This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund .
There were no last-minute negotiations averting a shutdown in Washington last night. Democrats largely rejected the Republican version of the stopgap funding bill in a push to reinstate $1 trillion for Medicaid and extend Medicare subsidies. That was a funding push all Republican senators rejected in turn, during a vote on the Democrat’s stopgap funding bill.
“Democrats came ready to negotiate a bipartisan deal to keep the government open and lower health care costs, but Trump and Republicans refused,” Santa Barbara’s House Representative Salud Carbajal said in a press release on October 1. “Now service members are working without pay, civil servants face uncertainty, and families across the Central Coast are left wondering how this dysfunction will impact their lives.”