Democrats, Stop The Shutdown. You’ll Win In The End
By
Leonard Zwelling
The government shutdown drags on. The Republicans will not negotiate on extending health care insurance subsidies in the ObamaCare market until the continuing resolution to open the government is passed. It has been passed in the House.
In the Senate, 60 votes are needed for passage over a Democratic filibuster. The 60 is required to invoke cloture and move the legislation on to President Trump’s desk for signature. The Democrats have not allowed that to happen. The government remains closed. Federal workers are getting on food bank lines. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents are calling in sick. This has gone on long enough and no one is a winner—except maybe one person.
The President is playing hard ball. Why not? He has a scapegoat for the incipient misery in the Democratic leadership and while Congress is petrified in its inaction, he has free rein to run the country, if not the world. While the current situation is of no concern for most people I know, for many Americans there is not only the potential loss of health insurance, but SNAP benefits (food stamps) on November 1.
The Democrats are insisting that they must protect their constituents from the financial ruin that would ensue when the financial benefits of these ObamaCare subsidies vanish on January 1. Thus, they will not trust the GOP to address the issue in time (end of the year). But are they being wise?
Dr. Kleinerman has repeatedly made the point to me that the Dems should pass the continuing resolution and if the ObamaCare subsidies really do go away, those who lose the subsidies can blame that on the Republicans. Her point is that unless and until a sufficient number of Americans realize that the Trump Administration and the Republican Party are ready to let them suffer, they will never understand what the country voted for in 2024 and who is running all branches of the government. Any direct or indirect losses suffered by Americans while the government is shutdown will be blamed on the Democrats. Trump will see to that as will House Speaker Mike Johnson who is only made to look competent by the feckless leadership of the House and Senate Democrats.
I have received several emails and comments about how great Mr. Trump is doing, especially as a peace maker. That’s a maybe. I have seen no movement in Ukraine and, as I have written, there is no real Middle East peace yet despite what the President has said. It seems that he did lend his support to a settlement on the Cambodian-Thai border and has had a hand in some other improvement of foreign relationships. I will give him credit for his aggressive attempt to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Given his personality, I cannot imagine any other motivation for his globe-trotting.
As I have written, I have given Trump high marks for his border security and have absolutely no problem with his use of ICE to get law breakers out of the country. But, I am very concerned about Trump’s stripping out the fabric of American science, his war on academia, and his use of the Justice Department to settle old political scores. He is undermining the separation of powers by sidelining Congress and ignoring the Supreme Court. His use of the National Guard when local authorities don’t want them is undermining federalism.
In other words, the Democrats are inept and leaderless. The Republicans have a strong leader in Trump, but is he doing illegal things and, if so, who is going to stop him? Surely not the Supreme Court which has given him no fault permission to do anything he wishes to while in office.
Genie’s point is that in allowing the government to reopen, the Democrats would be forcing the Republicans to choose between funding the ObamaCare subsidies or inflicting misery on millions of Americans. The Republicans hold both houses of Congress and the presidency. They ought to be the ones making the hard choices. The Dems ought to give the GOP members what they want. Then, the Republicans will have a real challenge.
Her point—make them face the music—extend the subsidies or impoverish millions of Americans. Make this a GOP problem. The Dems should pass a clean continuing resolution and allow the Republicans to dig their way out of a health insurance crisis of their making.
4 thoughts on “Democrats, Stop The Shutdown. You’ll Win In The End”
Stop subsidies for Americans who have enough income to pay for their healthcare insurance
But what if the price of that insurance doubles? The fact of the matter is that the manner in which Americans pay for their health care is insane. If you get insurance at work, you usually get a reasonable deal–IF you can find a doctor. There’s reason concierge medicine is taking off. Of course, that is for the wealthy. The rest of the country scrambles for care that is often given in emergency roms and if never good primary care.
The US needs a real healthcare system with subsidies for physicians to provide primary care, pediatrics, and OB-GYN. We need to provide med school tuition for those who will focus on these areas.
Then we need a national health insurance plan where everyone is in the risk pool.
I have been an advocate for national health insurance for over 30 years. It is no closer to reality than it was when Bill Clinton took office. It’s a damned shame.
Len, you say that you support “his use of ICE to get law breakers out of the country”. To Trump this catchall phrase means ANYONE who is not a U.S. citizen. I, too, am in favor of getting the violent criminal immigrant out of here (as Trump campaigned about), but indiscriminate sweeps with masked, unidentifiable law enforcement cannot stand. There is inherent racial bias in this. Also, sending immigrants to alien countries without due process is inhumane and un-American.
OK. You are correct on all points, but the big one that overarches everything with Trump is his willingness to break the law. What you identify is a subset of that. I have a very close friends who said before the election that law and order will be gone if Trump is elected and he was right. Trump’s intent is often good. His execution is poor. He believes the ends justify the means. That is the song of an autocrat.