And joining us now as Bill Cher, who's the politics editor of the Washington Monthly.

He's the host of the History Podcast When America Worked and the co-host of the bipartisan online show and podcast, The DMZ.

And his latest articles at the Washington Monthly are, A Government Shutdown Looms, prepare for Democrats to disappoint, and Ezra Klein almost gets it right. Welcome to

background briefing, Bill Cher. Always a pleasure. Thanks for having me. Well, thanks to joining

his, Bill. And just let's start with your latest article, Ezra Klein almost gets it right. What is it

that he almost gets right? Well, he's talking about what Democrats should do about this looming shutdown.

We're at near the end of the federal fiscal year.

So we've been through this song and dance before.

The government has to pass a series of spending bills or consolidate into one bill

to keep the government open for the new fiscal year.

And it's always a tight rope and a drama.

And what do Democrats do to negotiate with a Republican administration that does not respect

bipartisan agreements.

You know, the Democrats did negotiate and accept spending bills earlier this year

to get through the rest of this fiscal year.

And then what did the Trump administration do?

They did what they call rescissions.

They passed one bill through Congress, which was at least legal,

but they could do it through partisan means to negate what was a bipartisan agreement on

foreign aid and public broadcasting. And then more recently, the Trump administration unilaterally

did its own rescission, which is arguably illegal and unconstitutional.

So you're not dealing with good with good faith bargaining partners here.

...