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I’m critical of President Donald Trump. But I share a strong belief with two-thirds of Trump voters: we agree that Republicans in Washington should stop trying to make Affordable Care Act (ACA) cuts that would make premiums double and take health care from millions.
My source for that is Trump’s own pollster, Tony Fabrizio, who posted his data online as a warning to Republican candidates running in the 2026 midterms. Fabrizio wrote that “nearly eight-in-ten voters support” ACA tax credits that Republicans are about to terminate, including “more than two-thirds of Trump voters and three-quarters of swing voters.”
Fabrizio’s numbers have been backed up by a growing wave of nonpartisan polls. And The Wall Street Journal reports that behind the scenes, White House advisers are concerned they’re losing the shutdown debate because of this health care fight.
TRUMP FLIPS HIS SHUTDOWN APPROACH, LEAVING CONGRESS TO TAKE THE HEAT
Those advisers are correct, and there are more and more signs that the president knows this. Over the last several days, he has been eager to talk about anything but the shutdown, even if it’s a judge he nominated rebuking him for breaking the law.
The bottom line is that Americans cannot afford to have their premiums skyrocket and politically, Republicans cannot afford another broken economic promise to everyday Americans. In a CBS News/YouGov poll, a majority say Trump is making them worse off.
This means it’s in the best interests of the American people and in the best interest of Trump’s approval rating for the president to admit he got this wrong, reach back out to Democrats and his own voters, and end his health care shutdown.
HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN
Whatever their political views are, I don’t know a single American who thinks actions matter less than words. In 2024, Republican candidate Donald Trump campaigned on popular promises, but his record has broken them — one after another.
He promised lower costs on “Day One” and vowed that inflation would “vanish.” At the Republican National Convention he said, “I make this pledge to the great people of America. I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately.” But his tariffs, legislation, and chaotic executive actions have driven costs and inflation up. Trump promised to reduce the national debt, yet his tax breaks for the wealthy are growing it by $3.4 trillion — pushing costs higher still. He promised lower energy bills, but his clean energy cuts are raising them.
TRUMP BREAKS ‘DAY ONE’ PROMISE TO LOWER COSTS AS PRICES SURGE ACROSS AMERICA IN FIRST SIX MONTHS
What all those broken promises have in common is that working people are being thrown under the bus so that billionaires and the well-connected can receive special treatment. Consistently, middle class Americans are being sold out to the corrupt establishment Trump campaigned against. The tariffs, the new debt and the energy cuts are all connected to tax welfare for powerful allies of the president — billionaires, hedge fund managers, pharmaceutical and social media executives and private jet owners.
Health care is no different.
DEMOCRATS BLAME GOP FOR OBAMACARE WOES TIED TO PANDEMIC-ERA SUBSIDIES
In 2024, Trump guaranteed us he’d bring health care costs down. But Republicans’ signature law, the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” broke that promise by making the deepest Medicaid cuts in history. The funds went to tax cuts for the rich instead. And the toll of that decision is already being felt across the country, especially at rural hospitals.
Now, the main argument between Republicans and Democrats during the government shutdown is about popular ACA tax credits that cost less than one one-hundredth as much as Trump’s tax giveaways to the wealthy. As mentioned above, Democrats, and a big majority of Trump voters, want those health care tax credits protected.
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But instead of listening to the men and women who sent him to the White House, Trump rejected congressional Democrats’ offers to negotiate for months. In September, he went on “FOX & Friends” and urged Republicans in Congress, “don’t even deal with [Democrats]” on government funding.”
That attitude was the opposite of what Trump had previously said: “If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States. He’s the one that has to get people together.”
Rather than “get people together,” he kept people apart. Now he’s responsible for a government shutdown and he has announced that he’s deliberately making it as painful as he can for everyday Americans, going as far as to delay significant infrastructure projects the American economy needs.
In a blow to New Jersey’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, Trump targeted the Gateway Hudson Tunnel. But at the same time, Trump’s team confirmed that the construction of his unnecessary, wasteful White House ballroom will continue. Once again, the voters Trump promised to fight for get shafted while billionaires stay insulated.
We all deserve better.
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