The Tail Wagging the Dog: A Southern Perspective on the 2025 Government Shutdown
By Dean Burnette – Louisiana Born, Georgia Grown, and Still Not Crazy (Yet)
October 29, 2025
(Politics | Southern Fried Thoughts)
Now, listen here, and I don’t mean to preach—well, maybe a little—but the government’s been shut down going on a month now, and the only thing getting paid are the talking heads on cable news. And I swear, if I hear one more reporter say, “Republicans have shut down the government,” I’m gonna hang up my sweet tea and take up bourbon. Because honey, that ain’t the truth. That’s a fine layer of fancy frosting on a stale, day-old donut.
Let me paint it for you like Mama paints her Easter eggs—with color, a little mess, and a whole lot of heart.
The government isn’t shut down because conservatives are “refusing to fund it.” The government is shut down because the Democratic tail is trying to wag the American dog. And that dog? That dog just got re-elected by millions of folks who actually work for a living, pay taxes, and like their paychecks to come on time—unlike a whole bunch of fed workers right now.
Our president—the one you may have heard of, the guy with the golden touch for making sleepy economies wake up like a rooster at sunrise—was sent back to D.C. by an overwhelming majority. Not a whisper. Not a squeak. A roar. And the House? Controlled by Republicans. You know, the folks elected by actual districts, actual voters, actual taxpayers. Not lobbyists, not donors, not TikTok influencers. People.
And what are they doing? For once—for once!—they’re standing up and saying, “Hold on now, I done promised my people I’d stop the red ink before my own granddaddy’s ghost starts haunting me.”
They’re trying to slow the spending hose that’s been spraying money like a busted fire hydrant since the pandemic. And guess who’s standing in the way? None other than Senator Chuck Schumer and his crew of “We Can’t Let Go of Free Stuff” Democrats. So now we’re calling it the Schumer Shutdown, and you know what? If the boot fits, wear it—and polish it, because it’s been on his foot for three weeks.
So What Are They Really Mad About?
Now, don’t let the media sweet-talk you. This ain’t about “protecting essential services”. Democrats are holding the entire federal government hostage—not over border security, not over inflation, not even over those poor air traffic controllers calling in sick ’cause they can’t pay their light bill—but over pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies.
You read that right
Subsidies that were meant to last two years—back when half the country was sneezing into paper bags and ordering toilet paper like it was gold—are now being demanded as a permanent entitlement. Permanently. Forever. “Till death or bankruptcy do us part.”
But here’s the real kicker—the one they won’t say on the morning news unless forced at gunpoint—these subsidies also cover health care for illegal aliens!
Say what?
Yep. If an individual is here without authorization, but enrolls in a plan through the Obamacare exchange and later gets their status adjusted—say, through one of those endless “pathways to citizenship” bills—then the government picks up the tab retroactively. Back to the first day they signed up.
You mean to tell me some fellow hops the fence, signs up for a $1,200-a-month plan with a $5 co-pay, and 18 months later when Congress passes amnesty, the American taxpayer gets handed the bill for two years’ worth of care?
And my elected “representative” in D.C. is fine with that? While American veterans sit on waitlists so long their ailments have gray hair?
I don’t have the right words for that.
The reality of the cost for care to illegal aliens. Now, these specific subsidies might be aimed at citizens, but when you pump billions of taxpayer dollars into an already bloated and inefficient healthcare system, and then that same system is expected to provide uncompensated care for folks who ain’t even supposed to be in this country, guess who ends up paying? You guessed it – us. Every single one of us who pays taxes, who works hard, who plays by the rules. When our system is already propped up by these sky-high, unsustainable subsidies, the cost of treating folks who enter our country illegally and can’t pay for their own care just gets swallowed up and passed on to the rest of us. It’s like buying a brand new truck but finding out you gotta pay for all the gas for every joyrider on the interstate too. It just ain’t right, and it adds insult to injury when our own citizens are struggling.
So, when you see Congress at a standstill, when you hear the media pointing fingers, I want you to remember this: Our President and many of our representatives are trying to act responsibly, to pull back on the reins of reckless spending. But a powerful few, the “tail” if you will, are trying to leverage the pain of a shutdown to force through more of the very spending that got us into this mess – all to keep a temporary, expensive, and ultimately unsustainable program alive.
Who’s The Tail Now?
You see what’s happening? A minority in the Senate—backed by a base that still thinks “defund the police” was a good marketing slogan—is telling the President, the House of Representatives, and the American people—who just voted for spending restraint—“Nuh-uh. Not unless we get our entitlements.”
That’s the tail wagging the dog.
And not just any dog. This is a working dog. A dog that goes to a job, pays taxes, checks IDs at the door, and doesn’t expect a participation trophy made of government cheese.
Federal workers. Good folks. They’re missing paychecks. My heart hurts for ’em. But let’s not pretend they’re the ones shutting things down. They didn’t design this mess. They’re just the ones holding the umbrella in the rainstorm caused by egos, entitlements, and a refusal to admit that maybe—just maybe—we can’t keep spending money we ain’t got.
The Moral of the Story?
Be very careful who you vote for.
Vote for folks who speak plain English, not political slurpees.
Vote for people who care more about the country’s ledger than their donor list.
Vote for leaders who aren’t afraid to say, “No, Chuck, we can’t keep borrowing from our grandchildren to pay for today’s good feelings.”
I know it’s tempting to believe the headlines. The media’s been pumping out the same story for a month now: “Republicans hurtin’ the little people.” But the little people? The ones driving trucks, flipping burgers, stocking shelves? They’re the ones paying for this nonsense. And they’re the ones saying, “When are we gonna stop throwing good money after bad?”
So while D.C. insiders juggle deadlines like circus clowns, let me leave you with this:
If your representative won’t stand up to free stuff politics, they don’t represent you. They represent the idea that America keeps the lights on by magic, and money grows on trees made of taxpayer tears.
When you pull that lever or fill in that bubble on election day, you’re not just picking a person—you’re picking a philosophy. You’re choosing between representatives who’ll stand up and do the hard work of fiscal responsibility, even when it’s unpopular, or, politicians who’ll promise you everything for free and send the bill to your grandchildren.
You’re choosing between leaders who understand that, compassion without wisdom is just expensive foolishness, and politicians who think the solution to every problem is to throw more of your money at it.
And if the Democrats want to keep holding their breath until they turn blue over expired pandemic perks?
Well, I reckon they can do that.
But I’ll be here, sippin’ tea, eating gumbo, and praying for a few grown folks to show up in Washington.
God help us all.
— Dean Burnette
Louisiana Born. Georgia Grown. Still Grateful.
Southern Fried Thoughts – Where Truth Gets Seasoned Before It’s Served
By the way, while we’re on this subject, I’m throwing in with Kandiss Taylor for Congress in my District.
P.S. If you came here for a hot take on Trump, I apologize. But if you came here for common sense with a side of Southern sass, well, darlin’—pull up a chair. The tea’s cold, the truth’s hot, and the gumbo’s on.