The federal government has now been partially shut down for 40 days — smashing every previous record and showing no signs of ending anytime soon. Washington is paralyzed. The Senate is completely deadlocked, unable to move the original continuing resolution (CR) across the finish line, and even that proposal is starting to age like milk in the sun.Meanwhile, the consequences are piling up. Air travel and cargo are already taking hits, and with the Thanksgiving travel season just around the corner, things could get ugly fast.
Democrats are the ones keeping this shutdown alive — all because they’re throwing a tantrum over COVID-era Obamacare subsidies that were already set to expire at the end of 2025, long after the pandemic faded into history. The Senate has now voted fourteen times on the continuing resolution, and every time, Democrats have dug in their heels.
The American people are getting fed up — and so is President Donald Trump. He’s not the type to sit quietly while Washington plays games. On Sunday, he took to Truth Social to say exactly what millions of Americans are thinking: enough is enough.
As reports noted Saturday, Trump’s pushing an innovative idea — sending healthcare payments directly to the people, letting them choose the coverage that fits their needs instead of funneling billions to bloated insurance companies.
Over the weekend, President Trump had both the Democrats and the insurance companies squarely in his sights — and he wasn’t holding back, not one bit.
On Saturday, he unleashed a second all-caps broadside aimed straight at the insurance industry, letting them know exactly where he stands:
NO MORE MONEY, HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, TO THE DEMOCRAT SUPPORTED INSURANCE COMPANIES FOR REALLY BAD OBAMACARE. THE MONEY MUST NOW GO DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE, TAKING THE “FAT CAT” INSURANCE COMPANIES OUT OF THE CORRUPT SYSTEM OF HEALTHCARE. THE PEOPLE CAN BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER POLICY, FOR MUCH LESS MONEY, SAVING, FOR THEMSELVES, AN ABSOLUTE FORTUNE!!! PRESIDENT DJT
It’s worth pointing out that, under Trump’s proposal, consumers would still be buying their policies from insurance companies. So yes — the same industry that’s been milking the system for years would still be in the mix.
That said, the idea still has real merit. Sure, there’d still be some government involvement — and you can always count on the bureaucratic middlemen to skim their share of tax dollars before anything reaches the people. But compared to the current mess, this is a massive improvement.
Ideally, we’d get Washington out of healthcare altogether, at least at the federal level. But as the saying goes, politics is the art of the possible. And as first steps go, this one isn’t half bad.
Trump then wrote on Sunday:
I am sorry that the American People are being terrorized by Democrats who have decided to shut the Government down to make me and other Republicans continue ObamaCare subsidies, which have been a windfall for Health Insurance Companies, and a DISASTER for the American People. The largest Health Insurance Companies have seen their Stock Prices soar (Some over 1000%!) since the passage of ObamaCare. Meanwhile, Americans’ Premiums have more than DOUBLED, contrary to President Obama’s promise.
I believe that the money should go directly to THE PEOPLE to purchase better Healthcare, and create competition. This enrichment of Health Insurance companies must stop. It is long past time to lower Premiums, not enrich Insurance Companies. I stand ready to work with both Parties to solve this problem once the Government is open. Stop terrorizing the American People. Stop pushing failed policies!
Health insurance companies have seen their stock prices skyrocket — no surprise there. But what’s really interesting is how some members of Congress seem to be doing just as well in the market. Their “remarkable” investment success starts to make a lot more sense when you remember they’re the ones shaping healthcare policy and sitting on information the rest of us don’t have access to.
Trump then took on those who are opposed to his tariff regime:
He wrote:
People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER. We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.
Here’s where I’ll part ways a bit with President Trump: keep the dividend — but use it to chip away at our staggering national debt. Dropping $2,000 into every American’s pocket sounds great politically, and sure, there will always be a carve-out for “high-income” earners to make it sound fair. But let’s be honest — that kind of blanket payout starts looking an awful lot like vote-buying dressed up as policy.
There is a model for this sort of thing: Alaska’s Permanent Fund, which pays residents an annual stipend from oil revenues. It works there because Alaska runs lean and isn’t $38 trillion in debt. The United States, on the other hand, is staring up at a fiscal sword of Damocles that’s ready to drop. And yet, no one in Washington — not Democrats, not even most Republicans — seems willing to have an adult conversation about actually paying it down.
