In yet another display of partisan arrogance, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) flat-out rejected a Republican proposal to extend Obamacare subsidies for one year — a deal that could have helped reopen the government and provided immediate relief for Americans facing skyrocketing health insurance costs. But instead of saying yes to a reasonable, bipartisan plan, Jeffries did what Democrats do best: dig in, deflect, and demand more power.
The legislation, introduced by Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), sought to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits through the end of 2026. Sensible, temporary, and achievable — exactly the kind of common-sense bridge deal the country needs while Congress sorts out long-term healthcare reforms. But to Jeffries, that wasn’t enough.
He arrogantly called the one-year extension “a non-starter”, insisting that Democrats would accept nothing less than a permanent expansion of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies — the same ones originally stuffed into Biden’s $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” and later extended through the misnamed “Inflation Reduction Act.”
In other words, Democrats shut down the government over taxpayer-funded health subsidies that primarily benefit — wait for it — the wealthy.
Even Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute has pointed out that these so-called “working-class” subsidies are actually going to households earning between $129,000 and $600,000 a year. That’s right — the party that claims to be fighting for the poor is actually funneling federal money to upper-middle-class professionals who already have private insurance options.
But when reporters pressed Jeffries, he doubled down with a healthy dose of class warfare.
“What world are these MAGA extremists living in right now to think that Democrats are going to go along with a one-year extension from a group of people, meaning the Republicans, who just permanently extended massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors?” Jeffries sneered from the Capitol.
Translation: If Trump helped everyday taxpayers, Democrats will burn down the government before giving him another win.
The irony, of course, is that Trump’s tax cuts benefited working families across the board — not just “billionaire donors” as Jeffries loves to claim. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ own “healthcare for the people” program is quietly sending subsidies to six-figure earners who hardly need the help.
Let’s not forget: these enhanced Obamacare subsidies were never supposed to be permanent. They were born out of pandemic-era emergency spending — a temporary patch that’s long since expired. But Democrats, addicted to government control, want to make them a permanent fixture of the welfare state.
Breitbart’s Sean Moran nailed it when he reported that this standoff is just another chapter in how Democrats shut down the government over Obamacare handouts. Instead of negotiating, they’d rather hold the country hostage to defend bloated federal programs that reward political loyalty instead of economic need.
So while Republicans propose a pragmatic, one-year extension to keep Americans covered and the government open, Jeffries and his caucus are busy crying “MAGA extremism” — all while protecting subsidies for people making half a million a year.
The truth is simple: Democrats aren’t fighting for healthcare; they’re fighting for control. And President Trump was right all along — the real obstructionists in Washington aren’t conservatives trying to fix the system. It’s the Democrats clinging to their broken one. ??
