The Schumer shutdown appears to be coming to an end. It’s about time. By refusing to vote for a “clean” continuing resolution that would have kept government spending at the level they themselves had previously approved, Democrats have held the country hostage for 41 days. They have hurt Americans, angered their allies and dampened consumer confidence. For what?
What have Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his Democratic colleagues gained by putting hundreds of thousands out of work, endangering American air travelers, causing great hardship and fear for those who rely on SNAP benefits, and slowing the growth of the American economy?
Nothing. They haven’t won an extension of Obamacare premium subsidies, they haven’t undone the Medicaid reforms they fought tooth and nail against, and worst of all for Schumer, the shutdown has in no way endeared him to the democratic socialists who are tearing his party in two. Far from it.
One critic said of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “If you can’t lead the fight to keep Americans’ health care premiums from skyrocketing, what are you going to fight for?” (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
When Senator Schumer worked with Republicans to keep the government open last spring, he came under fire from progressives in his party who vowed to “oppose” President Donald Trump at every opportunity. They were furious that he caved to the Republican Party and didn’t get any concessions for allowing the government to continue to function.
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Never mind that polls always show that most Americans want our two political parties to work together to solve the country’s problems. It doesn’t matter that the president was elected by a majority of American voters. The left just won’t have it, democracy be damned.
One of Schumer’s fiercest critics at the time was far-left “Squad” member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has hinted that she might challenge her party’s de facto leader as he approaches re-election in 2028. In April, polls showed AOC could win that contest.
Today Schumer is in hot water again. California Rep. Ro Khanna, a progressive from Silicon Valley, has called for Schumer’s removal as minority leader. He and other liberals are furious that Schumer failed to keep his party united, instead getting eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus to vote in favor of reopening the government.
Khanna posted on
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Schumer is also under attack for not supporting Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old anti-Semitic democratic socialist recently elected mayor of New York City. Schumer couldn’t support Mamdani without angering his Jewish supporters and without alienating moderate Democrats, who are rightly shocked that their party has been hijacked by the far left.
Progressive Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan calls for Schumer to be replaced, posting on
Schumer is not the only Democratic official in his own party’s crosshairs. Progressive New York City Councilmember Chi Osse is apparently ready to challenge House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries when the latter is up for re-election next year. Another New York representative, Richie Torres, will face yet another anti-Israel progressive, former Bronx Assemblyman Michael Blake. Elsewhere, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is facing a major challenge from her own left-wing lieutenant governor.
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Meanwhile, while Democrats eat their own food, Americans discover the truth about Obamacare. Schumer and his Senate colleagues fought to extend increased subsidies put in place under President Joe Biden that made ACA health insurance premiums more affordable. These subsidies were intended to expire at the end of this year. However, it appears that without these subsidies, premium costs would skyrocket, putting insurance out of reach for millions of families.
The subsidies examined were included in the American Rescue Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, both of which passed with zero Republican votes. So it’s ridiculous for Democrats to blame the Republican Party for the expiration of those payments.
The truth is that Obamacare, which covers only 7% of Americans and was also passed only with Democratic votes, is a failed program. It was intended to reduce the cost of health insurance, but that never happened. It was designed so that millions of young, healthy Americans would be forced to sign up as a result of the “individual mandate,” a tax penalty that forced people to buy health insurance whether they wanted to or not. The expectation was that health care costs for that young cohort would be low, offsetting the higher costs of older and sicker Americans.
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The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ended the unpopular individual mandate, ending the underlying method of spreading the cost of insurance over a larger group of people. As a result, Obamacare covered more and more individuals with higher health care costs, and premiums rose.
Obamacare premiums will increase by about 30% overall next year; When the increased subsidies expire, some people will face a premium increase of 50% or more.
Democrats blame the Republican Party for creating a “health care crisis,” but that’s unfair. They voted for Obamacare and hid its true costs for years by offering increasingly generous subsidies. And they voted to eliminate those subsidies. The cost of continuing these payments would be approximately $350 billion over ten years, not including interest payments; the Trump administration wants to find a better path forward.
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Few Republicans want to tackle overhauling Obamacare, or our complicated health care system, as both have proven in the past to be “third rail” political issues. President Trump has proposed instead giving the billions of dollars that fund the Affordable Care Act tax credits directly to Americans, rather than channeling that money through insurers. That would presumably give consumers greater choice and better control over their healthcare dollars.
That seems like a promising approach, but in reality it’s just the tip of the Obamacare iceberg.
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