Dead Americans Can't Get Healthcare

The time to end the shutdown was November 5, 2024.

That is the only time that the American people had the opportunity to prevent what happened on late Sunday night. This was more than a six week government shutdown; this was a ten-month mission by a party of goddamn psychopaths who inherently opposes the social safety net. Who inherently opposes the fact that Obamacare provides affordable healthcare to 22 million Americans. Who openly and willingly are preventing the swearing-in of a United States congresswoman in order to protect a platoon of pedophiles. They are who they said they would be. Project 2025 publicly codified their beliefs and broadcasted it to anyone who was listening. Despite all this, 6 million Democrats said no to Kamala who had previously said yes to Joe Biden and 89 million Americans couldn't be bothered to walk a few blocks and engage in our democracy's most simple task of voting. We, as a country, sealed our fate on that November evening.

Since January, Democrats have been in the minority. Meaning there isn't a whole helluva lot they can do. This is why the Senate was able to appoint terrible people like RFK, Jr. This is why the big, beautiful bill passed without a single Democratic vote. But when the clock approached October 1st, Democrats suddenly had a chance. You see, Congress must vote to fund the government each fiscal year and while that vote requires a simple majority in the House, it requires a 60 vote threshold in the Senate. That means that Republicans suddenly needed the votes of at least 7 Democratic senators to keep government open. For the first time, Democrats could negotiate with Republicans for policies that would benefit the American people. Democrats honed in on the ACA subsidies which were set to expire at the end of the year. Were Congress not to renew these subsidies, then healthcare costs would spike for over 22 million Americans starting in January. The government shutdown was the Democrats' only way to bring this issue not only to congressional Republicans but to the American people. 

It was the political equivalent of a hostage blinking in Morse code. Not everyone would notice, but those that did would see something terribly wrong. Over the course of 40 days, Republicans made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with extending the ACA subsidies. They believed that the public would be on their side. This belief continued into November when the government shutdown caused SNAP recipients to not receive their monthly benefit. With 42 million Americans now on the verge of even more extreme food insecurity, Democrats worked the courts to try and compel the Trump Administration to do the right thing. But with Republicans more than happy to let poor people starve, Democrats were left with a choice: continue the fight or take what they can get and try to come back for more.

Remarkably, Democrats came away with a fairly significant haul which includes a continuing resolution that funds the government through January 30th. That gets millions of government employees back on the payroll and prevents what would have likely been utter chaos with a reduced air traffic control workforce working during the holidays. SNAP will be funded through the fiscal year, giving 42 million Americans breathing room once again. There will also be a scheduled vote on the ACA subsidies in December and while it isn't wrong to be skeptical of this vote, remember that Republicans now own either going back on their word or voting against extending the subsidies, causing massive healthcare increases in 2026. Oh, and let's not forget that with the House back in session, Mike Johnson finally has to allow Adelita Grijalva to be sworn-in, thereby giving us the 218th and final necessary member to discharge a vote on releasing the Epstein Files, something Johnson and the entire GOP have been actively working to prevent over the last seven weeks. 

Dead Americans can't get healthcare. Meaning that as much as we would want both SNAP and ACA subsidy extensions, that was never going to be an option with both on the table from the heartless GOP. So the question boiled down to what was the best deal Democrats could get despite their opponent holding the winning hand. But using poker as an analogy, sometimes you play a hand even though you know you're going to lose. That's what Democrats did here. There was no way of winning. But getting the GOP to fully fund SNAP, to swear in Adelita Grijalva, to hold a public vote on ACA subsidies changes the game down the line. The GOP still holds all the chips, but the game is out in the open. The cruelty being the point is now more visible than ever. The SNAP program is overwhelmingly more utilized in red states and those red states just saw their elected officials willingly refuse to fund the program that so many of them rely on to survive. What we witnessed over these past 40 days was the most heartless, inhumane political party in American history not give a flying fuck about millions of its voters. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't hide their disdain for the poorest among them. And this wouldn't have been possible had Democrats not held the line for as long as they did.

There are no good choices when negotiating with domestic terrorists, which is how we have to view the modern GOP. But Democrats have never been the party to let innocent people suffer. Ensuring that 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits through the holidays was the most pressing, urgent need. If the shutdown had gone into the holidays, who's to say that our media wouldn't have blamed Democrats for any travel disruptions? For families starving at Thanksgiving and Christmas? Our media would splurge in its pants knowing that they could blame Democrats for any pain and suffering rather than Republicans. Meanwhile we get into January and the ACA open enrollment window closes. Health insurance costs skyrocket without a vote. All so Democrats can feel good about holding the line? Child, please. 

Fuck the GOP. But fuck any bandwagon Democrats who are now parroting Republican talking points. This was the best worst option. Period. None of us are privy to the conversations Chuck Schumer and Democratic leadership are having. The fact that folks like AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Ro Khanna hate the deal should lead us to believe it was the right deal to make. Because as we've seen, this trio of turds loves to bitch and moan anytime Democrats make the right decision. It's their brand to be anti-Dem no matter the circumstances. They'd much rather make a stink on social media than go out to their districts and tell their SNAP beneficiaries that they won't be receiving funds over the holidays because of Democrats' "principled" stance. Democrats have to be the adults in the room or else innocent people suffer and die. If you don't understand that, then you're not better than your GOP counterparts. 

This was a complete GOP-created crisis passed onto the American people. It wasn't the first and it won't be the last. Hard choices will have to continue to be made. But these choices are made by adults in the room. They might not make sense in the moment. Yet it's critical to acknowledge that we are unfamiliar with the all the insider information. We have to trust Democrats to make the best decision in the moment based on the most readily available information. Many times, that decision will have to be the least bad option. And while that option may still feel bad, we have to acknowledge that it is critical and necessary to fend off American fascism to live and fight another day. 

All to get us one day closer to the 2026 midterms.