Both my wife and I are on unpaid furlough with no expectation of back pay. We’re losing thousands of dollars and my household is effectively unemployed so that Democrats can extend temporary benefits to rural hospitals to serve people who’d never, ever vote for them. I say let the rural states get what they voted for and let me get back to work. They’d say “My hospital went bankrupt!” and I’d say “congratulations! You finally did it!”
I don’t want to minimum your situation, which I agree is awful, but I must say that I’m someone who relies on the ACA subsidies, and I’m definitely not a Republican. So it isn’t just MAGA who would lose out if they were eliminated.
It doesn’t have to be either-or. They could open the government and still try to get enhanced ACA subsidies. The reality is they don’t have the votes for it. So they’ve decided to hurt innocent people by means unrelated to those subsidies to try to strong arm the majority into caving. If the country wanted ACA subsidies, they wouldn’t need to shut down the government to pass it. But the country doesn’t, so some Democrats in one chamber of one branch of government have taken hostages instead.
Open the government. Then fight for subsidies. If it fails to pass in the Senate, then that’s just democracy in action. The people have spoken.
Let me make it clear that I am very sympathetic to your situation and regardless of whose fault it is, it is unfair to put you (and the hundreds of thousands of impacted government employees and contractors) at financial hardship because legislators will not do their jobs.
In terms of this shutdown, it is absolutely a situation manufactured by Republicans, and specifically by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson who has directed Republicans to not negotiate or discuss the issue of ACA tax credits (not “enhanced subsidies”) or any other issue with Democrats. There is no question of negotiation, either now or post-reconciliation bill; Republicans have been ordered to just stonewall (as also quite crudely directed by the President). That is not “just democracy in action”; that is refusal to adhere to democratic (small “d”) norms in compromise. If just this refusal to negotiate doesn’t make it clear that the Republicans want this shutdown, Mike Johnson told GOP Representatives to go home last week and on Friday declared that they should remain home this week even. though the House will be in session, so even if enough Democrats were willing to break ranks and vote for the resolution, no action on ‘reopening’ the government could possibly happen until some time next week, period. That should make it absolutely clear whose fault this is.
Of course, the issue isn’t just ACA tax credits; there are a whole host of things that this budget is funding such as an expansion of DHS and ICE, the cutting of large swaths of federal agencies and personnel, dismantling climate and weather surveillance programs, et cetera, which should also be vigorously opposed; Democrats have just picked the attempted evisceration of the ACA because it will impact tens of millions of Americans (and no, not just “ the rural states…what they voted for”) and gain the attention of people who don’t otherwise care about our rapid slide into authoritarianism and large scale and brutal persecution of people who are actually key to elements of our economy.
Your anger is well justified but the focus is not; it is Republicans who have engineered this shutdown, quite deliberately and for their own purposes, and frankly you are probably not going to be well served either way if Russ Vought gets his way of cutting a majority of federal jobs and ‘privatizing’ numerous government agencies.
Stranger
To be clear, it is the 31 member Freedumb Caucus, not Republicans in toto. They got rid of Speaker McCarthy for compromising so Speaker Johnson is taking his orders from them.
I’m not sure I’m directly impacted.
We got a print out last week that said anyone relying on government subs..Medicade or Medicare will still be on their same schedule. No one will be refused their dialysis.
I’m not on these programs but my understanding is the Kidney assc or Diabetes assc will cover it for the patients who are.
This morning I get there and their Wifi is down. Lemme tell you folks were up in arms. So many rely on their tablets, phones to get through the treatment. There are TVs in the pods, but daytime TV leaves much to be desired.
They told us it’s a temporary funding problem and to make-do today. I was fine. Because I always have a crossword puzzles and my reader.
Don’t know if the “temporary funding problem” is government related. But plenty of people thought it did.
It’s scary for a person to think what keeps you alive may not be available next appointment. Wifi goes first. Then what??
The Clinic knows this and tries really hard to alleviate fear by telling us what’s happening as best they can.
First of all, it isn’t true to that they can’t reopen this week. The House passed a clean CR last month. The Senate can pass it at any time, and the President would sign it. They could have this fight in November if they wanted to. They don’t want to. Why is that? Leverage. Democrats need leverage, and the only leverage they have is me.
Secondly, I don’t get why you want to hang your hat on rebranding the enhanced subsidies to something else. For one thing, they’re not erasing subsidies completely. The OBBB simply allowed the American Rescue Plan subsidies to sunset as they were originally intended to do. Those were temporary COVID relief funds. We don’t need COVID relief funds. Ergo, they should go away, like they were always meant to. Second, there’s no doubt they’re called subsidies. The Inflation Reduction Act reads “Subtitle C–Affordable Care Act Subsidies”. It’s right there in the title of the relevant section. Why argue these silly semantics?
Anyway…Democrats can still make it right. Just pass this and this. Simple. If suranyi gets money by virtue of “relying” on it, then so do I. Agreed?
Except “The Country” actually does want ACA subsidies. Even among Republican and MAGA voters.
The new survey found 59% of Republicans and 57% of “Make America Great Again” supporters favor extending the enhanced subsidies.
It’s stupid as hell that they voted Republican if this is what they wanted, but “Stupid as hell” has pretty much defined US politics for at least two decades now. But the fact of the matter is, the Republican led government is flat-out ignoring the will of the US population, including that of their own voters, at least on this issue.
More like anything to help with health insurance costs, but yes.
Yes, I understand that! That’s why it’s dumb to shut down the government over it. If people want it bad enough, they’ll get it. If they don’t get it, it’s because they didn’t want it bad enough. Bad enough to, for example, vote Democrat.
There would be no “fight in November” because there would be nothing left to negotiate. The Republicans would have everything they want funded of the “OBBB” and Democrats would have zero leverage to force Democrats to negotiate anything. Negotiation and compromise are inherent cornerstones to keeping the legislature and government functioning, and Democrats have indicated that they are willing to do both on many issues; it is Republicans who will not willing to compromise or even negotiate in good faith on any thing because they want a government shutdown.
This is incorrect; these ‘subsidies’ (the “enhanced premium tax credit”) are part of the original Affordable Care Act and not “temporary COVID relief funds”. The sunset was something that was negotiated in the original passage of that act to get Republican votes, and without them the plan would be come unaffordable for some and as a result premiums will jump up enormously for people remaining. The ACA itself was a highly compromised act to try to ensure broad health insurance coverage for those who do not receive it through employers, which is something every other developed nation provides at greatly reduced costs. It is not a ‘nice to have’; it is something critical for the well-being of millions of Americans who could not otherwise afford health care services.
Anyway, Republicans can still make it right. They can sit down at the table, negotiate an acceptable compromise to get the votes they need to pass reconciliation, and reopen the government. That they are utterly, completely, and flagrantly opposed to any kind of compromise indicates how completely disinterested they are in ending a shutdown or showing any empathy or concern for their constituents. So, no, we are not “agreed”.
Stranger
I know it’s a typo, but that sums up so much that’s wrong with the Democrats lately…
Republicans and two Democrats repeatedly vote on legislation to open the government. Democrats vote against it, and you want me to think Republicans have shut it down? The bills aren’t even the final say on the subsidies, which is what they’re called. I do think it’s funny you linked an article that says “Known as the enhanced premium tax credit, the subsidy has been used by millions of low- and middle-class households since it was authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021”.
Read it for yourself. It’s section 9661. In 9661B, you’ll even read the words “temporary rule for 2021 and 2022.”
I’m beginning to think you are misunderstanding what the past legislation did and what the future, proposed legislation will do. You seem to think it’s stripping out ACA subsidies. It’s not. Section 9661 enhanced subsidies from the ACA base. That’s why they’re called enhanced premium subsidies.
The text says “In the case of a taxable year beginning in 2021 or 2022.” Then came the Inflation Reduction Act. Read SEC. 12001. It replaces that with “after December 31, 2020, and before January 1, 2026”. This is the enhanced subsidy under discussion. You seem to think the proposal will eliminate all ACA subsidies, when really they’ll only eliminate those extra subsidies that went into effect 4 years ago.
Yes, a complete unwillingness to negotiate on the issue (or anything in the supposed ‘clean CR’) is Republicans choosing to shut government down. Unless your definition of ‘compromise’ is that one party gives everything the opposing party wants and gets nothing whatsoever in return, Republican refusal to even come to the table is an intentional decision to end up where we are today.
My error; you are correct that these tax breaks (“subsidies”) were from the ARPA. Nonetheless, millions of people have come to rely upon them to be able to afford even the minimal health care coverage offered by the ACA, and not renewing them is putting those people—including millions of children—into medical and fiscal jeopardy, which is something you’d think that those family-oriented ‘Compassionate Conservatives” in the GOP would care about if they weren’t complete hypocrites.
The DNC and ‘mainline’ Democratic leaders are truly the Democrats’ worst enemy.
Stranger
I think it is challenging to even speak of this immediate situation - the “shut down - as a discrete event. The Rs have been running roughshod over the Dems (and the Constitution, long established practices, and damned basic decency) since Trump came in. Heck, we can even go back further and see how much it has benefitted Dems to try to negotiate w/ Rs going back to at least Obama. You think you are negotiating in good faith and the Rs view it as an opportunity to pick the Dems and their supporters’ pockets. Any time the Dems give in on something, thinking it the correct and decent thing to do, and hoping it will incline the Rs to cooperation later on - such efforts have repeatedly proven misguided.
In my mind, the issue is instead, when do the Dems finally realize that something is important enough to stand up to the Rs, rather than caving just to allow something resembling normality to continue? Well, in my mind, the present is as good a time as any.
And let me say something about this whole concept of a “shut down.” It is largely meaningless bullshit. I’m still having to put in my full hours and carry my full workload - even tho I’m not exactly sure when I’m gonna get paid. The ICE assholes are still out there ICEing. But this - and the so frequently recurring past shutdowns, budget crises, continuing resolutions - really doesn’t change much. Not any more than any number of crises manufactured by DOGE or XO.
This is just one opportunity in which the Dems have SOME momentary power, which they are trying to use to get something good out of. Electoral biases in the Senate and electoral college have skewed things away from Dems. And many states are trying to press that advantage through aggressive redistricting. We’ll see what the Supremes do this term - they sure haven’t been a strong bulwark while in recess. Moreover - incomprehensively - it appears as tho there is little if any groundswell of the decent and the sane against Trump.
I would like to be sanguine about the prospects for tomorrow. But given the opponents and their proven track record, I’m perfectly comfortable with the Dems pressing ANY advantage they may have today.
I want to be clear that I know that, and in fact it’s the enhanced premium subsidies that I am currently relying on.
Yes, a couple of times when I was a Treasury officer.
But both times we got paid after all.
Basically, your argument is that Democrats are justified in shutting down the government, therefore Republicans are shutting down the government.
Power to do what? Power to shut down the government. Which they did.
I’ve never had my government shut down.
You are set in your thinking, which is fine.
But IMO, they have the power to at least highlight the health care issue. Maybe - just maybe, they might gain some concessions. Heavens knows nothing less drastic has gotten the Rs’ attention. And if they don’t get the attention of the Rs, maybe they’ll get the attention of some voters.
Is a shutdown necessarily worse than just going along and letting Trump and the Rs do whatever they wish?