I am really tired of hearing in the media Democrats and their allies characterizing the eight Senate Democrats that voted to overcome the filibuster and pass the CR as something like traitors and fools. The deal these eight Democrats reached wasn't a deal to resolve the issues that caused the shutdown, so you all need to stop saying this, it was a deal to reopen the government on the best terms that they could get it was a recognition that the pain being caused and that would be caused by the shutdown and continuing it was too great coupled with the good judgment that the best option to get what the Democrat Party want and the American people need the ACA enhanced tax credits extended lies with opening the government because that will open up paths of negotiations. These condemning Democrats and their allies don't seem to pick-up on the reality that the majority of Republicans in Washington especially the leaders and President Trump don't mind that these credits don't get extended they don't mind if twenty-one million Americans have their premiums increased by fifty percent or more because they hate the Affordable Care Act, the great Progressive Editorial writer E.J. Dionne wrote a few years after the ACA was passed into law that the Republicans hate the ACA because they don't want the federal government to pay money to help Americans buy health insurance because that revenue comes from taxes and they don't like taxes even fair taxes and this same mentality still exist until today. Republican leadership and President Trump are out to kill the ACA and they have no good alternative because there is none; that is not to say that the same legitimate criticism that existed in 2010 when it became law and still exists today lies that the Federal government needs to reduce the cost of health care in the system and for the ACA insurance (by adjusting coverage, etc.).
The other thing the Democrat critics don't seem to get is that time is running out it would be a disastrous development if the Democrats keep fighting for another month because Democrat and Republican negotiators are going to need at least three to four weeks to negotiate a deal because there isn't a lot of common ground between the parties on the ACA issue and it will be tough slough to jointly find that. This is a really important concern that being the legislative deal to extend these tax credits needs to be signed into law by December 31 because open enrollment for the ACA exchanges ends January 15 2026 and you need to give people at least two weeks to go back on the exchanges and sign up for their continuing insurance or in many case change their election from the less good plan they signed up for this year because they thought the enhanced credits were going to stay expired and the insurance plan they had and liked!
Democrat rank and file in Congress need to quickly pivot with wisdom and meet the moment to address this ACA issue because Democrat leaders won't they will keep pushing their comprehensive one-sided bill which no way Republicans even moderate Republicans will sign on to because it doesn't address the waste and abuse in the ACA's individual insurance system. Plus, Republican leadership and their ideological minions in their ranks will be pushing hard this Trojan Horse legislation of giving money directly to Americans and let them buy health insurance directly from insurance companies; so Congressional leaders will be offering no real hope for a negotiated deal! There is a narrow gate to reaching a deal here where the majority of Americans get their enhanced tax credits extended. This includes a moderate bipartisan committee in both the House and the Senate negotiating a tailored bill that largely implements the bipartisan ideas floated during the shutdown capping the enhanced premium tax credit so wealthy Americans who can afford to buy health insurance without the governments help won't get the tax credit; and, have all people getting insurance in the exchanges pay at least a modest monthly premium for their health insurance so that the many people who didn't actually sign up for insurance but were signed up by another person and because of their income have no monthly premium today will be removed from the rolls and people that per the original design of the ACA as enacted in 2010 have incomes equal to or less than 133 % of the poverty level go into the Medicaid system which is less expensive for the federal government. When the Democrat leadership bill fails in the mid-December vote promised by Republican John Thune the American people will need this bipartisan rank and file deal waiting in the wings. Congressional Democrats need to remember there is no way this deal gets enacted into law with the votes of the majority of House Republicans this is one of those situations that Republican Speaker Paul Ryan and John Boehner use to have to pull off to further the best interest of the country. This bill gets over the finish line because President Trump realizes that 2026 could be 2018 all over again where Republicans efforts to kill the ACA moved voters to give the House to Democrats to stop this termination; President Trump realizes that it is in his best interest to extend the ACA enhanced tax credits for the vast majority of these 21 million Americans now receiving them and signs on to the bipartisan bill and Speaker Johnson sees the same threat at the mid-terms and also signs on to moving the bipartisan bill and its gets passed through Congress. The success of this bill rests on moderate rank and file members of both parties in Congress conducting their own negotiation and reaching a solid reasonable bi-partisan deal, the merits of the issue support such a deal but is there the character in moderate rank and file members of Congress to make it happen, your guess is as good as mine!
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Trump says 'if anything' he forced Israel's hand on Iran attack timing, says Iran was going to strike US first
