Jeb Bladine: Who won, or lost, the national game of chicken?
Our national game of chicken paused Wednesday night when Congress and President Trump approved a compromise plan to fund the government for another 79 days.
I don’t work for the federal government, receive subsidized food or health insurance benefits, or have a flight scheduled this week. So, for this 43-day “national nightmare,” I joined most Americans watching from the sidelines and asking for someone to remind us why the Democrats and Republicans were so committed to a life-threatening collision course?
Now, we have the all-American need to know: Which one was the “winner?” (Spoiler alert — that’s a trick question.)
The clear loser — if you believe their frenzy of self-flagellation – was the Democrats. They jumped from their locomotive at the first sign of people missing meals and air passengers inconvenienced; they abandoned their supposedly mortal combat seeking affordable health insurance premiums for low-income Americans; they deserve all that self-blame for the shutdown.
But wait … didn’t we learn at least a few lessons?
The Trump Administration went beyond playing hard-ball chicken: They pleaded with the Supreme Court to approve withholding SNAP food benefits from low-income Americans; they were willing to ground national air travel during the holiday season; they defended the huge increases in Affordable Care Act insurance premiums; and they held a lavish party for themselves while government employees worked without pay.
The Republican Party, unless it reinstates enhanced ACA premium subsidies that expire Dec. 31, fully owns those insurance premium hikes. If they restore the subsidies, they will have played that chicken game solely for power, not principle.
I think they call that situation between a rock and a hard place.
In chicken, people often attribute “victory” to the one willing to risk everything, including the death of both contestants and innocent bystanders. Even though it was the “loser” who opted to preserve lives put at risk.
As described in an AI-generated reflection: “It’s a brilliant model of tragedy in human decision-making; a dramatization of pride, fear, and the twisted incentives that can turn self-preservation into dishonor … The so-called loser, the one who swerves, is in fact the only sane participant – the one who values life over ego or appearances.”
So, buck up, Democrats. You were one plane crash away from being branded mass-murderers for causing an even greater shortage of air flight controllers. Instead, perhaps you have instilled Americans with greater clarity on how deep the current Administration will drop in pursuit of its interests.
And buck up, Republicans. The chicken game is paused, and now you have another opportunity to act on some of the knowledge that remains:
Too many Americans lack resources to handle even a brief financial challenge; health care costs — not just for ACA subsidy recipients but for all of us — are a devastating national embarrassment; our political system has lost its constitutional way; and as we approach our national semiquincentennial — “America250” — there are serious questions about our capacity to focus on and solve the greatest challenges to our everyday lives.
Jeb Bladine can be reached at jbladine@newsregister.com or 503-687-1223.
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