John Thune: “This Democrat shutdown is actually delaying progress on the issues that Democrats claim to be interested in.”

It's an economic frustration.

I just think, if you’re looking at issues that we want to get at the heart of what everybody seems to be saying, the Democrats and others are saying, are important, we're concerned about.

It's a pretty simple measure, but an important way to ensure that members of Congress are held to the standards that America should be able to expect of their representatives.

The only conclusion one can draw is that the Democrats have concluded that it is good politics for them not to allow the Republicans to ‘get a victory’ or the president to ‘get a victory’ in the middle of a political season.