Posted on 10/06/2025 5:49:24 PM PDT by Its All Over Except ...
It's been quite a while since I've done one of these, but here it goes:
As of October 2025, Democrats in the Senate are using the filibuster to block a Republican bill that would temporarily fund the government, triggering a government shutdown. This is meant to pressure Republicans to negotiate on health care and other policy demands.
Given that Republicans control both the White House and Congress, Democrats are using the filibuster to provide them a measure of leverage in budget negotiations.
Democrats are demanding an extension of enhanced subsidies for health care plans under the ACA, aka "ObamaCare" which are set to expire, and.are seeking to stop proposed Medicaid cuts by the Trump administration.
I have sought to factor out reports from both the political left and right and bring in the opinion of those said to be nonpartisan (your mileage may vary).
An analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) indicates that the enhanced premium tax credits, which were previously extended by the Biden administration, will expire at the end of 2025. This expiration will cause premiums to spike dramatically for individuals and families who purchase health insurance through the ACA marketplace.
It is also projected that this, additional cuts, and rule changes are projected to increase the uninsured rate across the country.
Ohio, in line with many other red states, expanded their Medicaid program under Obamacare, the cuts in the House bill will significantly impact Medicaid recipients in Ohio, etc, and the Ohio Capital Journal is reporting that up to 450k Ohioans could lose their Medicaid coverage.
An analysis from KFF suggests that Ohio could lose $6.45 billion in Medicaid funding over the next decade due to the cuts.
After looking through various news reports I could not find any provision allowing illegal aliens to enroll in Medicaid or receive federal subsidies for ACA plans in red states.
What will definitely occur is the elimination of federal funding for certain categories of immigrants, such as refugees and asylum seekers, making them ineligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Several nonpartisan groups, including the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), have reported that cuts to Medicaid and the expiration of enhanced ObamaCare subsidies (set to expire at the end of 2025) will cause health insurance premiums to rise for middle-class people.
It remains to be seen if all of the aforementioned will occur, but if 1.) the cuts are made, if 2.) the subsidies are allowed to expire, and then if 3.) middle-class people in red states (or blue) see a 4.) significant increase in their health insurance premiums there could be hell to pay in the midterms.
It's hard to tell if all 4 will occur as only the first three may occur (or not, as only the first 2 may occur) and there may only be a mild increase for health insurance premiums.
I’ll step out of the way now and let people say what they will, just dial back on any Ad Hominems as they don’t prove anything and contribute even less.
The Republicans were willing to pass a “clean” essentialy “no changes” bill.
The Democrats in the Senate used the filibuster to stop it from passing.
The old media does not control the narrative as they formerly did.
“we’re just waiting for the Democrats to vote for the same bill they voted for 6 months ago.”
Say that, no further questions.
The overall problem is the sheer number of people designated as asylum seekers. They did not enter the country via the immigration lottery.
This makes them illegals. Those designations are not valid. It is the designation that is being used to declare that no illegals are going to get Medicaid. With those designations not being valid, then they ARE going to get Medicaid.
Let death take me, at home, or in the streets BEFORE any negotiation with the Democrats. They have caused so many VERY sick problems in the nation, to me there is NO negotiation left. They either surrender, stop or however you want to put it, or... and let the antifa ones be taken with them.
I used to work in Medicaid, it’s been a while, but I can tell you about how things used to be done. Medicaid is a state run program and the states would be given blocks of money for their Medicaid programs. How the state SPENT that money was mostly up to the state. That being the case, California would INSTANTLY spend it on illegals.
We don’t negotiate with terrorists.
There should be no such thing as a filibuster without a quorum of the minority Party present in continuous debate. They should have a stake halting the Senate process.
I’ve researched the Senate rules from online sources, and it appears that CR bills are technically not subject to the 60-vote rule. I can’t understand why the Senate Parliamentarian has not made this clear to Thune. Unless...
What if the Republicans are letting the Dems illegally filibuster so that Russ Voght at OMB can fire non-essential government workers who are located primarily in DC and are liberal Democrats?
Of course the cynical side of me would say that medical insurance providers (Big Insurance (BI)) are all lined up in support of the R’s bill. With the leftist media whining daily about how much health premiums will increase, the public is expecting to take it in the wallet again. So now the stage is set for BI to increase premiums without any need to justify the increases. It is literally free money for BI.
We need to get back to the days when a set-aside for minor health issues was simply a line item in our monthly budget. We bought an inexpensive medical emergency policy for catastrophic events. Of course I realize that in today’s medical support environment (hospitals charge $150 for a single aspirin) such a level of responsibility being placed upon many citizen’s budget simply is not possible.
It remains to be seen if all of the aforementioned will occur, but if
1.) the cuts are made, if (may happen)
2.) the subsidies are allowed to expire, and then if (has to happen)
3.) middle-class people in red states (or blue) see a significant increase in their health insurance premiums (won’t happen. They have already gone up 300%+ since Obamacare passed. Nobody is going to see a significant increase. Most of Obamacare is Medicaid subsidies and illegals getting them. There are few real payoffs on the exchanges and they will end up paying more for unsubsidized insurance. )
4)there could be hell to pay in the midterms. (I seriously doubt that the democrats can lie about Obamacare again, even the Washington Post-liberal rag-knows it’s unaffordable. Further, the fact that its main use has been for illegals isn’t helping. )
Last, those who need Medicaid need to look to their States for funding. This is exactly why some states opted out in the first place, because they knew that the Federal subsidies would end and they couldn’t afford the next move. States with enormous budget deficits, and high taxes are doomed if they have to cover Medicaid in this scenario. The key is the propaganda now. The conservatives need to be clear that Medicaid is State, NOT Federal, so that appropriate anger on wasted funds and resources can be understood.
Sounds concerning
ACA should never have been passed.
Medicaid should not exist nor should any government handouts like Medicare, SS, unemployment, food stamps, section 8 housing etc. eliminate it all.
Non-citizens cannot sign up for Medicaid. If they go to the ER with a serious issue, they temporarily get Medicaid for their treatment. It’s so the hospital will get paid at least something.
The Republicans are doing the Dems a favor here. If they want to filibuster, make them do an actual filibuster, not the gentlemen’s agreement type where they just declare it so and move on. Make them stand and talk on the floor if they want to filibuster. Doing so will expose them to the public and break them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.