John,
The government shutdown crisis was manufactured by Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress. They wrote and passed their “Big Ugly” tax law (OBBBA) that delivered $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, mostly to the rich and corporations.[1] They gutted healthcare, food assistance, and essential services to pay for it. Now they are refusing to negotiate on a bill that Democrats are demanding re-invests in healthcare access and affordability.
This is not a budget fight. It is a political choice to put billionaires first and working Americans last. Republicans knew their tax law would blow a hole in the national debt. They knew it would trigger automatic cuts to Medicare under the PAYGO law. They knew it would raise healthcare costs for millions of families. And they went forward anyway.
The consequences are staggering. Families are facing half a trillion dollars in mandatory cuts to Medicare. ACA healthcare premiums will rise more than 75% on average on January 1st, with over 4 million people expected to lose coverage.[2][3] Federal workers are being furloughed, fired, or forced to work without pay. Families that rely on SNAP are facing food insecurity. Seniors, people with disabilities, and working parents are being sacrificed to protect tax breaks for billionaires and corporations.
Republicans are not seeking compromise. They are holding the entire country hostage in order to protect their wealthy donors. They are blocking any effort to restore healthcare funding. They are rejecting proposals that would roll back even the most damaging parts of their own tax law. And while they play political games in Washington, working families across America pay the price.
Tell Congress to reject any government funding bill that sacrifices working people to protect billionaire tax breaks.
Republicans alone created this crisis. They added $4.6 trillion to the national debt with their tax scam, then they used budget gimmicks to hide the costs. They ignored every warning that PAYGO rules would trigger automatic cuts to Medicare. And now they are insisting that working families cover the cost of their giveaways while billionaires remain untouched.
This is a direct attack on the American people. It is an attack on seniors who count on Medicare and Medicaid. It is an attack on parents who rely on Medicaid and ACA premium tax credits to cover themselves and their children. It is an attack on every worker who depends on the federal government to function and provide the services we all pay for. The only people protected are the billionaires and corporations whose tax cuts created this mess in the first place.
The American people know what is happening. Polls show that large majorities of voters, including many Trump voters, want the wealthy and big corporations to pay more of their fair share in taxes. Instead of listening, Republicans are working for their billionaire donors. They are willing to shut down the government rather than ask billionaires to give up even a fraction of their tax windfall.
This shutdown crisis exposes exactly who Republicans serve. They do not serve the public. They do not serve working families. They serve the billionaires who fund their campaigns and demand tax breaks in return. The shutdown is the bill coming due for the Big Ugly tax law, and Republicans are demanding that working families foot it.
Congress must pass a budget that protects families, not billionaires. Tell Congress to reject any government funding bill that doesn’t address our healthcare crisis.
Let’s stand together to reject the billionaire shutdown and fight for a budget that works for all of us.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] TRUMP-GOP TAX LAW CLOSEUP: American Workers and Families Will Suffer from Full Extension of Trump Tax Law
[2] ACA cliff may mean ‘huge premium shock’ for 22 million people in 2026, expert says
[3] Five Key Changes to ACA Marketplaces Amid Uncertainty Over Premium Tax Credit Enhancements
