From the shutdown to the midterms
It's little wonder that Republicans feel a need to gerrymander
So far, both parties have been holding firm on the government shutdown, now entering its fourth week. Republicans insist on a “clean” continuing resolution to re-open the government; Democrats insist upon an extension of expiring health insurance subsidies as part of the package.[1]
Democrats may have the upper hand as health insurance premiums on plans subsidized under ObamaCare since the COVID-19 pandemic appear to be rising an average of 18 percent—affecting Republicans as well as Democrats[2] while polls suggest that a majority of the Amerikkkan people want the subsidies extended.[3]
Cracks are beginning to appear among Republicans, notably with Marjorie Taylor Greene, but also especially those facing tough re-election races next year.[4] But Democrats keep persuading me that they’d rather sit in opposition where they can complain about Republicans without ever actually being expected to accomplish anything so I remain deeply suspicious that their line is purely performative.
It's hard to see how the Republican position makes sense, however, except as submission to Donald Trump who is urging Republicans to hold the line. “Members of both parties acknowledge that time is running out to fix the looming health insurance price hikes” as the Obamacare enrollment period begins on November 1, and consumers will be shopping for plans—many may simply drop coverage because they can’t afford it.[5]
And what will happen when they need medical care anyway? Fans of capitalism should note that, even with Obamacare, “as many as 66.5% of people who file for bankruptcy blame medical bills as the primary cause. As many as 550,000 people file for bankruptcy each year for this reason.”[6] If they have any other unsecured debt, their bankruptcies discharge that as well, which is surely a factor in the usurious credit card interest rates many folks are stuck paying. The Republican line can only exacerbate all this.
It all seems shortsighted even for Trump. But then we have his inflationary tariffs as well.[7] It’s like he’s shitting on the Amerikkkan people—whether they support him or not—which is to suggest that, if anything, Stacey Patton’s scope was too narrow in her analysis of Trump’s artificial idiocy video “of himself sitting in a fighter jet, wearing a crown, and dumping shit bombs onto protestors,” where she sees it as “an unfiltered glimpse into a diseased ego where rage and eroticism merge, where domination is foreplay, and where humiliation becomes the only language he knows how to speak” (seriously, read the whole thing).[8]
It's little wonder that Republicans feel a need to gerrymander next year’s midterm elections.
[1] Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick, and Seung Min Kim, “‘We will not be extorted’ in ending shutdown, Trump says at Senate Republican luncheon,” Public Broadcasting System, October 21, 2025, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-holds-luncheon-for-senate-republicans-facing-democrats-over-budget-shutdown
[2] Paige Winfield Cunningham, “Health insurance sticker shock begins as shutdown battle over subsidies rages,” Washington Post, October 22, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/10/22/obamacare-aca-enrollment-price-increases/
[3] Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick, and Seung Min Kim, “‘We will not be extorted’ in ending shutdown, Trump says at Senate Republican luncheon,” Public Broadcasting System, October 21, 2025, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-holds-luncheon-for-senate-republicans-facing-democrats-over-budget-shutdown
[4] Paige Winfield Cunningham, “Health insurance sticker shock begins as shutdown battle over subsidies rages,” Washington Post, October 22, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/10/22/obamacare-aca-enrollment-price-increases/
[5] Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick, and Seung Min Kim, “‘We will not be extorted’ in ending shutdown, Trump says at Senate Republican luncheon,” Public Broadcasting System, October 21, 2025, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-holds-luncheon-for-senate-republicans-facing-democrats-over-budget-shutdown
[6] John August, “Healthcare Insights: How Medical Debt Is Crushing 100 Million Americans,” Cornell University, October 21, 2024, https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/scheinman-institute/blog/john-august-healthcare/healthcare-insights-how-medical-debt-crushing-100-million-americans
[7] Matt Egan, “Inflation could be a third lower without tariffs, financial decision makers say,” Cable News Network, September 24, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/24/business/trump-trade-prices-economy-survey
[8] Stacey Patton, “Donald Trump’s AI Video Is a Psychosexual Confession,” October 21, 2025, https://drstaceypatton1865.substack.com/p/donald-trumps-ai-video-is-a-psychosexual