Subject: Re: AFGE union calls shutdown end

I’d go 80/20 the other way. Did the Democrats put in the expiration date so they could use it as a political football, if they lost the 2024 election?

Remember the two rounds of "temporary stimulus" Bush tax cuts? The moment they were enacted, the drumbeat started for them to all be made permanent. Ultimately, the cuts for all but the wealthiest were made permanent.

Routine tactic in DC. Claim it's a temporary measure to address an extreme situation, then make it permanent.

Cue Sir Humphrey "camel's nose"..."thin edge of the wedge".

Steve