As Washington goes through another government shutdown, Senate Republicans are slamming Democrats for what they call a "blatant act of hypocrisy" — halting government operations over Affordable Care Act subsidies while simultaneously attempting to claw back $50 billion in newly enacted rural hospital funding.
Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., told Newsmax Tuesday that his Democrat colleagues have reversed course on principles they once claimed to uphold.
"When Democrats were in charge, they were happy to vote for this, and now they're shutting it down to appease the radical left," Ricketts said on "Wake Up America" about a stopgap government funding bill. "In the past, [Sen. Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer [D-N.Y.] has said shutdown politics were the politics of idiocy. Now he's reversing himself 100%. They're trying to make this about these pandemic subsidies, but the pandemic has been over for four years, so that just seems crazy."
He noted that Democrats, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., had previously denounced shutdowns as reckless political theater.
"All the things the Democrats have said in the past, they're completely reversing course on just to show the hypocrisy of this whole shutdown," Ricketts added. "And again, all driven by the radical left."
Republicans argue that Democrats are holding the government hostage over temporary "pandemic-era" insurance subsidies, while seeking to undo GOP provisions that direct $50 billion over five years to rural hospitals — a lifeline for communities hit hardest by hospital closures.
"Hypocrisy is the watchword here for the Democrats," Ricketts said. "They want to say this is about health care, but it's about pandemic subsidies. Part of the deal they want is to rip out the $50 billion that Republicans put in to support our rural hospitals."
Ricketts stressed how critical that funding is to his home state.
"This guarantees at least $100 million a year over the next five years to help out our rural hospitals," he said. "So, they say it's about health care, yet they're trying to take away health care."
The Nebraska senator also warned that the shutdown will soon have real-world consequences.
"Some Republicans have even said they're willing to negotiate this after we get government back open," he said. "But instead, the Democrats have decided to follow the radical left. Our military members are not going to get paid; they're going to work without getting paid, so are our government workers."
Calling the standoff "breathtaking in its hypocrisy," Ricketts concluded, "They're tying themselves in knots to defend the indefensible — claiming to stand for health care while gutting it for rural America."
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