Prior to this episode, Trump/Vought have been shutting down large parts of the government anyway. There needs to be a loud public discussion about impoundment and rescission -- about Trump violating the Constitution and assuming dictatorial powers. There is not much rationale for Dems making a deal when Trump will not adhere to the law.
I think what people are not grasping about impoundment is that it's a form of taxation without representation, particularly if the President takes the funds and uses them for other purposes (which we know is the next step). We have representatives who are in charge of our tax dollars.
My representative (Chris Smith) has never held "town meetings." His staff does not answer the phone. If you send snail mail on any topic, you will get back an unrelated reply. He does send out "newsletters", usually containing demonstrably false statements (in one case, claiming to have co-sponsored a bill that, in fact, he voted against).
Ask him, "GOP cuts to the ACA; and a trillion in cuts to Medicaid, will cause my health insurance premiums to double by this time next year. What will happen to us if me and my family can't afford those health insurance premiums?"
I don't know if they're too stupid, or simply don't want to "understand" - b/c being a Repub these days means you're against helping people, no matter what.
As Trump runs roughshod through the agencies and unabashedly impounds funds marked blue states, I hope that Roberts, Barrett and maybe even Kavanaugh realize that allowing impoundment erases any and all separation of powers. Allowing such executive power truly makes him a king.
So much for "strict constructionists". Of all the lies these SCOTUS nominees told under oath, that turns out to be an even bigger whopper than "respect for precedent". You don't have to spend time " divining" what the Founders were thinking on this one, dummies! Power to spend is given to Congress. Seeing it gets spent on what Congress wanted, thats the Executives job. It is some of the plainest language in the document, and the least in need of updating.
Sadly, during the shutdown, magats are ONLY funding the fascist police state, but at least most of ICE/Border Patrol is going without pay, which will get old fast; those guys really COULD use one of Hegseth's lectures on obesity and pull-ups, so they aren't going to able to go without meal money for long...
My Senator Angela Alsobrooks Said the right things on a Howard University radio show recently. In my view, however, it has to be communicated with the kind of passion and charisma that our Democratic party lacks. We need people that voters and convincible non-voters would actually listen to.
I agree with you regarding passion & charism, plus younger aiming for moderation. I'm just happy that they started to fight & going on more social media sites. But we are here with what we have.
Do the Dems need an outside congressional voice or voices to state their positions? Who would even do it after the Kirk murder & Ice shooting an armed woman (true?) in the leg yesterday? Contact Democratic Party?
Sen Murphy said he donated $100k to Indivisible & asked other senators to do the same. I'm on BlueSky & Indivisble just started posting political news.
I think that in MAGA morality the only shameful things are being poor, female, and non-white. They don't have to admit to being poor. But complaining about insurance premiums publicly does admit that. So I think the MAGA response to high premiums may include a lot of quietly dropping insurance and joining the undocumented at the ER for care.
I think you’re right about dropping insurance. That will definitely happen and rural hospitals will have to pick up the tab. But with that, damage to the environment, and damage to our health via reduced vaccinations all take time to play out. The gutting of sensible regulations often doesn’t have an immediate effect. So people don’t feel it themselves and so it all feels theoretical. I think MAGA is counting on that and people’s poor long term memory to effect the cruel billionaire agenda.
I agree with a few conceptual exceptions: Cancer treatments, prescription drugs, nursing home care, dialysis...those are the types of medical treatments that can't be handled routinely in a hospital ER and will bankrupt families within months. Those are the people who will, sadly, die.
But the ERs are definitely going to be flooded with colds, fevers, minor cuts, scrapes and low-level pain management. ERs will be inundated with the poor white people who will have to sit next to the poor brown people for hours. ERs triage care by immediacy of need, not color of skin (we hope). Whites won't like having to wait their turn.
Flooding ERs will bankrupt a hospital in less time than that. They get compensated (at least in part) by Medicaid funds. Getting that money back takes a while. As Winston keeps pointing out, many of these hospitals will start closing down.
The city of Knoxville saw this years ago. Hospitals in the low-income areas closed. The last one in the north part of town (where many homeless people had settled) closed some years back and moved to the western end. The West Hills area already had two other hospitals, but the people there have good incomes, so the area now has three (plus several "Doc-in-a-boxes"). There are two hospitals near the university. In the eastern portion of the city (traditionally black) there aren't even "Doc-in-a-boxes".
The whites I'm talking about won't complain about the ER. If they see their neighbors there, they'll avoid eye contact and pretend it didn't happen. Honestly, I don't know how much this matters. I commented because I'm not optimistic about low-income whites suddenly advocating for their own interest and don't know if it will impact elections.
You mentioned nursing home care. Most of that is under Medicaid (not ACA), as I understand it. But I'm confused about a lot of things this will impact. I hope those here who know will be generous with info and insights.
We should let that happen. Their rural hospitals will go bankrupt because there will be too much uncompensated care. Why should I get upset about them living with the consequences. Democrats and liberals should relish this test of healthcare policy. Blue states could cushion the blow within their states.
I’ll go further. We should move toward having more and more of these issues paid for at the state level, and demand federal tax cuts. Liberals have made a political moral hazard by bailing out red states “against their will” and allowing their state governments to avoid hard decisions that conflict with their rhetoric. Liberals always complain that red state voters “vote against their self-interest”, but they actually never do. They vote to get low state taxes and liberals happily hand over the additional money from the federal treasury, mostly by taxing Democrats and liberals. Am I the only one who thinks this is stupid?
I din’t think it is stupid but I do think it is morally dubious. Either we believe in human rights, including health care, for all (red or blue, white or black, native born or not) or not. I don’t make exceptions for whose wounds should be treated and diseases fought. Red state governments are not good at protecting their people but they do protect their legislators from their voters (and blue citizens there are left with no one to vote for). Mike Johnson’s constituents for example have never had an opponent to vote for against him. Too many districts are treated as if they were homogeneously one party states. Democracies require “swing voters” to keep politicians accountable.
The problem is that blue state constituents are not being represented by their own representatives. It is perhaps admirable to want to save red state residents from their own poor electoral choices, or to adopt the minority of those residents from afar.
However, blue state voters are being taxed to support people who don’t live in their districts and that leaves less tax money available to provide for their own infrastructure and to take care of their own homeless. This is causing Democrats to lose support in their own states because they are paying everyone’s bills.
Republicans will soon gain power in formerly blue states by taking advantage of this. I don’t support Republicans, but I am getting tired of watching my state be in perpetual fiscal trouble and to have to raise taxes or cut its own programs while paying excessive federal income taxes to support other states that cut their own taxes.
I don’t think I’m alone. If this keeps up, we will be ruled by Republicans and will lose other precious policies that we want to hold onto. Representative democracy means you represent the interests of your district. Many Democrats are unrealistic about the limits of their voters patience.
I don’t like seeing blue sentiments that echo the divisiveness of red ones. It’s not us vs them. We are all part of the same country and need to save it all from despair and dictatorship. Those who want division are recruiting combatants for a civil war. And there will be soooo many fatalities.
Then prepare to lose. The current strategy of Democrats will just erode their support. What you call us vs them is really just federalism. High tax, high cost-of-living states cannot shoulder the burden of bailing out low tax, low cost-of-living states. We can’t adopt everyone, and our voters will eventually turn to Republicans to lower our own taxes and pit us against ourselves.
One thing that doesn't get much mention is that the ACA subsidies count as taxable income. So not only do you get insurance that is unaffordable to use, given copays and deductibles, you then have to pay more in taxes.
Wrong. Very wrong. I've been on the ACA since it came out because we were self-employed.
I had a heart blockage in 2016. It was right when the GOP was trying to end Obamacare. My biggest worry wasn't the heart problem, it was that Obama care would end and I would be uninsured. Thank God for John McCain.
It is very good in increasing Medicaid and various other stuff such as no lifetime limit, no extra cost for pre-existing conditions and so forth.
Also, all our healthcare options, excepting Medicaid and the VA, are bad in this same way of having deductibles greater than any health care I'm likely to use. That really isn't a complaint about the ACA in particular.
It's a refundable tax credit that they give "you" in advance by paying some of your health insurance premium. If your income is higher than they anticipated, you might have to pay some of it back when you file taxes. But they don't count towards the "taxable income" number on your tax form.
This is one of the most important interviews and postings, Paul. I had a small involvement in getting support for the AHCA because of our work on disability access following passage of the Americans With Disability Act and the Vocational Rehabilitation Act. I hoped that it's passage would provide a mainstream guarantee (a civil right, if you would) for health so people with disabilities would become part of all the opportunities that fear of loss of medical coverage prevented them from daring to become normalized citizens. You brought knowledge from that time back into our understanding of what is taking place and at stake in the present. I'm sharing this widely. Thank you Paul and Jonathan Cohn.
I had ACA coverage in Connecticut when I was (euphemistically speaking), “between jobs.” It was great. My husband at the time was an adjunct professor whose contract wasn’t renewed… he became unemployed and never worked again, but I digress. ACA was far better than the employer insurance ‘benefit’ (United healthcare) I have now. I would have kept the ACA policy over united healthcare if that was legal (it isn’t). It was hard as hell to get that ACA coverage, with all of the maddening paperwork, but at least we had the wherewithal to get through it. Last, I shudder to think of what my medical bills would be if my unwell husband, who succumbed to a brain tumor in 2022, were dying now. Even with his catastrophic illness I barely met my insurance deductible that year!
You would be fully covered anywhere in Canada, Australia or the UK and not have to pay a deductible. I would never live in the US for this reason alone, not to mention that 4 out of every 10 people you pass on the street are Trump supporters.
Several weeks back, I posted a comment that one neighborhood through which I travel on my way to the local Home Depot had huge (15' or so long) banners saying that we were stuck with Trump for the next four years and Vance for eight more after that and to "get used to it." I'm pleased to report that those banners were gone when I drove through yesterday.
I, too, suspect that I would prefer to live in a more civilized country than the world's richest banana republic, but moving is inconvenient and meeting immigration requirements is difficult.
Thank you. My late husband loved Canada as much as I do! He was a veteran and he would be so horrified by what Trump and MAGA are doing to the USA. The first term was bad enough. This is fascism.
I just got a notice that my Medicare Advantage coverage with Anthem BCBS will be cancelled as of 12/31/2025. It's apparent the insurance company knows the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill and has lost funding for the program. You've written on the Advantage program before--any insights where this is going?
You are going to get screwed but if I understand it correctly, advantage coverage isn’t good to begin with based on the stories I’ve read (insurance makes money denying benefits where as regular supplemental plan can’t deny covered medical issues). Maybe yours is a good program.
You are so right! Medicare Advantage lures people onto it with free groceries and over the counter drugs which are much cheaper than a specialist for a medically necessary procedure or consultation. When I had such a policy Humana denied every claim which then I had to argue with them about. Traditional Medicare with a suppliment plan, I have had no issues with.
“Reports about Anthem Medicare Advantage plans being cancelled likely stem from the company's name change to Elevance Health in 2022, which caused confusion, or from specific plans being discontinued in certain locations. However, there is no evidence of a widespread cancellation of all Anthem plans across the country on December 31, 2024.”
I was just curious if your state was one of those that didn't expand Medicaid. Here in Michigan, I have Medicare Extra Help that is a form of Medicaid. It pays my Medicare Premium and caps the cost of prescription drugs. I pay out of pocket for my United Health Care Supplement plans. Those I keep intact, in case my ex dies and then I would inherit his much higher Social Security income, making me ineligible for the Extra Help program.
This doesn’t seem to get nearly as much coverage as the elimination of affordable care act subsidies, but let’s not forget that Medicare, with some exceptions primarily for rural communities, no longer covers telehealth services as of October 1, turning what could have been a 5 or 10 minute video call into a time consuming round trip to a doctor’s office and wait upon arrival.
Envision getting to the doctor on snow covered rural roads, while you are ill and have family and farm animals at home that need to be taken care of no matter what. And the FDA is itching to interfere with vitamins and herbs - pretty soon we'll all have to grow our own.
Great interview. Helped understand the ins and outs of this. I have health insurance privately and believe we should have a single payer system. Friends have recounted needing care while visiting the UK. Never had to deal with any problems there, got treatment and walked out the door. We need to protect ALL peoples health or we pay the price iin the end.
Australia health care system saved my SIL’s life. It took US medical insurance to kill her. They denied a life flight after a dr gave her a blood thinner when her blood was too thin to begin with. She literally bled to death on Xmas day.
So sorry for your loss. I wish it were a shocking and rare example of bad US medical care, but it isn't. I used to wish I could go to a veterinarian instead of a doctor, but the vets are getting to be just as bad and as expensive. The old vets would simply check the color of the gums before giving fluids, now they want to do expensive and time-consuming tests while the patient is in crisis. Again, my sympathy for your loss.
Conservatives don’t think the majority of Americans deserve things like affordable healthcare. It really doesn’t occur to them to consider the effects of their policies. If many people lose coverage and suffer it doesn’t affect their own lives and they shrug it off and say these Americans probably didn’t pull up their bootstraps hard enough.
They also think Black people are unworthy of assistance, so some people without insurance are willing not to have it as long as they see someone they think undeserving without it also. It’s a very selfish, self-defeating and stupid way of thinking. Physician Jonathan Metzl addressed this issue in his book “Dying of Whiteness.” One of the people he interviewed in Tennessee expressed exactly this idea. This man Metzl interviewed was white, had end stage renal disease, was undergoing dialysis, impoverished, and had no access to private insurance or Medicaid. Despite this, he told Metzl he was satisfied with this because someone he thought of as undeserving would also be unable to afford medical care.
I think under Trump, many of us will no longer be able to afford medical care, will have no access to vaccines or modern medical treatments, and the Christian Nationalists will encourage the public to resort to faith healing. I think they really intend to kill off people they really don’t want to survive, people with chronic diseases and the poor, all for their own greed and worship of money. It’s a slower version of what the Nazis did when they killed the mentally ill and people with physical and developmental disabilities. Trump and the ignorant loon he has running HHS think it will be good for the American people. It won’t be, and the only people making money from this obscene indifference will be funeral directors.
People like Alex Jones with his dubious supplements, Joseph Farah running quack ads in his newspaper, and RFK Jr.’s rejection of vaccines all put the “con” into “conservative.”
Not to engage in ad hominem in the era of Trump, but RFK’s voice, meaning the actual sound of it, is so grating and awful that I honestly can’t believe Trump elevated him to this position. The health secretary sounds like death, literally and figuratively.
He does sound awful, both when he speaks and in his reckless and stupid actions. RFK Jr. has a voice condition known as spasmodic dysphonia. I do not know if he has had treatment for it, although his voice does sound like death because of it.
Diane Rehm, who had a radio talk show before she retired, also had the condition, though she underwent successful treatment for it. Her voice sounded much better than RFK’s voice.
I find Donald Trump’s grating Queens voice irritates me every time he talks. It isn’t so much because he’s from Queens, it’s because he utters insults, lies and constant attacks on other people with insulting and loud intonation. I like that Mary Trump changes Donald’s voice to make it sound more like Donald Duck, both because it’s less grating and it makes the things he says ridiculous.
Well, to be fair, I don't think you need a voice change to make anything Chump says sound more ridiculous than it already does. He literally spouts inanities every time he opens his mouth.
True, RFK and many others are currently elevated to positions they aren’t suited or qualified for. But Trump wanted RFK to stop running for office & peeling votes off from himself - we saw how close the election was - so just another Trump ‘buyout’ of convenience & hang the consequences that will only be felt by ‘the little people’.
DonnyJon could easily have reneged after the election (he's famous for doing that sort of thing). But RFK promised to destroy the CDC. The CDC made DonnyJon look like a fool during the pandemic, and he never forgives that sort of thing.
RFK is on the payroll of the quack wellness industry who profit from the fall of the healthcare industry. We're living in a corporatocracy, not a democracy.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. We really have been a corporatocracy for some time, but it is one that is now transforming into a distinctly American sort of fascism, that is “wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross,” as in Sinclair Lewis’s description.
The multiple references to "true believers", Republicans who have strong economic arguments against the ACA, are misguided. The "true believers" who oppose the ACA are white supremacists. White suprmeacy has been and always will be the "true believer" argument against the ACA and single payer universal health care.
Since 2016, the strongest correlation in determining who may support Chump is their level of racism. The more racist, the more likely to be his supporter. As one guy interviewed by the NY Times back then recounted, his elderly father was planning on voting for Chump b/c he (the father) thought Chump as president would make it okay to once again say the "N-word" out loud.
My husband and I have an ongoing discussion about why Republicans are shredding healthcare. I think they’re consciously thinning the herd because they believe in eugenics, and think this is a first step to a ‘superior’ population and more efficient economy, with less built in drag. It’s a variation of the old, ‘Get rid of the deadwood,’ corporate re-org argument. My husband agrees with Krugman and Cohn, that Republicans in power are wholly focused on cost cutting, and don’t bother to think about the humanitarian results of cutting healthcare. They “really don’t care,” as long as they are not personally affected. I guess it’s not really an either/or. Both positions work together for the same end.
Remember that Repubs aren't really all that into "cost-cutting." The deficit rises more than it does under Dems every time that they are in power, going back at least as far as Reagan. What they are against is any gov't program that might actually help people - esp. marginalized people. Programs that help large corporations, OTOH, are absolutely okay.
Reagan bragged that the damage he was doing to the deficit would make it impossible for the Democrats to restore and enlarge any social welfare programs in the future.
I think you are correct. There is indeed an element of cost cutting in Trump and Kennedy’s gutting of health care. There is also an element of discredited and cruel eugenics in it as well to “get rid of the deadwood” and to have more money for Trump to give tax cuts to the morbidly wealthy, while halting any progress government research has made to treatment of cancer and other common diseases.
Trump doesn’t have the least bit of interest in helping people with physical or mental disabilities, or those with chronic diseases. Remember he and his three eldest children set up a children’s cancer charity and stole from it? The only expense the charity made was on a painting of Donald Trump. Trump is a sociopath and narcissist, and he is his own favorite charity. Fred Trump is Mary Trump’s younger brother, although they are not close to each other. Mary is a critic of her uncle, and rightfully so. She runs a video series and podcasts detailing the ineptitude, cruelty and sheer ruin her uncle’s administration is inflicting upon us and the world. Fred and his wife have three children, the youngest of whom is William, who is now an adult. William was born with significant developmental and physical disabilities, including cerebral palsy. Fred and his wife have become strong advocates for children, adults and families who have family members with disabilities.
At one point, Donald, Robert, Maryanne Trump Barry and Elizabeth tried to cut Fred IV and Mary out of their share of the family inheritance. Fred and Mary sued them, and eventually agreed to a settlement and continued coverage of health insurance for themselves and their families from the Trump Orgsnization’s health insurer. After they filed the lawsuit, Donald decided to cut off health coverage for Fred and his family, including his disabled son William. Donald’s attitude was more like, why shouldn’t we just let him die the way they used to do. This to me reflects Trump’s fundamental narcissism and sociopathy, and it is exactly the attitude I would expect him to take. Eventually, Donald did restore health insurance coverage for Fred and his family. Trump doesn’t care of people are able to pay for or access health care or afford health insurance. Whe will do nothing except to drop any subsidies and make health insurance far less affordable. We need to discontinue for profit insurers, and to strictly regulate nonprofit insurers and require them to cover all comers. They have milked us dry for long enough.
According to the WSJ editorial board, the only people who will lose healthcare under Trump are illegal migrants or people who refuse to work and instead play video games all day. Plenty of their readers agree.
We’re about to find out if the maga true believers love their dear leader enough to tolerate a cratering American economy, loss of national prestige and for many, loss of healthcare. Wealthy trumpers are obviously less concerned about losing healthcare but their magnificent earnings (under Biden) are clearly at risk in the new iteration of this regime. My own opinion is that Trump’s abuse of power is a lot less entertaining when times are tough, even for the lib-owning WSJ.
If the average premium increase will be $700 when the subsidies expire at the end of the year, and the number of people now on ACA health insurance is 20,000,000 then that comes out to be $14,000,000,000. This is less than the $20 billion Trump is giving Argentina. The US could easily absorb this cost if didn't give this gift to Trump's autocratic buddy, Milei.
Thanks for this great column Paul.....am reminded of Madison's comment that when one faction controls all three bodies of the republic you have tyranny....we are there..at least almost. The shutdown for me is a fight against tyranny.
The actions of the administration since the shut down should be expanding the Democrat's demands. If Vought can shut off the money to blue states at will, what difference will it make if the subsidies are protected?
SCOTUS has decided that Congress should not have power over the allocation of spending that was negotiated and signed into law.
So why would Congress participate in government? Why would any Congressperson waste time negotiating a spending package when a willful king diverts money to his pleasure?
It's not just that - they're also literally afraid for their physical safety. Trump's online brownshirts can ruin your life just as thoroughly as Hitler's could, and just because stochastic terrorism gives people plausible deniability doesn't make it less dangerous.
I am one of those people that buys insurance on the ACA marketplace, but I make too much money to qualify for the tax credits. I retired early and am not yet 65 and have a crummy high deductible “bronze” plan. Right now it costs me $900 a month for coverage. This year’s enrollment has not opened up yet, but my insurance company has filed with the state insurance department for a 39% rate increase. That will raise my premiums about $350 a month!
The reason this rate increase is coming is that my insurance company expects all of its healthy ACA people to drop their coverage and go without insurance. This feels like a +$4,000 a year tax increase to me.
This is an important issue but which I suspect Cohn and Krugman didn't want to or didn't have time to get deeper into the weeds on. We have a close friend who currently does qualify for a subsidy but, given the elimination of the subsidy and commensurate premium increase, she will have to drop back from her current "silver" plan to a less expensive "bronze" plan if she can even afford that. What that means is that her deductible and out-of-pocket maximums will increase and the percent of covered costs will decrease so, not only will she have to pay a higher premium, she will also have to shell out more for the care she needs. She has a couple of chronic conditions so this care is not optional for her, unless, of course, she literally cannot afford to pay for it.
I know the subsidy elimination and premium increases are the current focus but people who truly need care are going to be paying more for it beyond the lost subsidy and premium increase.
This conversation points to one of the reasons why capitalists are doing all this illegally.
One prominent reason, of course, is that the capitalist-in-chief, Trump, loves breaking the law with impunity. It appeals to his adolescent joy in doing what he's not supposed to do and it makes him appear powerful to his supporters. So, if there is a legal option and an illegal option, he'll take the illegal one.
But the more traditional reason is that capitalist interests are antagonistic to the public interest, so you can't get them enacted into law through processes that follow democratic norms. Given that the voters will reject them, you have to separate them from elections as much as you can, meaning you have to do them the day you enter into office. That means breaking the law. But by the time the election rolls around, a lot of people will forget and can maybe be manipulated to add their votes to the votes of your low-information voters.
GOP policy is largely driven by oligarchs who brag about having so much wealth they believe themselves to be “economically insensitive” to things that would shatter us mortals, like a depression, or a 300 percent hike in insurance premiums.
These guys are also impatient to clear away and replace our republic with a tyranny that puts their families in charge permanently.
So why wouldn’t they let the ACA subsidies expire and use the crisis to advance their agenda? To them, there is no gain without our pain.
Oligarchs supported Hitler (and Putin) - until they did something to displease - and then found out that nooses and "accidentally" falling out of windows aren't just limited to the "little people."
It's a common pattern. The wealthy help raise a dictator to power thinking he'll do what they want, only to themselves at his mercy the moment he doesn't need them anymore - because governments have *real* power instead of just money.
Prior to this episode, Trump/Vought have been shutting down large parts of the government anyway. There needs to be a loud public discussion about impoundment and rescission -- about Trump violating the Constitution and assuming dictatorial powers. There is not much rationale for Dems making a deal when Trump will not adhere to the law.
I think what people are not grasping about impoundment is that it's a form of taxation without representation, particularly if the President takes the funds and uses them for other purposes (which we know is the next step). We have representatives who are in charge of our tax dollars.
Folks - send this to your congress critters. it is an important piece of analysis!
my congress persons are too stupid to understand this
My representative (Chris Smith) has never held "town meetings." His staff does not answer the phone. If you send snail mail on any topic, you will get back an unrelated reply. He does send out "newsletters", usually containing demonstrably false statements (in one case, claiming to have co-sponsored a bill that, in fact, he voted against).
Sounds like my Rep--Cliff Bentz. Worthless POS.
I send mine emails, a month later I’ll get a nonsense answer back
Ask him, "GOP cuts to the ACA; and a trillion in cuts to Medicaid, will cause my health insurance premiums to double by this time next year. What will happen to us if me and my family can't afford those health insurance premiums?"
Mine aren’t - Bishop, Warnock, and Ossoff of GA.
Thune, Rounds, and Johnson. SD
I don't know if they're too stupid, or simply don't want to "understand" - b/c being a Repub these days means you're against helping people, no matter what.
Absolutely!
As Trump runs roughshod through the agencies and unabashedly impounds funds marked blue states, I hope that Roberts, Barrett and maybe even Kavanaugh realize that allowing impoundment erases any and all separation of powers. Allowing such executive power truly makes him a king.
They don't care. The SC is corrupt. They're beyond shame and beneath contempt.
So much for "strict constructionists". Of all the lies these SCOTUS nominees told under oath, that turns out to be an even bigger whopper than "respect for precedent". You don't have to spend time " divining" what the Founders were thinking on this one, dummies! Power to spend is given to Congress. Seeing it gets spent on what Congress wanted, thats the Executives job. It is some of the plainest language in the document, and the least in need of updating.
The Shutdown is nothing but an across-the-board impoundment.
Should we be funding a Fascist Police State anyway?
Sadly, during the shutdown, magats are ONLY funding the fascist police state, but at least most of ICE/Border Patrol is going without pay, which will get old fast; those guys really COULD use one of Hegseth's lectures on obesity and pull-ups, so they aren't going to able to go without meal money for long...
Of course not, but The Regime is spending money wherever it wants. Regardless.
Senator Chris Murphy (D) is saying we need a president who obeys the law & isn't lawless. He was on reddit yesterday answering peoples questions: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1nx7cvb/im_senator_chris_murphy_ama_about_why_republicans/
My Senator Angela Alsobrooks Said the right things on a Howard University radio show recently. In my view, however, it has to be communicated with the kind of passion and charisma that our Democratic party lacks. We need people that voters and convincible non-voters would actually listen to.
I agree with you regarding passion & charism, plus younger aiming for moderation. I'm just happy that they started to fight & going on more social media sites. But we are here with what we have.
Do the Dems need an outside congressional voice or voices to state their positions? Who would even do it after the Kirk murder & Ice shooting an armed woman (true?) in the leg yesterday? Contact Democratic Party?
Sen Murphy said he donated $100k to Indivisible & asked other senators to do the same. I'm on BlueSky & Indivisble just started posting political news.
💯
Totally agree.
I think that in MAGA morality the only shameful things are being poor, female, and non-white. They don't have to admit to being poor. But complaining about insurance premiums publicly does admit that. So I think the MAGA response to high premiums may include a lot of quietly dropping insurance and joining the undocumented at the ER for care.
I think you’re right about dropping insurance. That will definitely happen and rural hospitals will have to pick up the tab. But with that, damage to the environment, and damage to our health via reduced vaccinations all take time to play out. The gutting of sensible regulations often doesn’t have an immediate effect. So people don’t feel it themselves and so it all feels theoretical. I think MAGA is counting on that and people’s poor long term memory to effect the cruel billionaire agenda.
A lot of those rural hospitals will just shut down, and pretty quickly.
I agree with a few conceptual exceptions: Cancer treatments, prescription drugs, nursing home care, dialysis...those are the types of medical treatments that can't be handled routinely in a hospital ER and will bankrupt families within months. Those are the people who will, sadly, die.
But the ERs are definitely going to be flooded with colds, fevers, minor cuts, scrapes and low-level pain management. ERs will be inundated with the poor white people who will have to sit next to the poor brown people for hours. ERs triage care by immediacy of need, not color of skin (we hope). Whites won't like having to wait their turn.
Flooding ERs will bankrupt a hospital in less time than that. They get compensated (at least in part) by Medicaid funds. Getting that money back takes a while. As Winston keeps pointing out, many of these hospitals will start closing down.
The city of Knoxville saw this years ago. Hospitals in the low-income areas closed. The last one in the north part of town (where many homeless people had settled) closed some years back and moved to the western end. The West Hills area already had two other hospitals, but the people there have good incomes, so the area now has three (plus several "Doc-in-a-boxes"). There are two hospitals near the university. In the eastern portion of the city (traditionally black) there aren't even "Doc-in-a-boxes".
The whites I'm talking about won't complain about the ER. If they see their neighbors there, they'll avoid eye contact and pretend it didn't happen. Honestly, I don't know how much this matters. I commented because I'm not optimistic about low-income whites suddenly advocating for their own interest and don't know if it will impact elections.
You mentioned nursing home care. Most of that is under Medicaid (not ACA), as I understand it. But I'm confused about a lot of things this will impact. I hope those here who know will be generous with info and insights.
The Medicaid hits come after the next election.
You might be right, but if they get hit hard enough, they might start to rethink their positions.
We should let that happen. Their rural hospitals will go bankrupt because there will be too much uncompensated care. Why should I get upset about them living with the consequences. Democrats and liberals should relish this test of healthcare policy. Blue states could cushion the blow within their states.
I’ll go further. We should move toward having more and more of these issues paid for at the state level, and demand federal tax cuts. Liberals have made a political moral hazard by bailing out red states “against their will” and allowing their state governments to avoid hard decisions that conflict with their rhetoric. Liberals always complain that red state voters “vote against their self-interest”, but they actually never do. They vote to get low state taxes and liberals happily hand over the additional money from the federal treasury, mostly by taxing Democrats and liberals. Am I the only one who thinks this is stupid?
I din’t think it is stupid but I do think it is morally dubious. Either we believe in human rights, including health care, for all (red or blue, white or black, native born or not) or not. I don’t make exceptions for whose wounds should be treated and diseases fought. Red state governments are not good at protecting their people but they do protect their legislators from their voters (and blue citizens there are left with no one to vote for). Mike Johnson’s constituents for example have never had an opponent to vote for against him. Too many districts are treated as if they were homogeneously one party states. Democracies require “swing voters” to keep politicians accountable.
The problem is that blue state constituents are not being represented by their own representatives. It is perhaps admirable to want to save red state residents from their own poor electoral choices, or to adopt the minority of those residents from afar.
However, blue state voters are being taxed to support people who don’t live in their districts and that leaves less tax money available to provide for their own infrastructure and to take care of their own homeless. This is causing Democrats to lose support in their own states because they are paying everyone’s bills.
Republicans will soon gain power in formerly blue states by taking advantage of this. I don’t support Republicans, but I am getting tired of watching my state be in perpetual fiscal trouble and to have to raise taxes or cut its own programs while paying excessive federal income taxes to support other states that cut their own taxes.
I don’t think I’m alone. If this keeps up, we will be ruled by Republicans and will lose other precious policies that we want to hold onto. Representative democracy means you represent the interests of your district. Many Democrats are unrealistic about the limits of their voters patience.
I don’t like seeing blue sentiments that echo the divisiveness of red ones. It’s not us vs them. We are all part of the same country and need to save it all from despair and dictatorship. Those who want division are recruiting combatants for a civil war. And there will be soooo many fatalities.
Then prepare to lose. The current strategy of Democrats will just erode their support. What you call us vs them is really just federalism. High tax, high cost-of-living states cannot shoulder the burden of bailing out low tax, low cost-of-living states. We can’t adopt everyone, and our voters will eventually turn to Republicans to lower our own taxes and pit us against ourselves.
The thing not brought up, that never gets discussed, is how much better Medicaid is than what someone slightly above the cutoff can afford.
Universal care has to remain the goal.
One thing that doesn't get much mention is that the ACA subsidies count as taxable income. So not only do you get insurance that is unaffordable to use, given copays and deductibles, you then have to pay more in taxes.
It's actually implemented as a tax credit:
https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/questions-and-answers-on-the-premium-tax-credit
Wrong. Very wrong. I've been on the ACA since it came out because we were self-employed.
I had a heart blockage in 2016. It was right when the GOP was trying to end Obamacare. My biggest worry wasn't the heart problem, it was that Obama care would end and I would be uninsured. Thank God for John McCain.
If ACA is not in the best financial interests of the people as you are saying, then why is it so popular?
Because there is no public option
It is very good in increasing Medicaid and various other stuff such as no lifetime limit, no extra cost for pre-existing conditions and so forth.
Also, all our healthcare options, excepting Medicaid and the VA, are bad in this same way of having deductibles greater than any health care I'm likely to use. That really isn't a complaint about the ACA in particular.
It isn't taxable income.
Yes, it is. I had to include it on my taxes and my taxes went up when I added it.
It's a refundable tax credit that they give "you" in advance by paying some of your health insurance premium. If your income is higher than they anticipated, you might have to pay some of it back when you file taxes. But they don't count towards the "taxable income" number on your tax form.
This is one of the most important interviews and postings, Paul. I had a small involvement in getting support for the AHCA because of our work on disability access following passage of the Americans With Disability Act and the Vocational Rehabilitation Act. I hoped that it's passage would provide a mainstream guarantee (a civil right, if you would) for health so people with disabilities would become part of all the opportunities that fear of loss of medical coverage prevented them from daring to become normalized citizens. You brought knowledge from that time back into our understanding of what is taking place and at stake in the present. I'm sharing this widely. Thank you Paul and Jonathan Cohn.
I had ACA coverage in Connecticut when I was (euphemistically speaking), “between jobs.” It was great. My husband at the time was an adjunct professor whose contract wasn’t renewed… he became unemployed and never worked again, but I digress. ACA was far better than the employer insurance ‘benefit’ (United healthcare) I have now. I would have kept the ACA policy over united healthcare if that was legal (it isn’t). It was hard as hell to get that ACA coverage, with all of the maddening paperwork, but at least we had the wherewithal to get through it. Last, I shudder to think of what my medical bills would be if my unwell husband, who succumbed to a brain tumor in 2022, were dying now. Even with his catastrophic illness I barely met my insurance deductible that year!
You would be fully covered anywhere in Canada, Australia or the UK and not have to pay a deductible. I would never live in the US for this reason alone, not to mention that 4 out of every 10 people you pass on the street are Trump supporters.
Several weeks back, I posted a comment that one neighborhood through which I travel on my way to the local Home Depot had huge (15' or so long) banners saying that we were stuck with Trump for the next four years and Vance for eight more after that and to "get used to it." I'm pleased to report that those banners were gone when I drove through yesterday.
I would love to join your wonderful country, assuming that you’re writing from Canada. I can’t help if I was born here!
We do pay higher taxes here in Canada. I don’t mind though.
I, too, suspect that I would prefer to live in a more civilized country than the world's richest banana republic, but moving is inconvenient and meeting immigration requirements is difficult.
Thank you. My late husband loved Canada as much as I do! He was a veteran and he would be so horrified by what Trump and MAGA are doing to the USA. The first term was bad enough. This is fascism.
I’m sorry about your husband.
I just got a notice that my Medicare Advantage coverage with Anthem BCBS will be cancelled as of 12/31/2025. It's apparent the insurance company knows the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill and has lost funding for the program. You've written on the Advantage program before--any insights where this is going?
You are going to get screwed but if I understand it correctly, advantage coverage isn’t good to begin with based on the stories I’ve read (insurance makes money denying benefits where as regular supplemental plan can’t deny covered medical issues). Maybe yours is a good program.
You are so right! Medicare Advantage lures people onto it with free groceries and over the counter drugs which are much cheaper than a specialist for a medically necessary procedure or consultation. When I had such a policy Humana denied every claim which then I had to argue with them about. Traditional Medicare with a suppliment plan, I have had no issues with.
Here’s what Google AI says:
“Reports about Anthem Medicare Advantage plans being cancelled likely stem from the company's name change to Elevance Health in 2022, which caused confusion, or from specific plans being discontinued in certain locations. However, there is no evidence of a widespread cancellation of all Anthem plans across the country on December 31, 2024.”
Goggle AI? Here coverage is being cancelled at the end of 2025.
What State are you in?
Maine but moving to Colorado for 2026.
I was just curious if your state was one of those that didn't expand Medicaid. Here in Michigan, I have Medicare Extra Help that is a form of Medicaid. It pays my Medicare Premium and caps the cost of prescription drugs. I pay out of pocket for my United Health Care Supplement plans. Those I keep intact, in case my ex dies and then I would inherit his much higher Social Security income, making me ineligible for the Extra Help program.
Your Senator Susan Collins is a trip.
This doesn’t seem to get nearly as much coverage as the elimination of affordable care act subsidies, but let’s not forget that Medicare, with some exceptions primarily for rural communities, no longer covers telehealth services as of October 1, turning what could have been a 5 or 10 minute video call into a time consuming round trip to a doctor’s office and wait upon arrival.
Because of existing law (called PAYGO), Medicare will also be cut, but it's not clear by how much.
Envision getting to the doctor on snow covered rural roads, while you are ill and have family and farm animals at home that need to be taken care of no matter what. And the FDA is itching to interfere with vitamins and herbs - pretty soon we'll all have to grow our own.
Going back to the era of my great-great-grandparents.
Great interview. Helped understand the ins and outs of this. I have health insurance privately and believe we should have a single payer system. Friends have recounted needing care while visiting the UK. Never had to deal with any problems there, got treatment and walked out the door. We need to protect ALL peoples health or we pay the price iin the end.
Australia health care system saved my SIL’s life. It took US medical insurance to kill her. They denied a life flight after a dr gave her a blood thinner when her blood was too thin to begin with. She literally bled to death on Xmas day.
So sorry for your loss. I wish it were a shocking and rare example of bad US medical care, but it isn't. I used to wish I could go to a veterinarian instead of a doctor, but the vets are getting to be just as bad and as expensive. The old vets would simply check the color of the gums before giving fluids, now they want to do expensive and time-consuming tests while the patient is in crisis. Again, my sympathy for your loss.
Yeah, it was horrible. The vet bills for our last critter were so expensive, we decided to not get another one.
That’s awful.
Yeah, it was. Happens all the time.
Jesus....
Conservatives don’t think the majority of Americans deserve things like affordable healthcare. It really doesn’t occur to them to consider the effects of their policies. If many people lose coverage and suffer it doesn’t affect their own lives and they shrug it off and say these Americans probably didn’t pull up their bootstraps hard enough.
They also think Black people are unworthy of assistance, so some people without insurance are willing not to have it as long as they see someone they think undeserving without it also. It’s a very selfish, self-defeating and stupid way of thinking. Physician Jonathan Metzl addressed this issue in his book “Dying of Whiteness.” One of the people he interviewed in Tennessee expressed exactly this idea. This man Metzl interviewed was white, had end stage renal disease, was undergoing dialysis, impoverished, and had no access to private insurance or Medicaid. Despite this, he told Metzl he was satisfied with this because someone he thought of as undeserving would also be unable to afford medical care.
I think under Trump, many of us will no longer be able to afford medical care, will have no access to vaccines or modern medical treatments, and the Christian Nationalists will encourage the public to resort to faith healing. I think they really intend to kill off people they really don’t want to survive, people with chronic diseases and the poor, all for their own greed and worship of money. It’s a slower version of what the Nazis did when they killed the mentally ill and people with physical and developmental disabilities. Trump and the ignorant loon he has running HHS think it will be good for the American people. It won’t be, and the only people making money from this obscene indifference will be funeral directors.
So true. This also helps explain the weird and solid connections between right wingers and medical quackery.
People like Alex Jones with his dubious supplements, Joseph Farah running quack ads in his newspaper, and RFK Jr.’s rejection of vaccines all put the “con” into “conservative.”
Not to engage in ad hominem in the era of Trump, but RFK’s voice, meaning the actual sound of it, is so grating and awful that I honestly can’t believe Trump elevated him to this position. The health secretary sounds like death, literally and figuratively.
He does sound awful, both when he speaks and in his reckless and stupid actions. RFK Jr. has a voice condition known as spasmodic dysphonia. I do not know if he has had treatment for it, although his voice does sound like death because of it.
Diane Rehm, who had a radio talk show before she retired, also had the condition, though she underwent successful treatment for it. Her voice sounded much better than RFK’s voice.
I find Donald Trump’s grating Queens voice irritates me every time he talks. It isn’t so much because he’s from Queens, it’s because he utters insults, lies and constant attacks on other people with insulting and loud intonation. I like that Mary Trump changes Donald’s voice to make it sound more like Donald Duck, both because it’s less grating and it makes the things he says ridiculous.
Well, to be fair, I don't think you need a voice change to make anything Chump says sound more ridiculous than it already does. He literally spouts inanities every time he opens his mouth.
True, RFK and many others are currently elevated to positions they aren’t suited or qualified for. But Trump wanted RFK to stop running for office & peeling votes off from himself - we saw how close the election was - so just another Trump ‘buyout’ of convenience & hang the consequences that will only be felt by ‘the little people’.
DonnyJon could easily have reneged after the election (he's famous for doing that sort of thing). But RFK promised to destroy the CDC. The CDC made DonnyJon look like a fool during the pandemic, and he never forgives that sort of thing.
He has some medical condition affecting his voice.
RFK,Jr.has spasmodic dysphonia.
RFK is on the payroll of the quack wellness industry who profit from the fall of the healthcare industry. We're living in a corporatocracy, not a democracy.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. We really have been a corporatocracy for some time, but it is one that is now transforming into a distinctly American sort of fascism, that is “wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross,” as in Sinclair Lewis’s description.
Conservatism is the absolute terror that someone, somewhere, somehow, you consider inferior, is being treated as your equal.
A version of Mencken's definition of the Puritans: "Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."
Yep, that fits!
The multiple references to "true believers", Republicans who have strong economic arguments against the ACA, are misguided. The "true believers" who oppose the ACA are white supremacists. White suprmeacy has been and always will be the "true believer" argument against the ACA and single payer universal health care.
Since 2016, the strongest correlation in determining who may support Chump is their level of racism. The more racist, the more likely to be his supporter. As one guy interviewed by the NY Times back then recounted, his elderly father was planning on voting for Chump b/c he (the father) thought Chump as president would make it okay to once again say the "N-word" out loud.
Their economic argument boils down to “I don’t want to pay for black people’s healthcare.”
And it has lasted far too long and must be destroyed.
My husband and I have an ongoing discussion about why Republicans are shredding healthcare. I think they’re consciously thinning the herd because they believe in eugenics, and think this is a first step to a ‘superior’ population and more efficient economy, with less built in drag. It’s a variation of the old, ‘Get rid of the deadwood,’ corporate re-org argument. My husband agrees with Krugman and Cohn, that Republicans in power are wholly focused on cost cutting, and don’t bother to think about the humanitarian results of cutting healthcare. They “really don’t care,” as long as they are not personally affected. I guess it’s not really an either/or. Both positions work together for the same end.
Remember that Repubs aren't really all that into "cost-cutting." The deficit rises more than it does under Dems every time that they are in power, going back at least as far as Reagan. What they are against is any gov't program that might actually help people - esp. marginalized people. Programs that help large corporations, OTOH, are absolutely okay.
Reagan bragged that the damage he was doing to the deficit would make it impossible for the Democrats to restore and enlarge any social welfare programs in the future.
I think you are correct. There is indeed an element of cost cutting in Trump and Kennedy’s gutting of health care. There is also an element of discredited and cruel eugenics in it as well to “get rid of the deadwood” and to have more money for Trump to give tax cuts to the morbidly wealthy, while halting any progress government research has made to treatment of cancer and other common diseases.
Trump doesn’t have the least bit of interest in helping people with physical or mental disabilities, or those with chronic diseases. Remember he and his three eldest children set up a children’s cancer charity and stole from it? The only expense the charity made was on a painting of Donald Trump. Trump is a sociopath and narcissist, and he is his own favorite charity. Fred Trump is Mary Trump’s younger brother, although they are not close to each other. Mary is a critic of her uncle, and rightfully so. She runs a video series and podcasts detailing the ineptitude, cruelty and sheer ruin her uncle’s administration is inflicting upon us and the world. Fred and his wife have three children, the youngest of whom is William, who is now an adult. William was born with significant developmental and physical disabilities, including cerebral palsy. Fred and his wife have become strong advocates for children, adults and families who have family members with disabilities.
At one point, Donald, Robert, Maryanne Trump Barry and Elizabeth tried to cut Fred IV and Mary out of their share of the family inheritance. Fred and Mary sued them, and eventually agreed to a settlement and continued coverage of health insurance for themselves and their families from the Trump Orgsnization’s health insurer. After they filed the lawsuit, Donald decided to cut off health coverage for Fred and his family, including his disabled son William. Donald’s attitude was more like, why shouldn’t we just let him die the way they used to do. This to me reflects Trump’s fundamental narcissism and sociopathy, and it is exactly the attitude I would expect him to take. Eventually, Donald did restore health insurance coverage for Fred and his family. Trump doesn’t care of people are able to pay for or access health care or afford health insurance. Whe will do nothing except to drop any subsidies and make health insurance far less affordable. We need to discontinue for profit insurers, and to strictly regulate nonprofit insurers and require them to cover all comers. They have milked us dry for long enough.
Literally the only person in the world that Trump cares about is Trump. He would sell his own children if the price were right.
Oh, most definitely!
That’s why the US doesn’t have universal healthcare.
According to the WSJ editorial board, the only people who will lose healthcare under Trump are illegal migrants or people who refuse to work and instead play video games all day. Plenty of their readers agree.
They’re actually going to lose their own health care, but they won’t believe it until it happens.
We’re about to find out if the maga true believers love their dear leader enough to tolerate a cratering American economy, loss of national prestige and for many, loss of healthcare. Wealthy trumpers are obviously less concerned about losing healthcare but their magnificent earnings (under Biden) are clearly at risk in the new iteration of this regime. My own opinion is that Trump’s abuse of power is a lot less entertaining when times are tough, even for the lib-owning WSJ.
If the average premium increase will be $700 when the subsidies expire at the end of the year, and the number of people now on ACA health insurance is 20,000,000 then that comes out to be $14,000,000,000. This is less than the $20 billion Trump is giving Argentina. The US could easily absorb this cost if didn't give this gift to Trump's autocratic buddy, Milei.
Great Post thanks for the information, the Democrats must stand up where they can for the American people
Thanks for this great column Paul.....am reminded of Madison's comment that when one faction controls all three bodies of the republic you have tyranny....we are there..at least almost. The shutdown for me is a fight against tyranny.
The actions of the administration since the shut down should be expanding the Democrat's demands. If Vought can shut off the money to blue states at will, what difference will it make if the subsidies are protected?
SCOTUS has decided that Congress should not have power over the allocation of spending that was negotiated and signed into law.
So why would Congress participate in government? Why would any Congressperson waste time negotiating a spending package when a willful king diverts money to his pleasure?
Any R. lawmaker who opposes Trump will be primaried.
It's not just that - they're also literally afraid for their physical safety. Trump's online brownshirts can ruin your life just as thoroughly as Hitler's could, and just because stochastic terrorism gives people plausible deniability doesn't make it less dangerous.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/opinion/political-violence-trump-shooting.html
I am one of those people that buys insurance on the ACA marketplace, but I make too much money to qualify for the tax credits. I retired early and am not yet 65 and have a crummy high deductible “bronze” plan. Right now it costs me $900 a month for coverage. This year’s enrollment has not opened up yet, but my insurance company has filed with the state insurance department for a 39% rate increase. That will raise my premiums about $350 a month!
The reason this rate increase is coming is that my insurance company expects all of its healthy ACA people to drop their coverage and go without insurance. This feels like a +$4,000 a year tax increase to me.
This is an important issue but which I suspect Cohn and Krugman didn't want to or didn't have time to get deeper into the weeds on. We have a close friend who currently does qualify for a subsidy but, given the elimination of the subsidy and commensurate premium increase, she will have to drop back from her current "silver" plan to a less expensive "bronze" plan if she can even afford that. What that means is that her deductible and out-of-pocket maximums will increase and the percent of covered costs will decrease so, not only will she have to pay a higher premium, she will also have to shell out more for the care she needs. She has a couple of chronic conditions so this care is not optional for her, unless, of course, she literally cannot afford to pay for it.
I know the subsidy elimination and premium increases are the current focus but people who truly need care are going to be paying more for it beyond the lost subsidy and premium increase.
When I was 67 and still working, my insurance premiums were nearly $1,200/month. You're doing very well.
This conversation points to one of the reasons why capitalists are doing all this illegally.
One prominent reason, of course, is that the capitalist-in-chief, Trump, loves breaking the law with impunity. It appeals to his adolescent joy in doing what he's not supposed to do and it makes him appear powerful to his supporters. So, if there is a legal option and an illegal option, he'll take the illegal one.
But the more traditional reason is that capitalist interests are antagonistic to the public interest, so you can't get them enacted into law through processes that follow democratic norms. Given that the voters will reject them, you have to separate them from elections as much as you can, meaning you have to do them the day you enter into office. That means breaking the law. But by the time the election rolls around, a lot of people will forget and can maybe be manipulated to add their votes to the votes of your low-information voters.
Fascist, not capitalist.
GOP policy is largely driven by oligarchs who brag about having so much wealth they believe themselves to be “economically insensitive” to things that would shatter us mortals, like a depression, or a 300 percent hike in insurance premiums.
These guys are also impatient to clear away and replace our republic with a tyranny that puts their families in charge permanently.
So why wouldn’t they let the ACA subsidies expire and use the crisis to advance their agenda? To them, there is no gain without our pain.
Oligarchs supported Hitler (and Putin) - until they did something to displease - and then found out that nooses and "accidentally" falling out of windows aren't just limited to the "little people."
or they were handed a pistol and told to do "the honorable thing" or their families would be killed.
It's a common pattern. The wealthy help raise a dictator to power thinking he'll do what they want, only to themselves at his mercy the moment he doesn't need them anymore - because governments have *real* power instead of just money.
The MAGA crowd at the WSJ is really excited by the boat blowing up project.
One particularly enthusiastic reader wrote a long comment praising him including “Thank you President Trump! Best president of my lifetime.”