Democrats are ‘treading water’ in Obamacare fight: Byron York
Democrats are ‘treading water’ in Obamacare fight during shutdown: Byron York
Washington Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York said the Democratic Party is “treading water” three weeks into the government shutdown, adding that Republicans are using a similar strategy.
York said President Donald Trump’s popularity is unaffected by this shutdown, and Democrats have yet to make “any progress” on Obamacare subsidies, a key factor at play. Republicans are declining Democratic lawmakers’ demands to extend Obamacare healthcare insurance premium tax credits, and Trump is promising to pay military service members and fund food stamps for women and children amid this shutdown.
“And incidentally, in the past, Democrats taught Republicans how to handle this, which is [to] look at the party that is attaching conditions to reopening the government, that’s the Democrats this time, and say, ‘No, first open the government, and then we’ll talk about your issue.’ And that’s where we are right now, and Democrats seem to be just treading water at the moment,” York said on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
York also said this shutdown is about how emergency spending is turning into “new baseline spending” that gets out of control. He explained how Democrats were unsatisfied with Obamacare when it passed in 2010 and decided to “build on this” in the future, which didn’t happen until the party regained complete control of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives in 2021.
Once former President Joe Biden entered office, York said Democrats “immediately” used the COVID-19 pandemic as a “rationale” to increase premium subsidies for Obamacare. This was extended for a year and later extended again to Dec. 31 of this year.
“And what we’re seeing is this belief in the Democrats that once you start spending and send the money out, you can’t stop, you can never stop it. And Republicans are saying, ‘Look, these were emergency pandemic-related spending, so it’s time to cut them off,’” York said.
York also said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will “probably” face a primary challenger in 2028 after this year, saying “there kind of was hell to pay for him” after he voted with Republicans in March to help advance a House-passed stopgap measure to fund the government.
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WILL ADD TO THE FEDERAL DEBT
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Oct. 15 that the government is being held “hostage” by Schumer’s approval numbers. He said Schumer “did the right thing” when working with Republicans in March, but the senator’s poll numbers have “collapsed” since then.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is widely seen as a possible challenger to Schumer, though she and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reacted with hostility when asked about this at a recent town hall. Sanders attempted to end an interview in March when he was asked about Ocasio-Cortez primarying Schumer in 2028.
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