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Jared Golden of Lewiston represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. This piece was originally published on October 10 in “ Dear Mainer ,” Golden’s Substack. It is reposted here in its entirety, with permission.

Ten days into the government shutdown, both sides are blaming the other, trying to “win” the shutdown even as millions of federal workers and service members and their families lose pay and Americans suffer the harms that come when federal agencies are stripped to the bone or shuttered.

Too many politicians and pundits are purposefully muddying the waters

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