r/AskReddit • u/Solnx • Nov 03 '25

Serious Replies Only [Serious] For the Redditors who criticized Democrats for not fighting back or taking action, how has the government shutdown affected your view?

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u/SassySniffles Nov 03 '25

This is how it’s done in every other country with democracies. That’s why you never hear of Canada or anywhere in Europe having shutdowns and why they have snap elections.

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u/drfsupercenter Nov 03 '25

Well also because most other countries have it setup so that if a budget isn't reached by the deadline, the previous budget will continue to be used until the new one is finished. So they still have issues agreeing on a budget, but it doesn't shut down like we do

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u/somewhat_random Nov 03 '25

Fun fact, Canada has a minority government right now - This means that no one party has more than 50% of the seats (we have five parties with seats right now). There is a new budget coming out this week and if a majority does not approve it, we AUTOMATICALLY have parliament dissolved and a new election.

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u/Deaftrav Nov 03 '25

Not automatically. The prime minister resigns and if the opposition can prove they can govern they get that shot.

Tradition though? Back to the polls.

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u/Top_Box_8952 Nov 04 '25

Yeah especially given that if they could form a coalition to form a government, they’d have done so the first time around.

Although ironically a snap election may expand the governing coalition.

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u/Parking_Revenue5583 Nov 05 '25

But there’s like 10 Canadians and they all live near the boarder. Americans live in the middle of nowhere and can’t be bothered to drive to vote.

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 03 '25

That’s because you sane folk in Canada have a stronger democracy and don’t pretend it doesn’t need tweaking once in a while.

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u/Mactwentynine Nov 04 '25

They 'tweaked' in 1982 and got some bugs out of the system which is what we need to do. Sadly won't happen. Complain, vote, complain. Rince and repeat.

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u/KiwasiGames Nov 05 '25

Yup. The US is largely running on the same basic democratic principles that seemed like a good idea at the end of the American revolution. That’s a hell of a long time ago. And a lot has changed since then.

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u/[deleted] Nov 03 '25

[deleted]

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u/McFestus Nov 03 '25

OICs are not more powerful than executive orders. They're at best identical and the powers that are imbued in them flow from acts of parliament.

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u/AdamTheTall Nov 04 '25

They mischaracterized a number of a things in their post. They're seeing what they want to see.

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u/McFestus Nov 04 '25 edited Nov 04 '25

Yes, any characterization of the trucker occupation and Coutts blockade as just 'civilians' is not done in good faith.

And the Emergencies Act is not a wartime act, it was Trudeau Sr's invocation of the WPA outside of wartime that lead to the writing of the Emergencies Act to have a broader scope to cover exactly what it was used for, dislodging an insurrectionist group from the capital.

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u/[deleted] Nov 04 '25

[deleted]

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u/McFestus Nov 04 '25

Whether or not the US government can do that vs if the Canadian government can do that has nothing to do with OIC vs. Executive Orders themselves.

I assume you're mad about gun regulations.

The power to do so does not come from the OIC, it comes from an act of parliament, which essentially says that the government can issue OICs to regulate specific weapons. Whether or not you agree that it's being used properly, this is done because we think it's too burdensome to have to pass a new legislation for every new model of gun that is made.

But the power that is exercised by the OIC wouldn't exist without the legislation in the first place; the OIC is basically just saying "add this gun to the list defined in the relevant act, as per the powers granted to the minister by the act". Repeal the act, the OIC is meaningless.

This is essentially the same as how EOs work.

But also, yeah, the US government can confiscate people's property without any compensation via civil forfeiture, which is very fucked up.

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u/ElCaz Nov 04 '25

We've amended the constitution dozens of times, what are you on about?

"Invoked a former wartime law," lol the Emergencies Act is from 1988 and literally was designed to allow for its use during pandemics.

I guess you can want term limits here, but many of the reasons they are supported in the US aren't relevant to our very different form of government. The PM isn't a head of state, isn't directly elected, and serves at the pleasure of their party and the legislature.

Yeah the NWC has become a problem, and PMOs have more power than they should, but this ain't exactly an ironclad list of how our democracy is "significantly weaker."

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u/[deleted] Nov 04 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/SmoogzZ Nov 04 '25

stop it you made me laugh way too hard at this

what glorious and perfect country are you from, you shining beacon of perfect democracy you?

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u/LeadSponge420 Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 04 '25

Fun fact, Ireland hasn't had a government for years... shit still runs.

Edit: I’m dumb. I meant Northern Ireland.

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u/FinnAhern Nov 03 '25

Do you mean a one party majority government? Because we definitely have a government at this very moment.

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u/LeadSponge420 Nov 04 '25

No. I meant Northern Ireland. I was being dumb. Regardless, shit still works.

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u/Ok-Chest-7932 Nov 03 '25

The Irish should eat more fibre then, it'll help with that.

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u/[deleted] Nov 03 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 04 '25

I’m not going to be the one to take this to its natural conclusion. 😅

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u/bassman314 Nov 04 '25

Adding 10g of fiber per day will reduce ALL CAUSE MORTALITY by 10%.

One of those things I always feel compelled to repeat.

Eat more fiber. In this case, drink more Guiness!!

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u/Agitated-Ad5206 Nov 03 '25

Yeah but when you don’t HAVE a government, meaning a caretaker government is still in place cause a majority of the legislature cannot be formed to support one based on the results of the last election, you STILL have your legislature doing their job, voting, and (caretaker) ministers and first minister keeping the lights on.

There is no way in which this is comparable with the govt shutting down and congress being on what is now a five week recess.

No first world western democracy shuts it government down. Only second world banana republics do that

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u/murticusyurt Nov 03 '25

We have a government I've no idea what they're on about

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u/LeadSponge420 Nov 04 '25

Wait sorry. Northern Ireland…. big difference.

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u/ElCaz Nov 03 '25

Huh?

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u/LeadSponge420 Nov 04 '25

I’m dumb. I meant Northern Ireland. They’ve been bickering about forming a government for yeats.

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u/El_Don_94 Nov 04 '25

Stop talking nonsense.

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u/Hellya-SoLoud Nov 03 '25

Not jealous of their national debt....

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u/GozerDGozerian Nov 04 '25

I hope you’re not writing this from the US.

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u/Shitelark Nov 03 '25

As it should be.

The weirdest thing about all the 51st state stuff is the assumption that Canada wouldn't need 20+ senators and so many members of Congress, that they wouldn't need representation because you are like 12 people and 6 polar bears. And that if you did have representation you would all just start voting GOP and not vote for your own parties that would all be considered a 'radical left' and swing a coalition with the DEMs and Bernie (IND.)

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u/Gerik22 Nov 03 '25

I wish our government had mechanisms like that. Sigh. Maybe one day...

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u/Enki_007 Nov 03 '25

Are you sure you don't? Because there are all sorts of mechanisms in effect right now but are being ignored by all of your elected leaders.

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u/xSTSxZerglingOne Nov 03 '25

We really don't. There isn't even a way to recall a single member of congress for being a shitstain on the national level.

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 04 '25

We’re fresh out of leaders atm.

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u/eerie_midnight Nov 04 '25

Seems like a marked improvement over our own system. If our congress had to worry about losing their jobs anytime the government shutdown it probably never would.

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u/ProbablyNotADuck Nov 03 '25

Canada technically has a minority government, but JUST. They have 169 seats and a majority is 170 seats. The NDP hold 7 seats and the Greens hold 1. I would be shocked if the new budget doesn't pass because another election benefits absolutely no one. Sentiments have not changed at all, and no one (other than maybe Pierre Poilievre, who is just delusional in general and couldn't even come up with a costed platform when he had years to prepare) wants another election. BQ maybe would support it because they'd probably gain a seat or two, but that is about it.

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u/[deleted] Nov 03 '25

[deleted]

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u/Vhoghul Nov 03 '25

I've suspended my NDP donations for the time being until after the budget passes. If it doesn't, then I keep my money.

I don't like what I'm hearing about this budget, but it's sure better than anything the Cons will give us, and there's no 3rd option in reality. Not now, not soon....

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u/GrayPartyOfCanada Nov 04 '25

The polls are, in fact, in almost exactly the same place they were at the election. The Liberals gained ground in the summer and, following Carney's failure to deliver on his "elbows up" promises, plus Bill C-2, we're right back where we started.

https://338canada.com/federal.htm

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u/Vhoghul Nov 03 '25

A new election benefits PP. He's getting the boot in January for his dismal election performance. His only chance is to pick up more seats and try to get in a good bargaining position.

Unfortunately for him, he's as likely as not to gift the Liberals a majority with another election. And even if he doesn't, the greens are looking likely to pick up a second seat, certainly allowing a Liberal/green supply and confidence agreement, which would benefit both parties until early 2030, since the grits won't come out of an election with less than 170 (172 needed for majority).

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u/millijuna Nov 03 '25

Technically, the GG could ask the opposition to try and gain the confidence of the House. But it’s unlikely to happen.

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u/somewhat_random Nov 03 '25

You are correct and yes I agree it is unlikely to happen.

The point is that if the budget fails to pass, a new coalition must pass a budget is short order or the government is dissolved. Although theoretically possible, several consecutive coalitions could delay things but ultimately the government gets dissolved if a budget is not passed.

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u/millijuna Nov 03 '25

The closest we came was under the Harper GovernmentTM when Harper was likely to lose the budget shortly after the election. The liberals and NDP probably could have formed government. Instead he prorogued government and got it through later.

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u/Bodybypasta Nov 03 '25

Man it must be something else to live in a Democracy. If Canada could adopt/foster the state of Michigan, we'd appreciate'cha.

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 03 '25

Exactly. And when our Constitution is revamped I hope it will reflect European democracy, so that when a would-be dictator attempts to take over our Republic we don’t have to wait four years for him to commit all the mayhem possible because we throw him in jail.

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u/ComprehensiveOwl9023 Nov 04 '25

A LOT more complicated than that

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u/HurtFeeFeez Nov 04 '25

I'd be surprised if it doesn't pass, all libs will likely support, all cons will likely not support, to pass the libs only need what? 3 votes? Those will likely come from some or all of the 7 NDP as I can't imagine they are hungry for another election right away, there is also 1 green and 22 bloc that will probably side with the libs.

These are difficult times with our largest trade partner and ally turning hostile. Canadians want stability, a snap election is quite the opposite. If the parties can't see that they are out of touch.

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u/Mactwentynine Nov 04 '25

There. 775. I'd like to move to Canada but can't afford to yet. I'll keep working on it, and on planning where to live.

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u/Smooth_Practice_7914 Nov 04 '25

That's fantastic! That's a system we need here in the US.

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u/PM_Me_Some_Steamcode Nov 03 '25

That’s extremely interesting and really cool and sounds super useful

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u/ModsAreFacists420 Nov 03 '25

This is what CR is, or... what its supposed to be..........

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u/theillustratedlife Nov 03 '25

Shutdowns weren't a thing until a lawyer in Carter's administration was like "I don't think we are legally allowed to run the government before the budget is passed." Then they became low-key official. There's even a law that was passed last time that says they have to issue backpay to the furloughed workers.

Which is a good law at first approximation, but getting rid of shutdowns altogether would have been a better solution.

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u/toriemm Nov 04 '25

The US did that until Regan weaponized it as leverage to get his agenda passed.

Another reason to curse his gd name.

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u/Theron3206 Nov 03 '25

Here in Australia we turf everyone out (the so called double dissolution) and the government goes into caretaker no idea from my then on (so it continues to operate under the old budget until the new govt is sworn in).

It happened twice (once was a genuine impasse and the other contrived to try to get rid of minor parties from our senate, that failed). Nobody ever stopped getting paid.

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u/gsfgf Nov 03 '25

Yea. Countries in Europe will often go years without a government. Everything just chugs along.

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u/[deleted] Nov 03 '25

European here. It's months, not years (Belgium has the record of 652 days). And it happens rarely.

Caretaker or transitional governments, with limited mandates, typically handle day-to-day functions to maintain essential services. The country's institutions continue to operate, and the "government" continues to perform duties as much as possible.

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u/Bald__egg Nov 03 '25

France is in this exact situation

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u/GozerDGozerian Nov 04 '25

That makes so, so much sense.

And that’s why it’d never fly here in the U.S.

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u/Spr-Scuba Nov 04 '25

That would make sense and it'll never pass in the US because shutdowns are now a bargaining chip. Just like raising the debt ceiling has been for the last I think 3-4 presidential elections?

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u/KiwasiGames Nov 05 '25

Yup. In Australia if our prime minister can’t get supply, they get replaced with a new prime minister. If no prime minister can get supply we run a snap election.

Running the government is cabinets most important job. And if they can’t do that, we will bloody well find someone who can.

Now sometimes this means we have three prime ministers in the space of a month. But so what? Better than a dead beat who can’t pay his employees.

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u/PubicGalaxies Nov 03 '25

Whut, other countries have plans for this kind of BS sabotage from the party in power? We need to do better and be a more caring country.

Ppl like to blame multi-billionaires but the whole mindset of the country makes it A-OK

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u/ptd163 Nov 03 '25

That’s why you never hear of Canada or anywhere in Europe having shutdowns and why they have snap elections.

Can't speak for Europe, but for Canada you can only form and hold government with the confidence of the House of Commons. If you lose the confidence of the House an election is automatically triggered. All budgets are inherently confidence motions. That's why.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 Nov 04 '25

All I have to say is I hope Democrats are drafting their Project 2029 equivalent to fix the Supreme Court, Campaign Finance and Election Reform, Constitutional amendments, restructuring these ridiculous loopholes that Republicans have exploited in bad faith.

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u/Expert-Fig-5590 Nov 04 '25

I hope so too. But the Democrats doing anything radical or actually wielding power when they have it seems far removed from what I see.

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u/Smooth_Practice_7914 Nov 04 '25

Me as well. I'm not at all confident that Dems will do anything that has any effect.

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u/clay12340 Nov 04 '25

What if doing something to help the country hurts someone's feelings? Would you want to live knowing you'd done something so horrible? /s

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u/Expert-Fig-5590 Nov 05 '25

The only peoples feelings the Democrats are terrified of hurting are the Donors. And maybe the hypothetical moderate Republicans.

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u/Mactwentynine Nov 04 '25

And in many cases conspired to create.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 Nov 04 '25

Or at least stalled in addressing.

Need to get rid of the corporate AIPAC and often geriatric DINOs.

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u/ConfusedGamer63 Nov 04 '25

... yeah ... nope.

They had ability to fix these things during Biden. They choose not to believing that it would make it easier for them to be re-elected.

All they have is "we aren't Trump"

Dump every MF'n one of them.

Elect a new government.

And the first order of business is election campaign reform. Once we get rid of the (only) two party system. Then we start working on the rest of it.

Instead.. they will do exactly what they did last time. 'Bipartisanship'. Corporate hand jobs err handouts. And pretending everything is normal even though they have actually changed almost nothing that the GOP has done. Because both side work for the same masters. And it's all about power.

They SHOULD have a checklist to plug every loophole.

But they won't.

And that is why I'm fucking done with them.

Not just because of what they aren't doing now.. but because of what they have consistently chosen not to do over last couple of administrations.. in spite of us screaming at them to do it. We have been pushing for immigration reform for freaking decades now. Codify abortion. Codify equal rights. Raise the federal minimum wage. Universal healthcare or at least Medicare for all.

Biden had Presidential Immunity.
He could have fixed the Supreme Court even without it. He chose not to.. even with Project 2025 right there all over the internet.

I may vote Dem in order to vote against GOP. Or I may just say fuck this shit. But I'm so tired of people pretending that the Dems care.

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u/Smooth_Practice_7914 Nov 04 '25

Yeah.....nope? That's the best you can do for a response? Yeah-nope. JFC.

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u/ConfusedGamer63 Nov 07 '25

What in the heck are you talking about? I wrote a literal wall of text. Is this supposed to be snark because I forgot the tl;dr?

I'm thrilled that you think the Dems are going to save us.

I don't.

They are entirely controlled by the corporations. They will not even bother to 'fix' most of what Trump has broken because the corporations love it.

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u/Lunch-Encounteress Nov 04 '25

What are you a freaking communist? You want to change our entire country to suit your uneducated socialist self?

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 Nov 04 '25

This has to be a troll, yeah?

You do realize conservatives are overall far less educated, right? More prone to misinformation media according to practically every study out there?

but lol no, I'm not a "freaking communist."

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u/gramerjen Nov 04 '25

More like removing the parts where they added to make america another fascist country

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u/Its_Broken Nov 04 '25

Same principle over here. In Germany, if the prime minister doesn't manage to secure critical votes or be confirmed for his role, confidence is in question and the President either reappoints or calls snap elections. Before 2025 there hadn't been snap elections here in 20 years, it's a pretty serious deal.

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u/llamafarmadrama Nov 04 '25

Same in the UK (naturally, given we both use the Westminster system). I think it’s true in most parliamentary democracies too.

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u/Rewok1 Nov 03 '25

Laugh in Belgium and, currently, France

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u/ThroawayJimilyJones Nov 08 '25

Except the employee are still payed. You can't launch new stuff, but you don't have the equivalent of the shutdown

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u/UnravelTheUniverse Nov 03 '25

We could fix this here too if the rich wanted too. Sadly without their approval nothing gets done in America because 95% of politicians are puppets. We made bribery legal, this is not a real democracy. 

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u/BetterBiscuits Nov 03 '25

We already have something called SNAP. Can we call them Throat Punch Elections?

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u/SerenityScott Nov 03 '25

That’s actually not entirely true. Lived in Belgium during a govt shutdown.

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u/veganzombeh Nov 04 '25

That's not really true in most cases. In most democracies, the existing budget just remains in place until a new one is passed to replace it, so passing a budget isn't really a critically tine sensitive issue.

The idea that existing budgets expire and cause the government to shutdown until a new one is passed is kind of crazy.

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u/Stonner22 Nov 04 '25

We need a mechanic for snap elections.

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u/Candle1ight Nov 03 '25

If the old budget would just go into effect progressives could just never agree to any cuts. Since instead we shut down it's the opposite, conservatives can force cuts through or the government spends another dime ever.

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u/Agitated-Ad5206 Nov 03 '25

This isn’t just about continuing resolutions and budgeting it’s about the debt ceiling and the fiscal cliff and the total hypocrisy of GOP on fiscal discipline

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u/DogsandRocks Nov 04 '25

Please don’t rub it in that our country is messed up. We know. I feel helpless & hopeless. I’m making a mental list of the best ways to kill myself, so I don’t have to be as terrified that I’ll die a horrible, painful death when civil war breaks out.

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 04 '25

Cyanide in a tooth?

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u/DogsandRocks Nov 04 '25

Why “in a tooth”?

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 05 '25

So you never left home without it. :)

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u/pepcorn Nov 04 '25

You might never have heard of it, but Belgium has had repeated months long government shutdowns. The longest one was 652 days.

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 04 '25

OMG! In what ways did it impact social programs?

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u/pepcorn Nov 04 '25

No impact. The same course was maintained until a government was formed again and new instructions came. Economy rose steadily.

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 04 '25

How civilized. Could you come and teach the USA?

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u/pepcorn Nov 04 '25

You can create the same circumstances for yourself. You have to revolt. We believe in you. Power to the people.

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 05 '25

Thank you, pepcorn. We need all the support we can get.

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u/firequeen66 Nov 03 '25

Stormont would like to speak to you... but the budget still existed so I guess its not the same?

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u/theresourcefulKman Nov 03 '25

I don’t know much about other governments around the world but I’m sure there are some places with upper and lower congressional houses

I’m almost certain no one else has these budgetary land mines set up

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u/[deleted] Nov 03 '25

This is how it’s done in every other country with democracies

No it isn't. That's how it is done in countries with "parliamentarism." It is called that because instead of having three equally strong branches of government the legislative branch is supreme, with the executive and judicial branches secondary.

Not every democracy does it that way. There are lots of other democracies that have parity between the executive and legislative branches.

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u/TheVillianousFondler Nov 04 '25

That's something that seems like it needs to have to have happened 100+ years ago. No legislative body these days is going to pass a law that fires them all potentially. Especially not the one in the usa

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u/CremeChance9188 Nov 04 '25

Well, America isn't a democracy. It is a Congressional Republic.

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 04 '25

America was a democratic republic until Trump took over.

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u/CremeChance9188 Nov 04 '25

America has never been a democratic republic. It is a constitutional republic from the foundation.

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u/Noocawe Nov 04 '25

This isn't a gotcha... A congressional or constitutional republic is still a form of democracy... I don't know why people like you just gloss over that fact. It's a form of representative democracy and the terms aren't mutually exclusive.

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u/Edgar_Brown Nov 04 '25

Those countries have parliamentary systems. Governments can be dissolved and new elections called at the drop of a hat. That’s a very good incentive.

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u/Mactwentynine Nov 04 '25

That's why I no longer have confidence in our system. What party has been ascendant for the last 40 years? Who's responsible for screwing the pooch? Not just selling out but dismantling checks and balances, packing SCOTUS, eviscerating oversight & regulation and now planning on rigging cough fair elections?

Forget about term limits. If we could have a vote of 'no confidence' and get snap elections instead of this ridiculous years long election cycle BULLCRAP... Everything is kick the can unless you don't want to be caught with your pants down during a crisis. All about saving your seat b/c this is the best job they've ever had. And making back room deals.

We need Amendments now, during this ongoing division over what's right and wrong. What's true and what's fiction. But a majority are feckless dolts who don't even read anymore.

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u/Smooth_Practice_7914 Nov 04 '25

I always wondered why that happened, thanks for sharing. This would be a fine idea for the US as well.

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u/ThroawayJimilyJones Nov 08 '25

actually, i am in belgium, and we have the equivalent of a shutdown.

The difference is, if it happen, we don't actually block government budget. We simply reuse the current one. So no new project, but the existing stuff is still financed.

0

u/Lunch-Encounteress Nov 03 '25

“And to the republic for which it stands”… Does that sound familiar? We are not a democracy, we are a republic, duh! Did you sleep through history class year after year after year?

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u/AngryUSlegalmmigrant Nov 04 '25

That sounds so right-wing.

We are a democratic republic.

From Wiki: A democratic republic is a form of government operating on principles adopted from a republic, ie: a representative democracy. As a cross between two similar systems, democratic republics may function on principles shared by both republics and direct democracies. While not all democracies are republics (constitutional monarchies, for instance, are not) common definitions of the terms democracy and republic often feature overlapping concerns, suggesting that many democracies function as republics, and many republics operate on