Shutdown Shows GOP Is Still Obsessed With Obamacare Repeal

From the very beginning of the current federal government shutdown , the big question has been whether Democrats can convince Republicans to give them the trophy of an extension of soon-to-expire Obamacare premium subsidies that were enacted in 2021. Democratic optimism on this subject has been based on the belief that Republicans up for reelection next year really don’t want to get blamed for the huge spike in health-insurance premiums that would hit upward of 20 million mostly middle-class Americans if the subsidies expire (with the first flare-up occurring when open enrollment for Obamacare plans begins on November 1). And indeed, Punchbowl News’s soundings of the U.S. House indicate there are “somewhere between 20% and 30% of GOP lawmakers” who are “open to extending” the subsi