In yet another last gasp of Democrat nonsense as the federal government shutdown finally draws to a close thanks to Democrats in the Senate voting with Republicans to end the shutdown, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has moved to try and extend the Obamacare subsidies that will be ended if the GOP spending package passes as written.
As background, the now-ending shutdown began on October 1, when the Democratic Party rejected a short-term continuing resolution spending package put forward by Republicans over largely unrelated demands having to do with various forms of healthcare funding they wanted, including taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens.
That shutdown finally drew to a close after 42 days, with Democrats backing off those demands. Now Jeffries is trying to insert a few last-minute amendments to the spending package that Senate Republicans and Democrats agreed on, trying to insert, amongst other things, more spending for Obamacare.
Specifically, what Jeffries and other Democrats want are extensions to a 2021 package of subsidies for Obamacare health insurance programs as an emergency response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Those subsidies are set to sunset at the end of this year, as originally contemplated, and so Americans are looking at massively increased healthcare premiums. Republicans do not think the subsidies should be extended.
Rep. Jeffries, desperately trying to advance the goal of extending the subsidies, announced on Tuesday, November 11, “Before the Rules Committee this evening, House Democrats will give the Republicans another opportunity to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits by introducing an amendment that will extend these tax credits for a three-year period of time.”
Continuing, he added, trying to foist the blame for Obamacare’s failure on Republicans, “Republicans have created a healthcare crisis all across America. You now have an opportunity to actually take some action by working with Democrats before the Rules Committee this evening to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credit.”
Watch Jeffries here:
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His party is also trying to insert other spending as amendments to the spending deal that Senate Republicans and Democrats agreed on. For example, amendments including a prohibition on blanket firings of federal employees until 2029, a blanket prevention on cuts to Medicaid or Medicare, and a new restriction on cuts to several federal safety-net programs have been put forward. It is nearly certain that all will be shut down.
Angrily defending the moves, House Rules Committee senior member, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) declared, also on Tuesday, “What the hell is wrong with these people? How can you not extend these tax benefits for people who are in such desperate need?”
Some Republicans have admitted that the healthcare situation is a disaster that needs to be dealt with. For example, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told Fox News, “We need to deal, as Republicans, with the health care issue. We just can’t let the ObamaCare thing lapse and do nothing and people have no health care or have to pay double.” He added, “That’s wrong, it’s counterproductive [and] it’s going to hurt us politically.”