On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) responded to a question on the negative impacts of the government shutdown and whether Democrats are playing a role in the shutdown by saying that “the status quo is not working for anybody. It is completely unacceptable. Here in Illinois, for instance, not only are we dealing with the skyrocketing healthcare costs about to happen, but, also, for that matter, ICE is out of control and raids on communities throughout the area. The National Guard is literally staged just half an hour away from where I’m sitting right now. And so, people don’t like the status quo.”
Host Jake Tapper played video of Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) saying, “It’s ‘Groundhog Day.’ And I’m just saying — and it’s not entertaining. That’s a great movie, but this is shitty. And, now, it’s like, now, real damage is going to — [is] now touching the lives of regular Americans.”
Tapper then asked, “Fetterman has a point, right? This is affecting regular Americans, and Democrats are playing a role in the shutdown by refusing to vote for the continuing resolution to let the government open for just a few more weeks.”
Krishnamoorthi answered, “I think the problem, Jake, is that the status quo is not working for anybody. It is completely unacceptable. Here in Illinois, for instance, not only are we dealing with the skyrocketing healthcare costs about to happen, but, also, for that matter, ICE is out of control and raids on communities throughout the area. The National Guard is literally staged just half an hour away from where I’m sitting right now. And so, people don’t like the status quo. At a minimum, what they’re saying is this, which is, take the Obamacare issue off the table, because those tax credits are about to expire imminently, and they don’t want to see…skyrocketing healthcare costs, in addition to the increasing food costs, electricity costs, and housing costs that they’re already seeing in this Trump economy.”
Earlier, Krishnamoorthi said, “Trump can easily end this shutdown in, like, 30 minutes, by agreeing to Obamacare tax credit extensions.”
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