I hear this.

but current reality is what it is. Repubs control both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. Even if we are able to get majorities in the House and Senate next year, there will still be a Repub president until at least January 2029 with veto power.

Universal healthcare is when the government owns the hospitals, sets the wages, sets prices for treatment.

that was simply an unnecessary side note that really should not have been included in my post because it really was not pertinent to your OP.
But the current political reality that I referenced in regard to your OP remains regardless of my grammatical incompetence.

but every 1st world country has it, and most third world countries, as well. If all these countries can have this benefit for its people, why can't we? We're suppose to be the richest nation in the world, but our own people go without because they're not rich. National Healthcare has been a spoken benefit for too long, for too many people, for it not to be doing good... even as it fights against restrictions it may have. A good many of these national healthcare institutions were put in place after WWII. But America, true to it's millionaire owners, would have none of it for their citizens. Besides "their" money being diverted to take care of sick people here, they convinced millions of Americans it's better to die than to live with this socialism.

I think there are Republican congresspeople who are hearing from their base of voters who see how much the ACA non subsidies will hurt them (the politicians).

be seated by the time the Senate votes in December. So the discharge petition better be done in Nov. If by some snowballs chance in hell it happens. You are right. I am a pollyanna.

not a bug!

They're fellow Americans and they damn well better care about their fellow man and woman AND child. Migrant or not. Citizen or not. Sorry to have to break it to 'em, but they're here, too! They use our water systems, our highway systems, the fruits of our farming communities, the back-breaking work of our laborers, the national, state, and local protection systems that help keep us safe, and MUCH MORE! That's all covered by OUR tax money that they, too, contribute.

I've heard more and more coverage focusing on people whose financial circumstances haven't felt it intensely or personally yet, but may now be STARTING to. Watch what kind of impact that's gonna start having. It's bound to be rather educational - and illuminating.

And btw, angrychair, EVERYBODY needs to hear this!!!

will be sent out immediately as SNAP money. This $5,000 will be a non-refundable interim substitute for the SNAP money the Rs are denying citizens.

Based on the average SNAP payment this should prevent hunger for at least a year allowing the Ds to reinstate and fund SNAP in Jan. of of 27.

I will not vote for a candidate for office who does not support ending pay for congressional members and staff during shut downs. I would also add in the president and his staff. AND... I don't care if it is not a big budget item. It will certainly hit home for most if not all of them. Thank you

Before answering, I think it's necessary to accept the difficult reality that Republicans were NOT going to pass legislation in the Senate and House to restore ACA subsidies no matter what Democrats did. Nor would the Orange Sociopath sign it.

Is not knowable now. I personally think they wouldn't have held out more than another week or so.
Fortunately there is still one more couture vote in the Senate and I still have serious doubts it will get passed, as is, in the House. Holding out hope the shutdown continues.
No more backing down. Breaking the Republican Party, crushing their spirits, is the only option now.

In my judgement, after 23+ years at DU and nearly 60 years following national politics, I think the following 3 things were extremely unlikely:

1. Senate Republicans would add restoration of ACA subsidies to the Continuing Resolution, then pass it.
2. Mike Johnson would take up that measure in the House, and would muster enough Republicans to pass it.
3. The Orange Sociopath would sign it, conceding a victory to the radical left democrats.

I will admit this was unknowable for certain.

However, I assert the following WAS knowable, with a high degree of certainty:

As the shutdown dragged on with SNAP being appealed by Trump who doesn't care how much pain he causes, poor families with children would suffer hunger. Federal workers would continue to go without pay, and likely face more mass layoffs. Trump would have a freer hand to dismantle federal agencies -- which is at the core of the Project 2025 agenda.

I think our Senate Democratic leadership saw no chance that Republicans would restore ACA, and made the tough decision to end the shutdown -- knowing full well the Democratic base would be furious with them. That's not lack of spine.

Nor does it constitute throwing away the Affordable Care Act. They could not force Republicans to restore it, but they could make sure voters know that skyrocketing health insurance costs and people going without healthcare is entirely the work of Trump and his Republican Party.

I guarantee you this will be a HUGE issue in the 2026 midterms. Winning back the House, and possibly the Senate, is the crucially important goal we all have now.

I don't know how many different ways I can say this, I've literally posted, at least a dozen times, that the ACA subsidies issue cannot wait to be dealt with in the 2026 election. Starting in January millions of people will be without insurance and by February people will start dying and by June the entire healthcare system will start crumbling under the strain. By June of 2027 the entire US healthcare system will be a shell of its former self.
That is assuming there is not a public health emergency like another pandemic or large natural disaster as that would dramatically accelerate the timeline.

A couple of million people going hungry is far better than a couple million people dying.

I desperately hope the deal is rejected and the shutdown continues to force Republicans to the table.
Do I hope I'm wrong if not? Absolutely. But it's not just me saying it but everyone from Bernie Sanders to public health experts. No public consensus on the exact numbers of those that lose insurance or are priced out of the market and number of deaths and a timeline of when things start to break but no one is saying things will be fine until next year.

That they will pass legislation in the Senate and in the House to restore ACA subsidies -- likely in defiance of Trump -- and that Trump will then sign the legislation, or a veto-proof majority can be mustered in the Senate.

Everything you said about the devastating consequences of losing ACA subsidies is true. It would be a tragedy for millions of people.

But I remember that Republicans have been trying to kill the ACA since it was created during the Obama administration, and now they finally have that goal in sight.

Can this looming tragedy get them to change their minds for humanitarian reasons that never seemed to bother them before? Could prolonging the government shutdown apply enough political pressure to force them to give up that long term goal?

For decades they've wanted to "shrink government to a size that can be drowned in a bathtub" -- and Project 2025 is making headway in accomplishing that.

Perhaps the Epstein files will be a wildcard in all this, discrediting Trump enough with a large chunk of his base so that he no longer holds sway over Republicans in Congress -- and they, in turn, will realize the healthcare crisis would cause many of them to lose their seats in the general election.

I'm grasping at straws here, but I suppose it's possible.

They have theirs so fuck everyone else, including the idiots that voted them in.

I know it seems harsh but they've displayed nothing else.

Health care and health insurance are not the same thing.

As long as we have a for-profit health insurance industry we're going to have this problem.

If we started taxing the wealthy properly we could pay for it all. We are the richest nation in the world.

Still hasn't come up with a single idea after ten years beyond blowing it up.
Stable Genius!

It's life or death for so many.