While Republicans threaten to bring the government to a halt, Democrats are caving in to the austerity measures they demand. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite, File) This fall, as Washington geared up for the recurring spectacle of another prospective shutdown of the federal government, many Americans were experiencing a different shutdown—one already in its final stages. With the retirement of the $52 billion childcare stabilization program at the end of September, the last vestiges of the Covid-era welfare state have been expunged. Earlier casualties of America’s reversion to the old, austerian normal included the wildly popular and effective […]
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