The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal is urging Republicans in Congress to end health care subsidies introduced as part of ObamaCare as the party tries to negotiate an end to the government shutdown, which has stretched into its fourth week.
“Despite longtime Democratic political dominance on healthcare, more voters may be noticing for the first time in years that the Affordable Care Act is a debacle that has made care worse and more expensive,” the Journal wrote as part of an editorial published Tuesday.
The newspaper accused Democrats in Congress of attempting to “extort the GOP into extending enriched ObamaCare subsidies that were sold as temporary pandemic support.”
“Do taxpayers — many of whom pay for their own coverage at work — want to underwrite baby boomer early retirement? Maybe the politics here aren’t as obvious as Democrats assume,” the Journal argued.
More than a decade after the former president’s signature health care legislation was signed into law, “[I]t’s still a product few deem worth buying unless they’re protected from the cost,” the Rupert Murdoch-owned outlet added.
“The political and media ground have changed in the past 10 years,” it said. “… An underappreciated question of the shutdown is whether the GOP will re-enter the debate on healthcare — and go on offense on ObamaCare’s failures.”
Since President Trump took office in January, the Journal has been sharply critical of the new administration and urged Republicans in Congress to push back on the president’s policies on issues ranging from trade to federal law enforcement and matters of national security.
