We can safely say that government shutdowns are never nice, or even tolerable - especially given the plague of disruptions to services, jobs, benefits that accrue. So it is no wonder, now with the FAA cutting back on flights to over 40 cities, many want the shut down to end forthwith. But do they really understand the level of economic pain that will be inflicted on millions if the Democrats were to give in to Trump and the GOP?
I doubt it. But a recent Wall Street Journal article (Watch For ACA Plan Changes, Nov. 4, p. A12)sheds much needed light on the explosion in ACA (Obamacare) premiums coming if the Dems were to pack it in, give up their stance. As the piece makes clear:
"If you have Obamacare you really need to dig in and be careful about what you choose during the open enrollment period which began Saturday, Nov. 1 and lasts until December 15, for coverage that starts Jan. 1.
If you don't you could get hit with huge bills next year. You could also get locked into health insurance you can't afford"
Then quoting Jeff Grant - a former official with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:
"This is the most extreme pricing change we've seen. Nobody understands what this means until they go shop."
But many of us had an inkling of the horrors about to transpire after the 'Big Beautiful Bill' was passed and signed by Trump, basically cratering Medicaid and crippling the ACA by halting the critical federal subsidies to reduce the premium hits.
This is exactly why the Dems are holding out in the shutdown trying to get Fuhrer Trump to come to the table for serious negotiations. Hence, the refusal of the D-side to give in ought to be applauded, especially by those who depend on the ACA.
People like Kevin Foster and wife Michelle (see photo from article) - eligible for a subsidy this year- keeping their premium to $580/month. But Trump and his gang denying subsidy support will cause their ACA premium to spike to $3,200 a month or more than $38,000 a year. That plan coming with a family deductible of $14,400, pushing their total payout just past $50,000 a year.
The Fosters, like many others, hope the Dems holding out can break the impasse and get the GOP Senate to reject Trump's orders. But in the event they can't they are planning to buy travel insurance and move to another, more affordable country.
Yeah, Trump and GOOP Senators may be able to afford these ACA premium spikes, but not ordinary Janes and Joes who the Democrats are fighting for. But wait, further horrors and surprises are to come. At the end of the WSJ piece we read:
"One of the biggest changes might not surface until tax season in 2027. When enrollees sign up for their 2026 plans, they have to estimate their income for the following year. If they end up making more money than they estimated, they have to pay back the difference when they file their taxes. In the past, the law capped how much most enrollees would have to repay but that limit is now gone."
It is estimated that well over 22 million Americans could be adversely affected by the explosion in ACA premiums and other changes- such as no longer allowing lower income enrollees to sign up year round (another loophole killed in the 'Big Beautiful Bill')
So I ask here and now: Is it worth a continuing shutdown to bring the goddamned GOOPs and Trump to the table for a negotiation on subsidy support?
You'd better believe it! Especially if you were in the same predicament as the Fosters.
See Also:
Trump Increases Pressure on His Own Party as the Shutdown Grinds On - The New York Times
Excerpt:
President Trump and congressional Republicans calculated at
the start of the government shutdown that they would avoid negotiations with
Democrats, let the public pressure build and then watch them fold.
More than a month in, that strategy appears to have been a
miscalculation.
The shutdown has stretched on for 37 days — the longest in
history — and there is considerable disagreement in both parties over how to
get out of it.
One thing is clear: As Republicans and Democrats continue to
dig in, polling shows that public opinion has shifted against Republicans, a
fact Mr. Trump acknowledged this week.
But instead of calling for a meeting with congressional
Democrats, Mr. Trump has turned his attention to his own party, repeatedly
pushing Senate Republicans to end the filibuster, something for which there is
little appetite. Republicans fear such a move would come back to haunt them
when Democrats are in the majority.
And:
Obamacare premiums are soaring as subsidies expire. Meet affected families. - The Washington Post
Excerpt:
Americans are coming face-to-face with the rising health
insurance costs at the center of the longest government shutdown in history — and what it means for
their pocketbooks next year.
Since open enrollment started Nov. 1, they’ve been able to
buy health plans for 2026 on Healthcare.gov and state-run marketplaces created
by the Affordable Care Act. Nearly all are finding they will have to pay more —
some, significantly more — for their monthly premiums. Costs
are soaring because health insurance is getting pricier and enhanced subsidies
Congress approved nearly five years ago are going away.
The government is shut down because congressional Democrats
won’t vote for a spending bill unless it extends subsidies beyond their Dec. 31
expiration date. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said Friday his caucus would vote to reopen the
government in exchange for a one-year extension of the subsidies, but
Republican leaders dismissed the proposal.
The stakes of this standoff are now apparent to Americans looking to buy health insurance.
And:
Vote to reopen government will test Senate Democrats Friday - The Washington Post
Excerpt:
The Senate plans to vote Friday on whether to advance a
revamped package to reopen the government, testing Democrats after a week of
internal debate over how long to hold out for their policy aims.
The proposal would temporarily fund the government, advance
three appropriations bills and come with a guarantee of a future Senate vote on
a policy to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that will expire at the end of
the year, boosting health care premiums.
That reflects the contours of an agreement that
was emerging earlier this week and that appealed to about
a dozen Senate Democrats — more than enough to end the shutdown that has become
the longest in American history.
But then Democrats swept elections in New Jersey, Virginia and
New York City on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump told Senate Republicans the shutdown
was “a big factor” in their weak showing.
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The victory emboldened the Senate Democrats who
have been pushing their colleagues to stay the course and prompted some of
those open to a deal to reconsider whether they could move Republicans to
negotiate further.
Most of the party is expected to reject the proposal,
leaving it short of the 60 votes it would need.
“Tuesday was a watershed moment,” said Sen. Chris Murphy
(D-Connecticut), who has argued that a vote on ACA subsidies isn’t enough. “The
country, first and foremost, was making a referendum on Donald Trump’s
corruption and his mishandling of the economy. But they were also making a
statement about this fight. … I think everybody understands the importance of
what happened on Tuesday and wants us to move forward in a way that honors
that.”
And:
by Thom Hartmann | November 4, 2025 - 6:06am | permalink
When politics becomes personal, policy becomes powerful. And there’s nothing more personal than survival.
Every election cycle, candidates talk about “freedom,” “security,” and “opportunity,” yet ignore the most basic measure of all three: whether ordinary Americans can afford to stay alive.
In the richest nation in the history of planet Earth, millions of Americans are dying from treatable illnesses, rationing insulin, and running GoFundMe campaigns for chemotherapy. This isn’t just a policy failure, it’s a moral collapse.
And it’s the one issue that could unite the country, reshape the Democratic Party, and finally prove that compassion is not weakness, but strength.
And:
by Bernie Sanders | November 4, 2025 - 6:12am | permalink
Democrats in the US Senate must stand with the working families of our country and in opposition to Donald Trump’s authoritarianism. They must not cave in to the president’s attacks on the working class during this ongoing government shutdown. If they do, the consequences will be catastrophic for our country.
This may be the most consequential moment in American history since the civil war. We have a megalomaniacal president who, consumed by his quest for more and more power, is undermining our constitution and the rule of law. Further, we have an administration that is waging war against the working class of our country and our most vulnerable people.
While Trump’s billionaire buddies become much, much richer, he is prepared to throw 15 million Americans off the healthcare they have—which could result in 50,000 unnecessary deaths each year. At a time when healthcare is already outrageously expensive, he is prepared to double premiums for more than 20 million people who rely on the Affordable Care Act. At a time when the United States has the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth, Trump is prepared, illegally, to withhold funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, despite a $5bn emergency fund established by Congress. That decision would threaten to push 42 million people—including 16 million children—into hunger.
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