Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) gave a dire warning to her fellow Democrats about what she thinks will happen if they give in to Republicans to end a government shutdown without having their demands for $1 trillion in new spending on healthcare met, saying on MSNBC that "there are going to be people that are going to die" without the spending.
Warren threw out a litany of scenarios that she believes would happen under the Republicans' spending plan, which the party called a "clean continuing resolution" that would maintain current spending levels.
She said,
They’re trying to find anything to talk about around the shutdown, to blame it on Democrats so they don’t have to talk about the two thirds of seniors who are in nursing homes, a lot of them with serious health problems, half of them with Alzheimer’s, who can just be pushed out on the street under the Republican bill.
They don’t want to talk about those brand new babies and their mamas who will lose access to health care. They do not want to talk about your neighbor who counts on a home health aide, and who counts on having a wheelchair in order to try to live independently and can lose all of that.
They don’t want to talk about the tens of millions of families who are receiving notices this month saying, here’s where your health care premiums were already too high. Here’s where they’re going to be, thanks to the Republicans.
In reality, Democrats are demanding that $1 trillion in cuts enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July, which was done as a budget reconciliation without Democrat support, be reversed.
The cuts from the OBBBA prevented illegal immigrant asylees and parolees from getting health care subsidies and Medicaid, which was happening before that bill was passed. This is what Republicans mean when they say that Democrats are demanding that illegal immigrants get health care, and they are not wrong about that--it would happen if Democrats get what they want.
Because of some delays, some of the cuts from the OBBBA have only taken effect on October 1, which is why Democrats are claiming that they are new cuts (they are not).
Of course, Democrats in their usual fashion have tried to muddy the waters enough that the average American voter has a hard time understanding the issue, since they don't want to be blamed for shutting down the government over their demands, which are unreasonable for a party out of power.
Warren continued,
They’re going to be people who are going to have to make decisions about whether to make rent or pay for health insurance. They’re going to be people who are just going to let their health insurance go. They’re going to be people who are going to die because of these decisions. And that more than anything else, the Republicans don’t want to talk about. They rather shut down the government than help Americans who are just trying to get their costs under control. I think that is a fight worth fighting, and the Democrats are organized to do it right now.
Warren is not wrong that costs have gone up for some people under the OBBBA. It's possible that it could result in someone's death if they can't get treatment because they can't afford health insurance.
This has been a problem long before the OBBBA. It's an ongoing debate whether health care should be paid for by private citizens and businesses, or provided by the government at a huge cost in taxes. The current system is pretty generous in providing for those in need, but won't satisfy those who think health care is a universal right.
The bottom line here is that Democrats are trying to advance their agenda despite having very little power--a result of the will of the people in the last election. We will see who blinks first, but right now it doesn't look like either side is willing to budge an inch.
