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- [00:00]
Ben
Republicans seem absolutely giddy at causing pain, specifically targeted at Democratic states and Democratic cities as a result of the government shutdown. Like an abuser. You hear these statements coming from the White House, I mean, just the psychological profile of abusers, and they're out there saying, you made us hurt you. We have to inflict pain upon you. You did this to yourselves. And so here, for example, is Donald Trump's chief propagandist, Caroline Levitt, saying, Democrats should know we didn't want to have to do this to you, but now you've made us mad. Here, play this clip because he mentioned.
- [00:40]
Brad Woodhouse
Russ vote in that, I think that.
- [00:42]
Unidentified Commentator
Came out about 8 o' clock this morning about cutting certain programs that they.
- [00:47]
Brad Woodhouse
Deem are not necessary.
- [00:50]
Unidentified Commentator
Is that real or is that a negotiating tactic?
- [00:54]
Caroline Levitt
Oh, it's very real. And the Democrats should know that. They put the White House and the president and in this position, and if they don't want further harm on their constituents back home, then they need to reopen the government. It's very simple. Pass the clean continuing resolution and all of this goes away. We would not be having these discussions here at the White House today if not for the Democrats voting to shut the government down. This is an unfortunate consequence. And the President and Russ vote will be meeting on that later today. How much do you.
- [01:24]
Ben
So that's one tactic. Then you have Congresswoman McClain, MAGA Republican from Michigan. Her tactic is just to say, just sign the cr. Just sign it. So as they're threatening to like, like, literally cause abuse to people. The other tactic is here, just sign it. Just sign it. Literally. Watch what they do here. Play this clip.
- [01:47]
Caroline Levitt
Pass the clean Republican CR bill that we already passed. I mean, it's really, really simple.
- [01:54]
Unidentified Commentator
That's it.
- [01:55]
Caroline Levitt
Just pass it.
- [01:58]
Ben
Don't talk to us. We're not going to talk to you. Why would we do the work of, like, government? Yes, we need your votes. We need them, but we don't even want to talk to you. We don't want to do negotiations. We don't want to do what students are taught in third grade government class. Just sign the thing. So then you have Magamike Johnson from inside the Capitol saying, but look, look, look, Russ Vogt, the author of Project 2025 that Donald Trump claimed he knew nothing about, who's now the Office of Management and Budget Director. He takes no pleasure in causing this pain. But of course he's gonna have to do it and he's gonna have to reflect the priorities of the regime. And that means he's gonna have to hurt you Democrats, because Donald Trump doesn't view you as his constituents. Here, play this clip.
- [02:46]
Unidentified Commentator
They have now effectively turned off the Legislative Branch, the Article 2 branch of. Or the Article 1, sorry, the Article 1 branch of our government. And they've turned it over to the executive. Okay? So in that situation, when Congress turns off the funding and the funding runs out, it is up to the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States, to determine how those resources will be spent. He has that responsibility given to him by the Democrats in the Senate. They can't complain about it and he doesn't want to do it. But in this scenario, what they have to do is make very difficult decisions. Most of the responsibility falls to Russ Vogt. He's the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. As you go as, as you know, whomever is seated in the chair at OMB during a shutdown has to do the same thing. Russ does this reluctantly. We had a 45 minute telephone conference with him yesterday. He talked to all the House Republicans. He takes no pleasure in this because Russ has to sit down and decide, because he's in charge of that office, which policies, personnel and which programs are essential and which are not. That is not a fun task and he is not enjoying that responsibility. And it could end today if the Senate Democrats would come to their senses and do the right thing for the American people. But if they don't, and if they keep the government closed, it's going to get more and more painful because the resources run out and more and more things have to be reduced and eliminated. Now, when he sits down as the director of omb, he will obviously have a subjective determination on, on, on the priorities. And what do you think he would do? Because what would any OMB director do under any president? They're going to look to see for the administration's priorities first and ensure that those are funded. And so that's some, those are some very serious determinations that have to be made.
- [04:30]
Ben
Now we know that MAGA Republican Senators have said, and I'm giving you a direct quote, that Russ Vote has been waiting for this moment since he hit puberty. End quote. That's a direct quote from MAGA Republican Senators. Donald Trump posted on Thursday. I have a meeting today with Russ Vogt, he of Project 2025 fame. Wait a minute, I thought Trump said he didn't know what Project 2025 was. To determine which of the many Democrat agencies, most of which are political scams, he recommends to be cut and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent. I can't believe the radical left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They're not stupid people. So maybe this is their way of wanting to quietly and quickly be Make America Great again. President djt. I mean, how utterly, utterly pathetic can you get right there? I want to bring in right now Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care. The organization is protecting our care with the Affordable Care act and the defense of the Affordable Care Act. Brad, it's great to see you again. You were on the Midas Touch network back in 2021. Everybody could go see a throwback of that one. But here we are. Now, I want to get into everything you heard there. But the very first thing I want to get into, though, is why the Republicans have chosen to shut down the government because they refuse to extend the Affordable Care act tax credits. And they try to say this is for illegal immigrants and that this is for transgender Peruvian surgeries. I don't even know what they're even talking about. I mean, I never know what they're talking about. But explain to us what's really at stake. What's really at stake with the Affordable Care act tax premiums and why Democrats are saying this should be a bipartisan issue. What are you doing?
- [06:23]
Brad Woodhouse
Well, absolutely, health care should be a bipartisan issue. And by the way, if you look at all the polls on the Affordable Care act tax credits, on Medicaid, on lowering prescription drug prices, across the board, Republicans, Democrats and independents support policies that lower cost and expand coverage. But Republicans, in the big ugly bill that they passed this summer, they did it through reconciliation, didn't need any Democratic votes. They hijacked American healthcare to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Democrats have a little leverage here also. They should be consulted in the appropriations process. That's always been the norm. And they said, let's have a meeting. So they started. Jefferies and Schumer were sending letters to the president and to Thune and Johnson early this summer saying, let's have a meeting, let's have a meeting. And they didn't do a meeting until this week after the House had passed a dirty cr. The same continuing resolution or same funding bill that almost every Democrat voted against in March, just shoving it down the Democrats throat and not willing to have a conversation about healthcare. And to your question, the ACA tax credits that were enhanced during the Biden administration that helped get us the lowest uninsured rate in the history of America are going to expire at the end of the year. And so Democrats have said they have to be on the table as part of this discussion. They've also said that the Medicaid cuts that were part of the big ugly bill, a trillion dollars of which funded tax breaks for billionaires, that they need to be on the table. And, and you combine those two things, you have 15 million people who are going to lose health care. We are tracking 500 hospitals that have either closed, announced they're going to close, are at risk of closing or have drawn down some operations. And then on the Premium tax credits, 24 million people, 4 million people will lose coverage. 20 million people will see their premiums more than, than double if these tax credits aren't extended.
- [08:36]
Ben
You know, I saw this data. Posted by Steven Ratner Democrats are fighting to preserve an Obama tax credit. Without it, a 55 year old couple making $85,000 would see their premiums more than triple to 24,535. So you know, even right now, your premiums at $8,000, making $85,000 a year, that's a significant hit that people are taking annually on their health care. I mean if you are tripling that, you see right there how that number automatically you add another $16,000. While Americans are psychologically tortured right now in this Trump era of living paycheck to paycheck, where's someone making $85,000 going to find $16,000 in order to do it? And so can you get into some of the detail of other, like I see that as an example, like what else are you tracking stories like that?
- [09:40]
Brad Woodhouse
Well, we're tracking a ton of, a ton of stories like that. And let me answer your question. Where will they find the $16,000? They probably won't, they will probably drop coverage, they won't have coverage or they'll have to make really critical choices. Not investing in retirement, not investing in a college, you know, college education for their, for their kids, not being able to do what we should all be able to do, which is maybe take a vacation once every, you know, every couple of years. But so there are the premium increases. Kaiser said on average 114%. That's more than double. And then you have 4 or 5 million people, which this, which this example couple might or probably would fall into, they would lose, they would lose coverage entirely. But then you put on top of that, this will increase premiums in other markets, it will increase premiums in the employer market, but ones that are not subject to the tax credits because insurance companies are going to do this, are going to take this opportunity and do this across the board, they're going to set rates that affect the marketplace, and they're going to set rates that affect private insurance. And then of course, the Medicaid cuts, you know, that affects nursing homes, it affects the ability to care for your disabled child, it affects community health centers, rural hospitals. So there is a healthcare crisis in this country. Republicans could fix it in this funding process. They won't even talk about it. And as your clip showed, they just want to shove a dirty funding bill that only Republicans wrote with no Democrats in the room. They wanna shove it down the throats of the, of the American people.
- [11:23]
Ben
You know, it's just, you know, the whole process relies on some modicum of good faith. And when you take out the good faith negotiation at all, and good faith and fair dealing, you know, what else are Democrats supposed to do when the other side doesn't want to talk to you? And frankly, the issues that you're fighting for are actually a life or death issue for not just your constituents, but for all Americans who we just outlined how they're either gonna lose healthcare coverage, die, or try to figure out some way to not buy groceries or not send their kids to college, or not actually be able to live their life. So I wanna go to this last piece of it where the Republican playbook, right here, let's blame transgender people in Peru. Set that one aside. Not that it shouldn't be said. It's ridiculous. They're all ridiculous. But this idea that. And this is where they've had to maneuver because I think they realize that undocumented, by federal law, undocumented migrants don't get Medicare or Affordable Care act tax credits or anything like that. So where they're, I guess what they're saying now is, have you ever been to an emergency room and you see the migrant right there and you need to be treated, but there's a migrant and there are long waits in the emergency room. The Democrats want to allow that migrant to be treated. How bad is that? And you go back, I mean, this is from what, emtala, Emergency Medical Treatment Act. You go back to the Reagan days, and even this was a bipartisan issue too, that when a human being is dying or bleeding out or needs emergency care, frankly, the same way I hope if there was a dog on the street that you saw had its, had its leg, you know, injured, or a cat, and you're like, I'm gonna say, I'm not gonna let this dog get run over. Like, what are we talking about in the United States of America? We don't look at a human being and say dead when you can save them. Like, you know, what if someone's working as a roofer and they fall off the roof and they're we can you die? I mean, that's a crazy concept. So I think that's where the Republicans are going. And I'll just show you this clip and get you a response because on Thursday, Caroline Levitt was finally asked the right question. So should emergency room doctors is what you're just saying right here. Ask people their status about whether they treat them or not. And by the way, this has nothing to do with the tax credits, but this is what Republicans are pushing, I suppose, to. So watch what what she says here. Let's play that last clip. Salty. Caroline, should ers check immigration status?
- [14:07]
Caroline Levitt
I'm sorry?
- [14:08]
Ben
Should prs check for immigration status before treating a dying patient?
- [14:14]
Caroline Levitt
That's probably not a question for me to answer. I think that's a question for health care professionals and legal experts to answer.
- [14:19]
Ben
I understand why I'm asking you. Because Republicans have been saying that Democrats want it to dis benefit students, undocumented immigrants, even though it's against the law for them to get these benefits.
- [14:31]
Caroline Levitt
Let me ask you, do you think that illegal aliens should receive Medicaid benefits? Medicaid benefits that go to the most vulnerable people in our country. That Medicaid benefits that were designed to help low income families and Americans in our country. And what the Biden administrator. But what the Biden administration.
- [14:51]
Ben
Biden. The Biden. Then she switches the topics and you know, it's just, I mean, and that's my big problem with them. It's not a Democrat or Republican. It's like, come on, you're not. You, you. These are, these are liars. This was the liar in high school who you would be like, oh, this person just lost is a. This is like the person. There was always that one person at the sleepovers, you know, when you would have like the group events who would like steal. Like, why is that person stealing your shit? You know, like, that's what they are. It's like, get away.
- [15:22]
Brad Woodhouse
Look, they're full of shit. But this is their playbook and this is what they return to. But they. One of the things, Ben, that I think is gonna be most useful in this debate, which, by the way, every poll shows that Democrats are winning, Republicans are getting the blame. There are 71% of the public wants the tax credits extended. 47% of the public blames Republicans. In the Washington Post poll, only 30% blame the Democrats. But this is their playbook. When their backs are against the wall, they scapegoat immigrants. It is illegal and has always been for illegal immigrants or undocumented immigrants get Medicare, Medicaid, chip or the Affordable Care act tax credits. They know that they got caught in that line. That's why J.D. vance stumbled and stammered to make up this thing about emergency rooms. Well, the emergency rooms, the access of migrants to emergency rooms to care for major, major problems. That was signed by a Republican president. As you said, Ronald Reagan signed that law. So they retreat to attacking immigrants. I mean, this is how Donald Trump came down that golden escalator in 2015. The very first thing in his campaign plan was to go after undocumented immigrants. They keep doing this, but I think they fail to realize that the president has overreached on this issue already. He's underwater in the polls on mass deportations. He's underwater on the polls on how ICE is treating undocumented groups. He's underwater in the polls on immigration. So look, it's a lie to begin with and it's a failing strategy. If it was working, Democrats wouldn't be winning.
- [17:07]
Ben
Well, I want to thank you, Brad Woodhouse, for joining us. We appreciate you as always. I'm also just seeing this data right here as well that Senator Warnock posted that one of his constituents showed them someone making $65,000 a year. Their monthly premiums verse 25 versus 2026, $307 a month in 2025. And now it'll be $964.30 in 2026. So basically triple. I want to thank you, thank all the work you're doing at Protect Our Care. Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care. Thank you.
- [17:45]
Brad Woodhouse
Great. Thanks, Ben.
- [17:46]
Ben
Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our substack@midasplus.com you'll.
- [17:54]
Brad Woodhouse
Get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski ad free episodes of our podcast and more exclusive content only available@midasplus.com.