Dear Senator Ricketts....hanging by a slender thread....

 

By Marilyn Moore

Dear Senator Ricketts,

This autumn leaf is hanging on by a thread….over choppy water….as storm clouds race in from the horizon.  The metaphor is apt, for Nebraska neighbors who secure health insurance from the ACA Marketplace, and for Nebraska neighbors who rely on SNAP benefits to feed their families.  Hanging on by a thread, with choppy waters below, and rapidly approaching storm clouds.  And they got here not through their own “bad planning,” or because a tragedy (like a serious accident or a major health crisis) struck, or because they don’t work or missed a court date or didn’t complete the paperwork….none of these are the reasons for hanging on by a thread.

No, this is not the fault of low-income, working-class Nebraskans.  This is the fault of a deeply-broken system, yet a system they counted on, because if you can’t count on the full faith and trust of the United States, who can you count on?  

We’re in a shutdown because the Republicans, both House and Senate, passed a bill in July that preserved tax cuts that most benefitted the wealthy, while allowing current subsidies for health insurance for those of far less means to expire at the end of this year.  The bill passed without support of the Democrats, because the Republicans used the budget reconciliation provision that allowed them to do so on a simple majority.  The Continuing Resolution that is before the Senate right now continues what was adopted in July, except that simple majority provision is not allowed in this case.  So, to adopt the Continuing Resolution and keep the government open, the Republicans in the Senate now need the votes of at least eight Democrats.  If the Democrats didn’t vote for the bill in July, I don’t know why anyone would expect they would vote for that bill to continue…but evidently, that is what you and your fellow Republican Senators expect.

The issue is subsidies for health insurance.  It’s been known for months, long before the bill was passed in July, that without the subsidies that have been in place for several years, premiums would increase by hundreds of dollars a month for family health insurance.  A helpful reader informs me that Senators also get their health insurance from a designated division within the ACA Marketplace, with payment toward the premiums as a part of their compensation package, a subsidy, if you will, which I suspect will continue in the new year.  Like you, 24 million Americans, including 136,000 Nebraskans, have health insurance through the ACA Marketplace, and more than 95% of them qualify for the subsidies because of their income. To those families, those increases, caused by the lack of subsidies, are very real….and absolutely unmanageable for most.  The Democrats have been raising this issue, pressing this issue, in the House and in the Senate, for months….and the Republican response, at best, is, “We’ll talk about it when you vote to re-open the government.”  Though recently, Speaker Johnson has indicated he may not be willing to bring it up at all.  Why would any Democrat be convinced that there would be serious attention to health insurance subsidies if they vote to re-open the government?  And when Leader Schumer offered a compromise, of a one-year extension of the subsidies, to include a bipartisan effort to examine long-term sustainability, the response from the Republican leadership was an immediate rejection, labeling the proposal a non-starter.  

It's hard to see a way forward here.  Polls indicate a vast majority of the American public support the subsidies, whether they use them or not.  Would not the Republicans want to be seen as the party that agreed to what Americans want, and need?  This is hardly a foolish frill….health care is a basic need.  And the subsidies have assured insurance for 24 million Americans.

So, we find ourselves on Day 39 of the shutdown, the longest in American history, now longer than the shutdown during President Trump’s first term in office.  And in the midst of the shutdown, we have the unseemly picture of the Republican administration pleading with judges to let them deny SNAP benefits to the 42 million Americans (this includes 155,000 Nebraskans) who depend on them for food.  As I write the, the question is before an Appeals Court, with a 48-hour stay issued by the Supreme Court.  The courts will probably sort it out, in some way, in short order; a huge constitutional question is whether or not the Administration will release the funds if ordered to do so.  

But beyond the Constitutional questions, and there’s not much bigger than a Constitutional question for me, is what this looks like as it plays out across the country.  Benefits would normally be distributed on the first day of the month.  We’re now a week in….and everywhere in the country we see the impact of no SNAP benefits.  In Lincoln, Nebraska, the Food Bank is adding food distributions of its own and to its partner agencies.  The Gathering Place served dinner earlier this week to a record-setting number of people.  You remember the Gathering Place, just a few blocks from the Governor’s Mansion; nearly 300 people came for dinner.  The Salvation Army served twice as many meals on one evening as they usually do.  Local restaurants, like Muchacho’s and Pepe’s, are stepping up with free meals and food distribution shelves.  The community is generous; donations to the Food Bank and other agencies are increasing.  Donated food is in Food Bank barrels around the city, and Little Free Pantries are being filled several times a day.  Patrons who went to the Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra concert last night brought food donations with them.  I’ll take another bag of groceries for our church’s meal programs when I worship tomorrow.  

This community is generous, as are communities across the country….though the means to support hungry people vary significantly from county to county.  But however generous people are, what’s happening now is not sustainable.  As Scott Young, retired Director of the Lincoln Food Bank, said on many occasions, “This country cannot Food Bank its way out of hunger.”  That’s what SNAP is intended to do, to assure there’s a safety net for seniors, veterans, single moms, persons with disabilities, and families who need food.  

Please do not respond that it’s not clear if the US Government has the authority to continue this program during a government shutdown, nor that the funds are not available.  If the US Government has the authority to give $20 billion to Argentina to prop up its economy so the US President’s friend's party will win the Argentinian mid-term election, there’s a way to distribute funds to hungry families, even if the government is shut down.

I understand the Senate is meeting over the weekend, seeking a way out of this mess.  Good for you; at least you’re on the job, unlike the House, which has been absent for weeks.  I would expect that practical Nebraska officeholders like you and Senator Fischer, who often talk about common sense solutions, would set aside the party priority and instead seek a solution that works for the American people.  You and your colleagues have the opportunity to demonstrate leadership; please do so.

Sincerely,

Marilyn S. Moore