When Republicans Throw a Tantrum, the Rest of Us Pay the Price

Republicans have made a habit out of sabotaging government from the inside. Whenever they hold power, they seem less interested in governing than in proving their own cynical point that government “doesn’t work.” And how do they do it? By breaking it themselves. By throwing tantrums, grinding everything to a halt, and leaving ordinary Americans to pay the price.

And so, here we are again. Another government shutdown. Another round of reckless brinkmanship, all because Republicans can’t get their way. They strut and posture about “fiscal responsibility” while happily holding the economy hostage for their own greed and petty vendettas.

Let’s be honest: this isn’t about saving money. It’s never about saving money. If it were, Republicans wouldn’t pass tax cuts for billionaires like candy at Halloween. This is about power, cruelty, and pure, unfiltered hate. Hate for programs that help working families. Hate for policies that protect the vulnerable. Hate for anyone who doesn’t fit their warped vision of America.

And don’t forget — Republicans have been pushing this kind of shutdown nonsense for years. The last one wasn’t decades ago, it was just in 2018–2019, when Donald Trump was president and Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate. That 35-day shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, was over Trump’s obsession with a useless border wall. Republicans owned every lever of power, and they still managed to grind the government to a halt.

The irony is almost laughable if it weren’t so damn destructive. They shut down the government, brag about how they’re fighting “wasteful spending,” and then cash their paychecks while federal employees are left scrambling to pay rent and buy groceries. National parks close. Small businesses that rely on government contracts grind to a halt. Soldiers, law enforcement officers, and border agents are expected to keep working without pay. But the Republicans? They’ll stand in front of Fox News cameras pretending to be heroes.

This is governance by tantrum. A toddler breaks his toy, cries, and then blames everyone else. The difference is that these toddlers wear suits, sit in Congress, and can tank the economy while patting themselves on the back.

The truth is simple: Republicans don’t want government to work. They want to break it, sabotage it, and then campaign on how broken it is. It’s cynical, it’s cruel, and it’s exhausting. And once again, it’s the American people who are caught in the crossfire.

So the next time Republicans whine about “big government,” remember this: they’re not trying to fix it. They’re just throwing matches into the house and blaming the smoke on everyone else.