Congress

From Obamacare Failures to GOP Fixes

The GOP's Path to Overhauling Democrats Failed Health Legacy Congress has adjourned for the holiday recess without extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, which expire on December 31, 2025. This locks in a reversion to the original 2010 ACA framework for 2026 marketplace plans, with projected sharp premium increases and potential coverage losses. Republican alternatives-the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act (H.R. 6703) (passed by the House on December 17) and the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act of 2025 (S. 3386) (stalled in the Senate)-represent market-oriented responses but do not include subsidy extensions. Critically,…

Continue ReadingFrom Obamacare Failures to GOP Fixes

Seizing the Moment on Healthcare

A Bold Path Forward for GOP Healthcare Reform Through Reconciliation Republicans in the House and Senate, the clock is ticking louder than ever. With the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits poised to expire on December 31, millions of Americans face premium doublings—from an average of $888 to $1,904 annually for subsidized plans according to one study by the Kaiser Family Foundation—potentially spiking uninsured rates by 4 million in 2026 alone. Democrats are already gearing up to blame us, with polls showing 48% of voters pointing fingers at the GOP and 76% of marketplace enrollees ready to hold us accountable…

Continue ReadingSeizing the Moment on Healthcare

Breaking Down the NDAA

Analysis of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act Executive Summary The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 (S. 1071, as amended by House Rules Committee Print 119–16, released on Sunday) authorizes $900.6 billion in defense spending - a $8 billion increase over the Trump administration’s request while remaining within the spirit of the Fiscal Responsibility Act via targeted waivers. This omnibus legislation funds military modernization, personnel welfare, and deterrence against China while incorporating partisan riders on social and cultural issues. As the 64th consecutive NDAA, it reflects bipartisan consensus on core security but reveals deep divides over culture-war…

Continue ReadingBreaking Down the NDAA

Tennessee’s CD-07 Special Election

A Tale of Polls, Hype, and a Solid GOP Win The dust has settled on Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District special election, held on December 2, 2025, to replace Rep. Mark Green, who resigned earlier this year. The result-Republican Matt Van Epps defeating Democrat Aftyn Behn by a solid 8.9-point margin-stands in stark contrast to the pre-election buzz that painted this race as a potential nail-biter or even a Democratic upset. Polls suggested a razor-thin contest, while media outlets hyped Behn’s progressive candidacy as a midterm bellwether. Yet, the numbers tell a different story: a decisive GOP hold in a Trump +22…

Continue ReadingTennessee’s CD-07 Special Election

Your Blue Slip is Showing

The Blue Slip: Last Bastion or Final Betrayal of the Framers’ Senate? A Follow-Up to “Restore the Republican Soul of the Senate” In the sweltering summer of 1787, as the delegates to the Constitutional Convention debated the bones of the new republic in Philadelphia, one institution emerged as the deliberate brake on the wheels of government: the Senate. It was not born of compromise alone but of a profound suspicion of unchecked majorities. James Madison, scribbling notes in the margins of his copy of Montesquieu, envisioned an upper house that would "refine and enlarge the public views" while tethering them to…

Continue ReadingYour Blue Slip is Showing

A Golden Opportunity

The Subsidy Cliff: Democrats' Gift to Republican Reformers I. The Shutdown Collapse: Democrats' Humiliating Fold What began as a bold filibuster to extract ironclad ACA subsidy extensions devolved into a spectacle of Democrat incompetence. For 43 days, they blocked clean funding bills, inflicting $15 billion in economic pain-delayed wages for 800,000 workers, 6% flight reductions at 40 airports, and cuts to Head Start for 10,000 children and VA services for 900,000 veterans. Polls briefly favored them, with 45-52% blaming Republicans, but as the toll mounted, public fatigue set in. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's "hold the line" crumbled when eight Democrats…

Continue ReadingA Golden Opportunity

The ACA Subsidy Cliff

A Democrat Failure from Start to Finish The federal government has been shuttered for over six weeks. Twenty-four million Americans are opening letters that read like ransom notes: “Your $10/month health plan will cost $750 in 2026-unless Congress acts.” Democrats are howling “Republican sabotage!” Republicans are shrugging: “You wrote the expiration date.” Only one side is right. This crisis has a single author: the Democrat Party. They designed the 2025 cliff, chose climate spending over a long-term fix, used COVID as a bailout for a failing Affordable Care Act, "Obamacare", and never once asked Republicans to the table. The evidence is…

Continue ReadingThe ACA Subsidy Cliff

The Perils of Overreach, Part III

The Perils of Overreach: From Warning to Wreckage In my columns earlier last week-"The Perils of Overreach" on November 6 and its sequel, "The Perils of Overreach, Part II," the following day-I issued a stark warning to Democrats amid the then-37th and 38th days of what was already shaping up to be a disastrous government shutdown. Drawing on Harold Macmillan's timeless quip-"Events, dear boy, events"-I cautioned that their stubborn demands for $1.5 trillion in permanent Obamacare subsidy extensions, fueled by favorable early polls and a premature "blue wave" in off-year elections, risked unraveling under the weight of unforeseen chaos. Thanksgiving travel…

Continue ReadingThe Perils of Overreach, Part III

The Perils of Overreach, Part II

Election Wins Are No License for Shutdown Stubbornness In my previous column, "A Warning to Democrats on the Government Shutdown and ACA Subsidies," I cautioned the Democrat Party against the seductive trap of overreach during the ongoing government shutdown-now entering its 38th day. Drawing on historical precedents like the 1995-1996 and 2013 shutdowns, I argued that leveraging public blame against Republicans to demand permanent extensions of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies risks transforming a tactical advantage into a strategic disaster. The ACA's enhanced premium tax credits, set to expire at year's end due to Democrats' own sunset clauses in the 2022…

Continue ReadingThe Perils of Overreach, Part II

The Perils of Overreach

A Warning to Democrats on the Government Shutdown and ACA Subsidies In the annals of political wisdom, few quotes capture the precarious nature of governance as succinctly as British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's reputed response to a question about what posed the greatest challenge to statesmen: "Events, dear boy, events." This adage underscores how unforeseen incidents can derail even the most calculated strategies, turning public opinion on a dime and exposing leaders to unforeseen vulnerabilities. As the United States grapples with the longest government shutdown in history-now entering its 37th day on November 6, 2025-Democrats find themselves in a position of…

Continue ReadingThe Perils of Overreach