Democrats Accused of Holding Government Hostage Over ‘Obamacare Subsidies for the Wealthy’
As the federal government remains paralyzed amid the latest funding impasse, experts say Democrats are refusing to compromise unless taxpayer-funded subsidies for high-income Americans remain intact.
Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, told Breitbart News that Democrats’ position amounts to “shutting down the government over Obamacare subsidies for the wealthy.”
The subsidies were first introduced through President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and later extended by the Inflation Reduction Act. They are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025 — unless Democrats succeed in making them permanent.
While Democrats insist that ending the subsidies would cost Americans their health coverage, critics argue the real beneficiaries are upper-income households that shouldn’t qualify for assistance in the first place.
“What the enhanced subsidies do is they subsidize people making from $129,000 all the way up to $600,000 per year. And so these are really the Obamacare subsidies for the wealthy,” Cannon said.
“The part that offends people is that Obamacare is still so unaffordable that people earning $129,000, $200,000, $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 a year still can’t afford it — and that’s why the government is subsidizing them,” he added.
“The most important kind of assistance we can provide to people who are having a hard time affording health insurance is to get all the Obamacare regulations out of the way. Because if you do that, then premiums will plummet by 50 to 60 percent for most people in the Exchanges,” he continued.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) warned that Democrats’ proposal to permanently extend these subsidies would balloon the national debt by $1.5 trillion over the next decade.
“If lawmakers want to extend any of the ACA subsidies, they should do so responsibly by targeting the extension and at least offsetting the costs. Ideally we should be offsetting new borrowing twice over,” said CRFB President Maya MacGuineas.
“Plenty of options are available, from adopting site-neutral payments to reducing Medicare Advantage upcoding to funding Cost Sharing Reduction payments,” she added.
“Meanwhile, if lawmakers want to pare back parts of the reconciliation law, they should focus on the $6 trillion in tax cuts and spending increases, not the payfors,” she continued. “We should be able to keep the government’s lights on without making our devastating fiscal situation even worse.”
Schumer Mocked Over Poll Showing Voters Blame Democrats
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) faced open ridicule this week after dismissing a New York Times poll revealing that most Americans blame Democrats for the ongoing shutdown.
The embarrassing moment unfolded shortly before the shutdown began, when Senate Democrats blocked a House-passed continuing resolution.
“Now I know the leader is going to show a poll that says that Democrats will be blamed for the shutdown,” Schumer said, referring to the New York Times/Siena College survey. “There are many more polls that show Republicans are blamed. The question in that poll is biased.”
“In the New York Times, but it’s biased,” he continued — drawing laughter from Republicans across the chamber. “I don’t always believe the New York Times … You can be sure of that. Neither do you.”
Meanwhile, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) continue to pressure the Trump administration to extend Obamacare subsidies and expand taxpayer-funded healthcare “for all.”
The White House has rejected those demands, insisting Democrats are effectively trying to guarantee healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants — while Americans continue to face rising costs.
“If you look at the original they did with this negotiation, it was a $1.5 trillion spending package, basically saying the American people want to give massive amounts of money, hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal aliens for their health care, while Americans are struggling to pay their health care bills,” Vice President J.D. Vance said after a White House meeting with congressional leaders.
President Donald Trump’s administration has remained firm, emphasizing fiscal responsibility and prioritizing American citizens over political theater.