In November 2008, during the peak of the Great Recession, incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel uttered one of the most politically savvy statements of the 21st century: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”
While Emanuel was specifically referring to the opportunity for congressional Democrats to pass sweeping social reforms in the midst of the economic crisis, the concept of leveraging turmoil for political gain has been applied by both parties for many decades. Earlier this month, however, Democrats squandered one such opportunity as a government shutdown was narrowly averted.
To be clear, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D- N.Y., was able to rally enough support from his colleagues to pass the Republican-authored continuing resolution—which funds the government through September—but the vote triggered a full-scale revolt from the…
