What Did Democrats Gain from the Shutdown?

Jerusalem joins after an e‑bike crash and assesses whether Democrats achieved strategic wins or merely attention with their shutdown stance.

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Episode notes

This week, Reason editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch are joined by the editor in chief of The Argument, Jerusalem Demsas, to discuss the end of the government shutdown and what Democrats actually gained from it. They examine the renewed focus on Obamacare subsidies and how both parties are struggling to articulate a coherent health care vision that moves beyond stale talking points.

The group then turns to Zohran Mamdani's win in New York and what it reveals about the uneasy overlap between the abundance movement and the rising progressive wing of the Democratic Party. The panel digs into President Donald Trump's talk of $2,000 tariff "dividends," and whether it undermines his claim that affordability is "a con." They also examine the differences and similarities between modern-day liberals and libertarians. A listener then asks whether fixing America's broken health care system should start with reforming insurance or dramatically expanding the supply of doctors.

0:00—What did Democrats gain from the government shutdown?

19:34—Obamacare subsidies and healthcare in the spotlight

26:30—The abundance agenda vs. socialism

41:34—Tariff dividend checks and the affordability "con"

46:14—Listener question on health insurance

57:07—Difference between liberalism and libertarianism

1:13:11—Weekly cultural recommendations