster complaint.
Rachel Maddow - totally ensconced in a liberal bubble
Jen Psaki - good - helped by recent actual experience in Democratic presidential administrations
Stephanie Rule - good - a bit different from the others as her show also covers finance and is not purely partisan.

[fujiyamasan]

41. Thanks for the rundown

It’s been over ten years since I’ve seen anything on the network. I was only familiar with Maddow, Hayes, and O’Donnell.

[Raine]

43. Totally on point. 👍nt

[cliffside]

54. Adding Ali Velshi, always try and catch his show. nt

[Cha]

12. TY for LO'D, ellen. I'll have to catch it

in Liberal youtubes if I can.

[elleng]

15. CRITICAL, Cha.

[Rhiannon12866]

21. Here you go:

Lawrence: With Trump's shutdown ending, Dems are closer than ever to forcing Epstein files release - The Last Word MSNBC
https://www.democraticunderground.com/132160257

[Cha]

25. lol... I just got your link and

replied on the Other LO'D thread.

TY!

[Rhiannon12866]

28. There was only one with Lawrence O'Donnell tonight, just his monologue, MSNBC didn't upload any guests

[jcmaine72]

13. Ah, I see now...

In other words, this was all just some cerebral game of 4D chess masterfully played by Rommelesque, genius-level strategists and those who can't see that are simply too dense to grasp the enormity of the collective brilliance before us.

No doubt that Trump & the reThugs are in such awe of the commanding performance senate Democrats displayed during this fight that they're all curled up in the fetal position somewhere in a dark corner sucking their sh*t-tasting thumbs in utter fear at the prospect of any future confrontations.

[COL Mustard]

32. I'm playing tiddlywinks

Trying to figure it all out. I just wonder why we went through a 6 week furlough.

[Scrivener7]

14. Tell it to the sick people who won't be able to afford healthcare. One DUer says this will

kill her. I believe her. And I'm sure she has a lot of company.

[Takket]

19. sweet! did they also accomplish the thing that was their goal they told us about for the last 40 days?

[Ilikepurple]

20. Maybe I'm misinformed, but I think that all would have happened without the shutdown.

Why have it in the first place? The main positives I see with the shutdown + deal is that it drew attention to both SNAP and the ACA enhancement. Maybe more people understand what they are and why they are improtant now. There is also the guaranty of a vote on extending the expansion of enhancements. These aren’t nothing. It’s worth something to get a public vote on support for ACA enhancement extensions. Will precarious Rs just abstain from voting? I don’t know. There’s little chance the vote will result in expansion, but might be useful in getting back a couple senate seats. Time will tell if it was worth the monetary and psychological pain the shutdown has caused. I, for one, am not well enough informed or perhaps even unbiased enough to know how to best slow down the Trump machine and protect the US people’s needs, but I also do not have hubristic inclinations to think I have a definitive answer as to whether the shut down and deal was an accomplishment to be congratulated. They never seemed to have much leverage, but it seemed that they had more in the last week than before, so the timing seems weird. Lawrence is both an analyst and entertainer. He has had less than a day to pick a position and create a narrative. It had to be spun one way or another. This has got to be a relief for SNAP recipients and federal workers, but also extremely anxiety inducing for those who don’t know how they are going to afford health insurance going forward. Maybe it’s my lack of vision, but I’m not as confident as others are to give my definitive judgment.

[Rhiannon12866]

22. Here's Lawrence O'Donnell, for those who missed it:

Lawrence: With Trump's shutdown ending, Dems are closer than ever to forcing Epstein files release - The Last Word MSNBC
https://www.democraticunderground.com/132160257

[MorbidButterflyTat]

23. Oh but what about my unicorn!!!!1!11! (sarcasm)

Great news, thank you.

[Scrivener7]

45. Healthcare is a unicorn now. Great.

[popsdenver]

24. LOL

Anyone here who remembers SOME of us Dems ragging on the dems, and the "REAGAN DEMOCRATS" shouting us down for criticizing what the Dems were/weren't doing ?????????????

The Republicans, under Reagan, (actually HWBush was running everything along with his CABAL) did the most to destroy the middle and lower class and build the upper class........of any president until WBush, (actually Cheney/Rumsfeld were running everything along with Their CABAL.

Damn right I will bash on the Dems, just as I did after the 2000 election, just as I did after the 2004 election, and just as I did after the 2016 election.
Those elections were all Corrupted, as was the 1980 election, and the dems didn't raise hell about any of them........And they certainly had legitimate reasons to challenge them.......

[yaesu]

26. well, we got a lot of promises, that's it though it is comforting that he's letting US know how good we have it

[betsuni]

27. It's excellent!

[Ilikepurple]

31. So what is it? The Democrats accomplished great things or

It’s wrong to say “One to a dozen or so Democrats do something and the whole Democratic Party is implicit, it's a secret plot in cahoots with evil forces”? As you said in another thread. Either the Democratic Party is responsible and both praiseworthy and blameworthy or it’s not and neither. I think criticism and debate within the party when we are as far from election time as possible and when topics are hot as can be is not a bad thing. There’s either actual disagreement amongst our elected representatives or there is a secret plot. I don’t think any cahootsing with evil forces is happening, but these are difficult issues in difficult times and I like to hear multiple points of views and not just the ones from Democratic Party institutionalists.

[betsuni]

37. Lawrence's show is excellent. He said the same thing I said, that a few Democrats doesn't mean the whole party.

"The five changed votes on the Democratic side vs the 271 Republicans changing their position is being generally reported as 'the Democrats,' meaning all of them, abandoning their position. ... It's reported as just the Democrats caving."

[Ilikepurple]

42. I think his show is decent, but I'm not sure what position they abandoned?

Maybe, their mock shutdown position, but I think they could have gotten this deal at any time of the shutdown. I’m not saying it’s bad, I’m just not as impressed as Lawrence and the O’Donnellites with the strategic victory. I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow when Trump and his 70 plus million followers take the 271 Republicans to task for abandoning their position. I don’t know what choice the Dems in the Senate had, but I am not following O’Donnell’s in asserting that this was a win. Also, praising the results while shielding the party establishment from blame still seems like buttering both sides of your toast, whether the two of you agree.

[lees1975]

30. The one thing they wanted the most, they caved and let go.

This is all nice Little Mary Sunshine apologetics and spin. The one thing they were holding out for was the one thing they gave up and caved in on.

No Lawence O'Donnell or Rachel Maddow or Jen Psaki or Nicole Wallace attempts to spin this will change that. This is a disaster. Get ready for the fallout, people. We will have to face that, not these eight senators.

[fujiyamasan]

47. It feels like an outright gaslighting campaign

This was not a win. I’m not sure how anyone can say that with a straight face.

I’d rather some of them just honestly said, “the shutdown is wrecking my donors holiday travel plans, so fuck your healthcare”.

[padah513]

33. I'm with Lawrence on this one

Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. Hasn't this past election showed us anything? Screw the political soapbox, real people through no fault of their own were getting hurt here and now. I'm not making excuses for any of the eight, primary them at your leisure, but it's easy to make a stand when you don't have to worry about feeding your kids tomorrow. Look, what's done is done. When the ACA is voted down, and it will be, who do you think people are going to blame? Not the Democrats. I predict that we are going to win everything in 26, so stop all the GD chicken-littling.

[crimycarny]

58. I agree--and I'm still apoplectic about ACA subsidies not being extended

I'm still furious about the Dems not holding out for ACA subsidies, but I also don't have to rely on SNAP to feed my family. Losing healthcare is devastating as well, but I don't know how long people affected by no money for food could have held out.

Today's GOP has become such a corrupt party that I honestly don't know if they would EVER have agreed to ACA subsidies, no matter how long it took. They don't care what it looks like or who gets hurt; it is impossible to shame them because they have no sense of shame.

Look at what they did with the bill they just sent to the House, they added a portion that pays the eight senators whose phone records were subpoenaed $500K for EACH PHONE LINE. That is a party that has literally abandoned all sense of responsibility to anyone but themselves. They would have held out forever.

What needs to happen now is that the Democratic Party needs to get its act together and message the sh*t out of the outcome. Make precise comparisons to what the GOP is spending, and on what, and compare that to how many years of ACA subsidies that money would have bought. As far as I know, the Democrats never put a specific number on the cost of extending the ACA subsidies, so people could estimate it to be anywhere from $500 billion to $2 trillion. If they had provided an example of the bailout to Argentina and how that would have funded X amount of years of ACA subsidies, I think that would have had a significant impact.

Also, bring up the $500K being paid to GOP senators just for having their phone records legally subpoenaed every chance they get. Geez, maybe hire Gavin Newsom's press office as consultants.

[lapfog_1]

34. I watched it

I was not impressed.

Dems caved. The things that LO pointed out were either minor or already agreed to before the shutdown.

But if you all want to believe that this defeat was really a great victory... ask the people who will lose their health insurance how they feel about it.

[2na fisherman]

36. He Mentioned Guarantees by the Republicans

I always watch Lawrence O. and respect his government experience and opinions, but he offered no information on how such "guarantees" on SNAP for example are enforced. What happens when they just say, we changed our minds on those? Will Democrats whine and say, but you promised! There's nothing to stop Republicans from reneging on such a deal. Even now, Trump continues to litigate the delivery of these benefits in the Supreme Court. He will continue to tangle up every objection the Democrats have in the courts with bad faith legal moves to delay and obfuscate until the issue is ruled on by the court. But he may still choose to ignore court rulings and who will enforce them?

[BeerBarrelPolka]

44. This is exactly

what I've been saying. There is absolutely no guarantee regarding SNAP. None. The repubs/Trump can say one thing today and another tomorrow. Trump already did that with SNAP. "It would be my honor to release funds for SNAP" or something like that Trump said. What did he do? He ran to court to stop release of the funds. I'm a SNAP recipient and I am totally against the dems caving in. It was a horrible move and I firmly believe time will prove me right.

[Demsrule86]

52. Therecare no guarantees.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

46. Here is Lawrence's explanation

Last edited Tue Nov 11, 2025, 09:50 AM - Edit history (2)

[hamsterjill]

49. Honestly, if there's some massive, hidden strategy in all of this

I don't want to be hearing about it from Lawrence. I want to be hearing about it from Democratic leadership. I want them out front and vocal. Screaming and claiming victory, and explaining very accurately exactly what they did and how they did it.

Because if this is true, then Democrats should be rightfully taking a victory lap, be proud of what they accomplished and be telling their unhappy voters so that those voters fully understand. They should be proud to shove the victory into the faces of the Republican thugs who don't care if someone has food to eat.

I have not yet seen that. Perhaps, I've missed it?????

[mr715]

56. We have seen tepid, semi-apologies and justifications

from a cross-section of Senators not up for re-election.

If there is a grand strategy, we better change it.

[uponit7771]

59. Dems made it hurt less,

[LetMyPeopleVote]

60. Lawrence was great last night also

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

61. What Democrats say they won in the 43-day government shutdown

These Democrats did get three things: (i) funding of the food assistance program known as SNAP for the rest of the fiscal year through September 2026, (ii) the Trump administration agreed to reinstate federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown through reductions in force, or RIFs and (iii) a “minibus” of three appropriations bills, which will fund some parts of the government through next fall including the FAA. There is likely to be another shutdown after this deal expires on Jan. 30, 2026 and so these concessions are meaningful to some groups..

What Democrats say they won in the 43-day government shutdown www.nbcnews.com/politics/con... /jmho we , dems, didn’t win 😐we would have won IF we didn’t fold /cave give up 🤷🏽‍♀️ but here we are 🙇🏽‍♀️ is it too much to ask that we stop being cowards & get some f’ing steel in our spine FFS 🤦🏽‍♀️

— Nikki (@varivergirl.bsky.social) 2025-11-12T11:34:26.853Z

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-wins-shutdown-fight-health-care-obamacare-subsidies-trump-rcna243211

Among the eight Senate Democrats who struck a deal with the White House and Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., four were former governors — pragmatists used to working across the aisle who argue you don’t always get what you want in legislation.

The agreement includes a “minibus” of three appropriations bills, which will fund some parts of the government through next fall. The rest of the government will be funded through Jan. 30.

The deal includes funding of the food assistance program known as SNAP for the rest of the fiscal year through September 2026, meaning families will be fed and food stamps can’t be used as leverage in any funding fight in the coming months.

The group of eight also got some wins for federal workers, who have been under siege since Trump’s inauguration, facing aggressive Department of Government Efficiency cuts and the consolidation of some agencies, like the U.S. Agency for International Development.

They got the Trump administration to agree to reinstate federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown through reductions in force, or RIFs. And they secured language barring future mass firings for the duration of the resolution that keeps the government open through January.

It’s a win for “federal employees who are not going to be traumatized by RIFs going forward,” said Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, the former governor of Virginia, a state home to nearly 150,000 civilian federal workers.

“I’ve got some folks who didn’t like the vote, but I’m going to have a whole lot of federal employees who are going back to work and they’re getting their paychecks, and they can live through the holidays without worrying that they’re going to get a bad email at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning that they’re laid off.”

“They have been living under a cloud of anxiety since Jan. 20, and we’ve lifted that cloud to some degree,” Kaine added.

Again, the ACA issue is not going away and I believe that there will be another shutdown in February. These concessions are helpful for some key groups if there is another shutdown in February.