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Like many people, I’m disturbed by the way congressional Republicans have dealt with two big issues affecting children in recent months. The Republicans have allowed a health-insurance program for several million low-income children to lapse and have failed to pass a bill to protect the Dreamers, a group of immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

Many Republicans say they favor protecting the Dreamers and extending the health-insurance program, and yet they’ve failed to do so. In recent days, they have cynically used both issues as leverage in the government shutdown.

Given all of this, a big part of me would like to see the Democrats stand firm, accept no compromises and allow the shutdown to go on for as long as it needs to.