Republicans Are Panicked And Terrified About The Midterm Election And May Restore Obamacare Subsidies

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) knows that Democrats want Obamacare subsidies restored, and now Republicans are getting nervous that insurance premium increases will kill them in the midterm.

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Republicans had to know that this would happen. House and Senate Republicans voted for the tax cuts for the rich and health care cuts to pay for it, and they seemed to have believed that they could get away with cutting healthcare for nearly 20 million people, and nobody would notice.

It turns out that people noticed. Voters are angry, and now Republicans are running scared.

NBC News reported that Senate Republicans have opened the door to restoring the Obamacare subsidies that they cut:

NBC News asked Thune at his press conference whether he could support an extension of the ACA enhanced subsidies, either as part of a government funding package or a separate vehicle.

“Well, the Democrats created this problem by putting the deadline or the phase-outs in the legislation they acted on earlier, and by dramatically expanding the size of the program in the first place,” the majority leader replied. “So I hope they will come to us with a suggestion and a solution about how to address it. But obviously it’s something that, yeah, some of our members are paying attention to.”

…

Republican pollster John McLaughlin is urging an extension of the ACA funds, writing an opinion piece last week under the headline, “A Health Care Tax Hike Poses the Greatest Midterm Threat to the GOP.”

Thune did have one correct point. It was Democrats who put the original phase-out date into the Obamacare expansion when Biden was president. However, Republicans had a choice. They could have voted to extend the subsidies, but they chose to end them.

Republicans made that choice, and I don’t think that voters will forgive them, even if they reverse course and restore the subsidies.

The damage has already been done. Democrats have been running town halls and advertising all over the country on the Obamacare cuts. Republicans can’t erase the memories of the electorate by saying Oops, we didn’t really mean it.

The pressure from voters is getting to the Republicans, and the GOP seems terrified that they are going to get destroyed in the midterm election.

Historically, in electoral environments where voters are angry at the incumbent party, there is little the incumbent party can do to reverse the momentum building against them.

Republicans can try to double back and undo the damage, but it never works.

The best thing for the country would be for the subsidies to be restored, but even if they are restored, Republicans are probably still heading for defeat in 2026.

What do you think about Republicans getting worried about their healthcare cuts? Share your thoughts in the comments below.