Governing is all about priorities.
Earlier this year, when tens of millions of Americans were facing skyrocketing health insurance premiums, and millions were facing losing their coverage, congressional Republicans refused to spend the funds necessary to help them.
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According to the Committee For a Responsible Federal Budget:
With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced subsidies set to expire soon, several policymakers have proposed plans to extend the enhancements. You can read more about the ACA subsidies here. We estimate that extending the enhancements without offsets would increase deficits by roughly $30 billion for a one-year extension and $350 billion over ten years for a permanent extension.
In part to reduce these costs, several plans have added proposed income cut-offs to subsidies, incorporated new program integrity measures, or added additional reforms. Many have also suggested temporary rather than permanent extension.
The cost could have been brought down or offset by making the extension temporary or adding reforms to the subsidy program.
People’s lives are on the line, but Republicans said that the country could not afford it.
Fast forward a few months, and Republicans are tripping over themselves to give Donald Trump $1 billion to pay for his supposedly privately funded ballroom.