Anthony Rispo explains that the U.S. government shutdown is not a “both sides” issue. The Democrats are responsible for this shutdown and here’s why.
Transcript:
Anthony Rispo: Why is the government shutdown not on both sides issue? Why are the Democrats to blame? Well, Democrats are using a short term spending bill to push long term policy changes that don’t belong there. They’ve said it outright. They will not vote to reopen the government unless their health care demands are met. What they’re demanding is an extension of temporary Covid era spending that artificially lowered health care costs under the Affordable Care Act.
Those measures were not part of the ACA itself. They were emergency subsidies created under the American Rescue Plan Act and later extended through 2025 by the inflation Reduction Act. When that spending expires, the ACA simply returns to its original pricing framework. Not a spike. Not a crisis, just a return to baseline after years of inflated relief funding. And yes, people will feel it.
Premiums will adjust. But that’s not because Republicans raise prices. It’s because Democrats are refusing to admit that these subsidies were temporary. They’re using the fear of higher costs, a perception they created, to justify holding the government hostage. And because Republicans are in full power, this is great leverage to make it look like it’s their fault.
Now, here’s where it gets even more reckless. They’re not just trying to extend the pandemic subsidies. They’re also trying to reopen and revise parts of the one big Beautiful bill, a massive spending law that’s already been passed and signed into law earlier this year. The one big, beautiful bill reshaped portions of Medicaid and other federal programs. And Democrats now want to undo sections of it by tying their changes to the current funding debate.
Instead of debating revisions through normal legislative order, they’re trying to squeeze them into the Continuing Resolution, which is a short term bill that’s supposed to do one thing, keep basic government operations funded. And that’s the abuse here. A continuing resolution isn’t a policymaking tool, per se. It’s a bridge, a stopgap to prevent a shutdown while Congress negotiates the full budget, using it to rewrite sections of existing law, whether that’s the pandemic relief measures or the one big beautiful bill is procedural malpractice.
Again, not the right place, not the right time. Look, the Democrats are desperate. They are held captive by the socialist wing of their party, the Democratic Socialists of America. And they know the only thing they have to appease that base is empty rhetoric about Trump, MAGA and the Republicans. So it’s not really about health care, in my view.
It’s about control, about rewriting existing law through the wrong channel and using a temporary funding bill to do it. And as more people understand that, it’ll be hard to unseat the man behind the curtain.
Source: https://x.com/anthony_rispo
