{"id":421623,"date":"2025-12-03T10:47:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T10:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/421623\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T10:47:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T10:47:20","slug":"those-obamacare-subsidies-arent-going-to-extend-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/421623\/","title":{"rendered":"Those Obamacare Subsidies Aren\u2019t Going to Extend Themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>(Composite \/ GettyImages)<\/p>\n

There are just thirteen legislative days left in the year, and unlike many American office workers, members of Congress cannot afford to check out and just \u201ccircle back\u201d after the holidays. Besides, they\u2019ve already taken a lot of time off<\/a> this year. As part of their deal to reopen the government after a record-setting 43-day shutdown, Senate Democrats were promised a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act\u2019s enhanced subsidies. But the problems brought on by procrastinating on this health care debate are already starting to take hold\u2014and the likelihood of Congress resolving the issues is, to put it bluntly, not very high.<\/p>\n

In the House, Democrats have proposed<\/a> a three-year extension of the enhanced subsidies. Cynical readers may (fairly) interpret this as a political gambit: The ask is big enough that it virtually guarantees the proposal will not pass. But then, if it does pass, the three-year timeline would bring the ACA subsidies debate back to center stage just in time for the 2028 presidential election. If lawmakers fail to reach a deal of any kind this month, the issue would be at the forefront of the midterm elections next year. Maybe one election-year fight is better than the other\u2014but in any case, Democrats are in a position to get at least one of them.<\/p>\n

During the government shutdown, a group of senators sought<\/a> a single-year extension, which House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries initially called a nonstarter<\/a> but later hinted could be palatable. Other possibilities include two years of the enhanced<\/a> subsidies coupled with new income caps and rules intended to prevent fraud. Either way, the opening Democratic demand of a three-year extension is simply too much for most if not all Republicans.<\/p>\n

Democrats maintain that the extensions are necessary to prevent a crisis\u2014one that is already starting to take shape<\/a>\u2014before the subsidies sunset at the end of the month. Staying true to form, Republicans have largely tried to obstruct new health reforms<\/a> with one hand while holding up competing<\/a> proposals<\/a> for health savings accounts\u2013based solutions with the other.<\/p>\n

Jeffries told reporters on Monday that while there have been informal bipartisan negotiations on a two-year extension led by Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), \u201cThere certainly haven\u2019t been any leadership conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeffries isn\u2019t holding his breath for them to begin, citing widespread House GOP opposition<\/a> to health care negotiations in which they are not in sole control.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it appears that Donald Trump actually might be about to enter into a good-faith, bipartisan effort to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, House Republicans detonate the agreement,\u201d he said. \u201cThese people aren\u2019t serious about anything other than providing massive tax breaks to their billionaire donors.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Senate, Democrats have an arguably more realistic conception for a potential deal: something that extends the subsidies less than three years, and that might also include some additional Republican-friendly tinkers, such as income phaseouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see the longest extension possible, but I\u2019m flexible,\u201d Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told me on Monday. \u201cUltimately, we\u2019re only passing something with Republican votes. It\u2019s obviously not like they\u2019re gonna agree to an extension as long as we would like. So . . . if the stars align and Republicans realize that this is the right thing to do for them and for the country, then we can\u2019t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good might have another, equally formidable enemy. Although they balked<\/a> at the White House\u2019s recent unilateral proposal for extending the subsidies, congressional Republicans may nonetheless wait to enter into negotiations in good faith until after hearing whether President Donald Trump wants them to go ahead.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s endorsement of a specific plan or approach \u201cwould help, but it\u2019s not a requirement,\u201d Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told me.<\/p>\n

Share<\/a><\/p>\n

The Washington Post reported<\/a> last Friday that, \u201cto comply with [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth\u2019s instructions\u201d to (in an anonymous source\u2019s paraphrase) \u201ckill everybody\u201d aboard an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean, the special operations commander ordered a second strike to kill two survivors of the initial explosion as they clung to the wreckage in the water. The White House confirmed the second strike on Monday, but also clarified that it was Adm. Mitch Bradley who gave the second-strike order.<\/p>\n

As the key facts of the event come into focus, at least one Republican still refuses to actually acknowledge the story\u2019s factual basis at all.<\/p>\n

In a gaggle with reporters Monday afternoon, Sen. Kennedy defiantly waved off the White House\u2019s own confirmation of the strikes in order to keep landing rhetorical hits against the paper that published the initial reporting:<\/p>\n

\n

I read the Washington Post article, and there wasn\u2019t an exact quote from Secretary Hegseth. The anonymous source paraphrased what the secretary allegedly said. So here we\u2019ve got a story in the Washington Post, which is known to hate Trump and Republicans, by a reporter who was citing an anonymous source that supposedly is saying that Hegseth said it before the strike even happened, but they don\u2019t know exactly what he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When a Post reporter (not an author on the second-strike story) noted that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the follow-up strike had happened, Kennedy said, \u201cI don\u2019t care what the White House press secretary said. I read the Washington Post article, and I think it\u2019s typical Washington Post bullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennedy insisted that because the Post has never endorsed a Republican presidential candidate, then its reporters must be lying, even about things the administration admits to having done.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a democratic socialist newsletter,\u201d Kennedy concluded. \u201cAnd you\u2019ve got an anonymous source that doesn\u2019t even have a direct quote attributing it to the secretary of defense. I\u2019m not gonna comment on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure if Kennedy simply woke up in a splenetic mood, or if he was making up for gaps in his understanding of the latest developments by backfilling his anger. For their part, Kennedy\u2019s Democratic counterparts showed a bit of spleen\u2014and a far firmer grasp of the relevant facts.<\/p>\n

Sen. Murphy called Hegseth a \u201cwalking, talking national security embarrassment,\u201d adding that the second-strike episode \u201cshould scare the shit out of every American.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of his kinetic actions are blatantly illegal, and we\u2019re learning more about how grossly illegal their operations have been every day,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cNobody voted for Donald Trump because they wanted a war with Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve gotta get the answers to that,\u201d said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) when asked during a gaggle about the specifics of the strike. \u201cThe White House has had some mixed messaging about who gave an order, was there an order, was there a second strike\u2014we now know there was a second strike. The White House has said that the order to kill everyone was given by the secretary of defense and was implemented by Adm. Bradley and his team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaine wants to know finer details, like whether Hegseth\u2019s reported kill orders were all-purpose or specific to this exact strike. He added that he has full faith in Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) to conduct an honest and thorough investigation.<\/p>\n

Wicker later told reporters<\/a> he would be seeking<\/a> full, unedited video and audio of the strike as well as additional briefings to get to the bottom of what happened. When Wicker shares his findings with the public, we\u2019ll see if Kennedy changes his tune.<\/p>\n

Leave a comment<\/a><\/p>\n

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) may have had it with the Golden State, but not with serving in Congress. According to Punchbowl, Issa is mulling a move to Texas to run in a redder GOP district than his California district<\/a>, which has become slightly less hospitable to his electoral hopes thanks to newly drawn congressional lines.<\/p>\n

Jake Sherman writes:<\/p>\n

\n

If the Supreme Court upholds the new maps in Texas, Issa would likely run for Texas\u2019 32nd District, a seat that is currently held by Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson. Johnson\u2019s Dallas-area seat was split into eight in the redraw.<\/p>\n

Issa\u2019s San Diego-area seat was made more Democratic in California\u2019s redraw. But it\u2019s not unwinnable for Republicans. Former Vice President Kamala Harris would have won the district by 3 points. Issa would, however, have to run a tough general election.<\/p>\n

Issa\u2019s Texas jump only works if the Supreme Court lets Republicans\u2019 newly drawn map remain in place for the midterms. A lower court ruling tossed out the map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The Supreme Court is expected to decide in the coming days which map Texas will use.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read the whole thing.<\/a> Issa might do well to read up on the congressional history of carpetbaggers, starting with nineteenth-century Democratic Senator James Shields<\/a>, the only American to ever represent three different states in the U.S. Senate (Illinois, Minnesota, and Missouri). It would take a lot to repeat this achievement in the lower chamber, but it wouldn\u2019t be impossible. What\u2019s life without a dream?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Composite \/ GettyImages) There are just thirteen legislative days left in the year, and unlike many American office…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":421624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-421623","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115655242793322722","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}