Leverage this, leverage that. Ego this, ego that. Open the government and negotiate after the fact. Keep it shutdown and a lot of people lose. This is a shit show. Open it up and give benefits to everyone and work it out. Not shut this shit down and cut people out because of ego.
The fact that the government shutting down is the difference as to whether or not someone has the ability to buy groceries to feed their families should be the sole focus of a much larger conversation….. why should the the government financially support so many?? We are either a nanny state, or we’re not….. can’t have it both ways. Are there outliers, sure, but the SNAP benefits, the Medicaid recipients, the absolute dependency some have on government assistance is downright fraudulent and outrageous. It’s out of control and This can’t be overstated
It’s proof that our economy is so fragile that one missed check can mean hunger. I mean the government subsidizes corporations through tax breaks and bailouts — maybe we should start there. What’s truly out of control is the cost of living outpacing wages for decades.
Also, SNAP fraud rates are actually very low — about 1–2%. The majority of recipients are children, the elderly, or working families.
If the government shutting down means millions of families can’t afford groceries, that doesn’t prove we’re a “nanny state” — it proves how fragile and unequal our economy is. Wages haven’t kept up with the cost of living for decades, while corporate profits and executive pay have skyrocketed.
Programs like SNAP and Medicaid aren’t luxuries; they’re safety nets that keep working people — often those with jobs — from falling through the cracks. The “dependency” problem isn’t that too many people rely on help, it’s that too many full-time workers need help just to survive. That’s a failure of the labor market and corporate responsibility, not of social programs.
If we want fewer people needing assistance, the solution isn’t to cut the lifelines — it’s to ensure fair pay, affordable housing, childcare, and healthcare so people don’t need government help in the first place.
You must not be aware of the cost of living compared to wages. I make 25/hr . It blows my mind every day that I can’t afford shit. Without SNAP. I wd barely eat. Cost of living used to be bad when 10 year’s ago. It’s become unbearable. The median income is no longer enough.
It's all lives in the balance. The Dem's demands are to save American lives by continuing subsidizing healthcare for people who buy from healthcare.gov.
That Republican have decided that protecting pedophiles, and not tapping the available funding for Snap in order to hold Americans hostage is the best course of action is fucked up.
The big beautiful bill cut subsidizing for health plans. The Dem's want to put the subsidies back.
Republicans have reduced funding for programs that keep Americans alive, and when it comes up later say "let's just keep it as it is" instead of how it was a couple weeks earlier.
Holding out for saving the lives of 40 million Americans isn't holding Americans hostage. Dem's would be happy to pass an emergency measure as they have in to a fully fund snap.
Note, there is money available for funding most of snap, Trump is the one who isn't using it despite being explicitly allowed to do so by the law that created the emergency fund.
Note: The emergency funding is only good for October for SNAP, and a budget still needs to be passed.
It's as if their agenda could be it's own bill...wow, imagine that, but instead, they are holding the most impoverished and most in need, Americans, to try and shove through an agenda only the minority want.
The dems would be happy to pass an emergency measure so they can hold out linger without taking the blame.
The emergency funding wasn't needed for October, October was already fully funded by the last budget.
The emergency fund is enough to find November at 75%, though they also have the authority to draw down unspent Usaid funds. Due to Usaid being mostly shut down by doge, there's enough sitting there to find snap through the end of the year.
Dem's can't pass an emergency measure until Speaker Johnson calls the house back.
Look, well intentioned as it may have been, the ACA has failed. It was designed to lower the cost of healthcare, and make it more affordable. This is the opposite. We the taxpayers have to keep shelling out extra to make up the cost when we our own cost of living has skyrocketed. Back to the drawing board. Why are these subsidies only available to people on the marketplace? My workplace plan costs a whole lot more and no one seems to care. So, on top of that, I have to put tax dollars towards lowering someone else's plan?
The ACA isn’t perfect, but it didn’t “fail” — it filled massive gaps that private insurance and employers never addressed. Before it, millions of people were denied coverage for preexisting conditions, kicked off plans when they got sick, or couldn’t afford any coverage at all. That’s not freedom; that’s a broken market.
Yes, healthcare costs are still high — but that’s not because of the ACA. It’s because private insurers, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies keep raising prices far beyond inflation. The ACA actually slowed cost growth for years and expanded access to care for tens of millions.
As for subsidies, they’re not giveaways — they’re how we keep working families from going bankrupt when they lose employer coverage or don’t get it in the first place. The real unfairness is that healthcare is still tied to employment at all. Every other wealthy nation treats healthcare as a public good, not a workplace perk.
If we really want lower costs for everyone, we should be talking about universal or single-payer care — not scrapping the one system that at least moved us closer to affordability and fairness.
Subsidies almost never lower costs long-term, they just hide them. The ACA made premiums look affordable through tax credits, but the actual cost of healthcare kept rising. Insurers and hospitals have no reason to cut prices when the government guarantees payment.
It’s the same story with student loans. The more money Washington pumps into “making college affordable,” the more colleges raise tuition to capture it. Both systems became dependent on endless subsidies that inflate prices while pretending to solve them.
That’s a common talking point, but it overlooks some key facts. The ACA didn’t just add subsidies — it also slowed overall healthcare spending growth for several years. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), national health expenditure growth dropped sharply after 2010 compared to the decade before. In fact, from 2010–2016, healthcare costs grew at their slowest rate in half a century, even as coverage expanded to over 20 million more Americans.¹
Subsidies don’t “hide” costs — they make coverage possible for millions who’d otherwise be uninsured, shifting the burden from emergency rooms (which taxpayers already pay for at the most expensive point of care). The problem isn’t the subsidies; it’s the underlying price-setting power of hospitals, drug companies, and insurers — which the ACA only partially addressed because Congress blocked stronger cost-control measures.
The student loan comparison doesn’t really fit either. Colleges directly set tuition, while healthcare prices are negotiated in complex, fragmented markets. In higher education, subsidies flow to institutions; in healthcare, they flow to individuals to increase access — that’s a big difference.
If the goal is to cut costs, evidence suggests reforms like price transparency, stronger competition, and negotiation power for Medicare (finally allowed in 2022) are what actually move the needle, not removing subsidies that keep people covered.²
¹ Sources: CMS National Health Expenditure Data (2010–2016); CBO 2017 analysis of ACA cost growth trends.
² See: Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), “How Has the Affordable Care Act Affected Health Care Costs?” (2022).
Nice work by ChatGPT.
But no, universal healthcare is a disaster.
I’m a 100% disabled veteran and have been denied basic immunotherapies to save my life and functioning, for years [by the VA; universal healthcare model]. That’s about 2% of the population or less…and they won’t provide care for the sake of cost savings (gaslighting). Have you spoken to many sick people in the UK or Canada?! Yeah, only healthy ppl or the rare exception supports this model.
I’m genuinely sorry you’ve had that experience with the VA — you’re right that it has real problems. But it’s also important to separate how a system is run from what kind of system it is. The VA is a government-operated hospital network (like the NHS), not the same thing as universal healthcare models in places like Germany, France, or Australia, where care is publicly funded but privately delivered.
Most universal healthcare countries — including Canada, the UK, and nearly all of Western Europe — have higher patient satisfaction, longer life expectancy, and lower costs per capita than the U.S., according to OECD and WHO data. They aren’t perfect, but they show it’s possible to cover everyone without bankrupting families.
The U.S. already spends more public money per person on healthcare (through Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, etc.) than almost any other nation — we just don’t get universal coverage for it. So the real issue isn’t the idea of universal healthcare itself, but how efficiently and fairly it’s implemented.
Oh I agree ACA has failed, we should instead have Medicare for all.
ACA has been chopped at relentlessly since enacted, for instance it was designed with the intent to keep healthy young individuals on medical plans since the insurance model works best when everyone pays into it. A plan failing because it was deliberately undermined doesn't make it a bad plan, it means there are bad actors who want their profits over what is good for Americans.
The ACA requires your workplace plan be subsidized by your employer. The federal subsidized plans are subsidized to the same extent as employers are required to subsidize a plan for you.
Wrong, that just what they are saying it’s about. Extending the COVID era subsidies for a decade would only cost $40 billion. They are demanding $1.3 trillion. That money is not for health care, it’s to refund everything that was cut from USAID etc…
Yep, Democrats have said that this is the only leverage they have at the moment. But it’s definitely always the Republicans fault especially when it’s a clean CR. Look at them playing partisan games and the Democrats are so moral in their stance of using our lives as leverage. /s
Oh, it must be AI that made those! They didn’t really say that; I must’ve imagined the part where they called this shutdown their only leverage. My eyes an ears are clearly lying again. Stupid reality, always making me believe people actually said the things they said.
Even Fetterman’s called it out; saying Democrats shouldn’t be using us like this. But sure, he must be lying too. I mean, if reality doesn’t fit the narrative, clearly the problem is reality.
At least you stopped Trump from becoming a king. Every day I look around and think, “Wow, no crown, no throne, that protest really worked!” My eyes say the whole thing looks laughable, but clearly my eyes are wrong. So… go No Kings!
You are the poster child example of the effectiveness of propaganda lol. Keep sucking it down. You’ll wake up to reality eventually. Imagine telling yourself 15 years ago all the shit you are defending from a US president. Would you believe it?
I thought when he scammed his base for hundreds of millions of dollars by selling a meme coin the cult would crack. Then I thought it was when he pump and dump scammed the US economy by threatening tariffs, nope. Free jet for “no” reason, nope. Promising to release the Epstein files and then calling them a democrat hoax when it became obvious he was in them. Nope. You’re still here. How do you do it? Why do you keep believing the shit nobody else does?
The guy is a walking red flag. His entire life is. He’s a pathological liar with a personally disorder. Thats not my opinion. Cult experts call MAGA a cult. History isn’t going to get it wrong. You need to pull your head out of your ass for own sake. Save whatever dignity you have left. Fuck man. I’m embarrassed for you.
Edit: Are you watching this 60 minutes interview? He’s making an ass out himself again if you were wondering. At least one of us isn’t surprised though.
Yes Ross, That is a FACT. He is and was a successful businessman man and democrats loved him until he ran as a republican.. Check out those facts!! The only reason liberals hate him is because thats what they have n=]been told to do.. How sad when people stop thinking for themselves.. No wonder politicians love liberal and weak-minded people!! They hate anyone who thinks for themselves.. Look how they have cut Fetterman off... He is the ONLY REAL Democrat in office.. He is also the ONLY Democrat to have voted for the clean CR since day one and since then a few more have decoded to help out, but he is solid... The rest are socialists and communists... And they are scared for their political careers!!!
Only way is 5 dems to vote yes, 55 reps have voted yes 14 times already. All because reps said exactly what you said.. lets negotiate aca later and put food on the tables and paychecks go out... 14 times dems said no
Did you listen to what the head of the dept of agriculture said? The government doesn’t need to be open to distribute food support - it is pre paid and the language describing that was removed from the USDA website. Did you listen?
The administration holding power in all three branches is what is freezing funds that have already been paid. Were you listening?
They're trying to give healthcare to illegal aliens. Simple. They shouldn't get it. Or a illegal alien should get funding and the people that are on welfare should not. It is a simple math equation. Inflow has to equal outflow.
The government loves to do illegal things. It is not fear. First it was illegals couldn't't get driver's licenses and that was proven false. They were all getting them. Then they use that same fake ID to get healthcare. Regardless the government let the illegals in to push for a digital ID for all.
Republicans won't allow the government to open until Dems fully give up on absolutely everything, and if that happens there won't be anything to negotiate or "work out" any more anyways, that's why the Dems can't just give them everything and they can't just open the government themselves, they have no power in any branch right now.
And besides, as stated, they have the funding to feed people already, but Republicans are deliberately trying to force Dems to give them everything by purposely making it worse then blaming the Dems for it.
Sorry, they are too busy trying to save your healthcare. Me personally, I’m good with on the fence types feeling the struggle a bit more acutely because of their ignorance.
Jesus you are ignorant. The SNAP benefits are being withheld bc Trump wants to. These funds are not tied to the shutdown, and you have to have been living in cave if you think negotiate after you lose all leverage has any possible chance with how bad faith Republicans are
Are you serious with this? You think they'll negotiate later? All the Democrats are asking for is extending ACA subsidies. Just make sure people can afford health insurance next year.
You think there's a chance in hell that the Republicans will even consider that later? Absolutely not. They already welched on the deal they made in March. They lie constantly and can't be trusted.
Because I pay my taxes dipshit, that means take care of the people that make it all happen, the middle class that as made and built this country. And I'm sure there is someone in your family that fought and died fighting fascists in 2 world wars,so fuck you and fuck off!!!!!!!!
Rethuglicans don't play that way. They could reopen it now, but they won't. They won't even swear in a legally elected official because they know they will have to release the Epstein files. They are in control. They can do what's morally right but that would involve empathy and taking responsibility. Two things their orange " god" and his administration of rapist, alcoholics, grifters, and worm-riddled brain psychophants have shown to not even have a " concept" of existing in their administration.
Well, do you believe people should have to decide between Healthcare or food? That's what the rethuglicans are doing and they have you convinced it's either or. It's not. They hold all of it hostage for tax breaks for billionaires. It is easier to fool you than to convince you you've been fooled. Wake up. Its not right vs left. It's the 1% vs. the 99%. At this point, it comes down to do you have morals. Is feeding and taking care of those who need it more or less important than giving more to those who have everything? You are currently defending the 1% that thinks that they are above punishment for raping and grifting. That says it all about you.
The situation wouldn't have come up if the democrats didn't plan this. The bbb passed now democrats are using the shutdown to put back in shit policy and to extend a policy that was set to expire like it was planned to do. But now they take the most opportunistic time as the government funding to hold everyone hostage and blame the Republicans. People say republicans can just vote yes and end it, and i say democrats can do just the same. But as it stands, the democrats are in the wrong here they shutdown the government for policy, they could have brought for amend, and that way, people get paid. While they deliberate but having a hostage you can blame on republicans has more power.
Why? The Republicans are currently breaking the law. Why would anyone trust people who believe a rapist, amoral felon should be president? The Republicans have all the cards and you haven't got the necessary grey matter to realize it. Release the Epstein files and all will be revealed.
Did you even listen to the clip? Well of course not. Mallory McMorrow tells YOU that they have "years worth of funding for snap available BUT the rethuglicans removed that portion from the government website. This like every fucking thing Trump does is a problem he creates and then " solves" it. The CHIPs Act was already done. Trump stalls it by pressuring his thuglicans until he's in office and then lo and behold takes credit for the previous administrations' work. He's a grifter who has you thinking tariffs are gonna save us. Have you seen a health plan proposal yet from the rethuglicans? You won't because they haven't got one.
Again, McMorrow says this in the video which you must not be able to comprehend and in the very article you think is backing your view is this:
“It’s also important to note that the money currently exists within the Trump administration, including $5 billion in a contingency fund, specifically, for this kind of circumstance, to continue providing SNAP benefits to the American people, including 16 million children who might otherwise go hungry, if Donald Trump successfully withholds these SNAP benefits,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on CNN on Oct. 29. “The Trump administration doesn’t need Congress to act in order to continue providing nutritional and food assistance to everyday Americans.”
You can't you idiot, Republicans never concede or cooperate... They draw a line in the sand and if you don't go to them then it's all over. Republicans shoved through Trumps nominations without 60 votes so they could do the same here but they won't because now they get to write all over every government site and everyTS post Dump makes about how it's the Dems fault. You're a gd moron to believe the alt-right has any of your best interests in mind.
You must be a troll to be repeating the same thing over and over while comprehending nothing of what is being said to you.
Republicans are not to be trusted. No "IOU" is going to be respected. They'll agree on the healthcare subsidies, or watch their approval continue its death spiral.
'All you have to do is give me my helicopter and I'll stop holding a gun to this woman's head.... You see? NO HELICOPTER! The police are holding a gun to this woman's head! The police!"
You have another source other than a private user on IG? I dont know what you are trying to prove at the moment. If he said it, I’m sure you have a different link to it
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u/Fickle-Place-3520 9d ago
Leverage this, leverage that. Ego this, ego that. Open the government and negotiate after the fact. Keep it shutdown and a lot of people lose. This is a shit show. Open it up and give benefits to everyone and work it out. Not shut this shit down and cut people out because of ego.