Democrats continue to try to blackmail Republicans to give in to Obamacare subsidies. It is a tactic they have used in just about every budget since Obama took office. They demand massive new expenditures for worthless programs to benefit their supporters and then force a government shutdown and hold the American people for ransom until the Republicans give in. They don’t care how many they hurt as long as they get what they want. Republicans have tried to hold out to maintain a balanced budget but eventually give in to save the people hurt by the shutdown. This time the Republicans have refused to give in to blackmail and are refusing to budge. They care about the people who are hurt but know we can’t go on giving in to blackmail because every time we allow massive new spending it pushes the country that much closer to bankruptcy. The issue is the same old one Democrats have been pushing since the housing crisis. Then the banks and automakers were faced with closing. Now it is the people without health insurance. The Democrats put the money into the banks to keep them afloat and they paid big dividends to their stockholders. That does not help because the people still owed the money to the banks so the businesses stay open but have to be continually subsidized until the people are able to pay back what they owe. If the money went to the people in the form of vouchers, they could pay off the banks so the banks could stay open and the people could still support the banks. The money went to the car manufacturers so they could still pay the workers but there is no work because the people couldn’t afford to buy cars. If the money went to the people in a voucher, they could buy cars and the workers would have work and get paid. In the first instance only the companies benefit but in the second, everyone benefits. It is the same way this time. The subsidies were to help the insurance companies through Covid. The Covid shutdown is over but they still want to continue the subsidies draining billions of dollars from the treasury to help the insurance companies. The subsidies have no guarantee that the companies will lower insurance rates and they have not lowered the rates. Obamacare was supposed to help people that could not afford insurance but it only made things worse. For instance, if a family paid $200 a month for insurance, the government offered a $200 subsidy so the insurance companies jacked the price up to $400 a month and the government paid $200 to the insurance company and the people still paid $200. The insurance companies have been raking in massive profits while the people still suffer. The only difference is that everyone’s taxes went up to cover the subsidy so they are worse off then before. If the money went to the people, they could bid among the insurance companies who would have to keep their prices low or lose customers. It is all about power. The rate hikes drove those people who could not afford to get insurance to apply for subsidies making them dependent on the Democrats to keep the money flowing. The more people dependent on the Democrats, the more votes they can count on in upcoming elections.