Buzzfeed reports that there is a silver lining to the government shutdown: while hardliners on both sides were fighting, moderates on both sides had a chance to sneak away and try to find common ground.
Buzzfeed notes that the Future Caucus, which was originated by Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Republican Rep. Aaron Schock, has been creating proposals for a bipartisan solution when the debt ceiling comes up for discussion again in January.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said:
We’ve got a lot of that going on during [the shutdown] amongst members. In fact, I’ve been part of a number of bipartisan groups talking about, “OK, well, if we give this plan from the Democrat perspective, what don’t you like about it, what do you like about it,” and try to find that area that we think we can find agreement. So that’s been a real positive out of all of this, all sides working together.
Schock said of the shutdown, “I would say that the number of people who thought this was a good deal at the beginning is much smaller than the people who think it’s a good deal today.”
He asserted that the GOP should leave the hard-right wing that will not compromise out of the picture, and added:
I think we need to do more than the budget. The budget is big. But if we’re going to do immigration reform, if we’re going to do any of the other big things that our country needs us to do, then they’re going to have to be bipartisan. So I’m imploring my leadership to find a coalition of the willing that want to pass legislation that can ultimately become law. Simply passing legislation that isn’t going to go anywhere is a bit of a pointless exercise.
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