Last year, we went through the longest government shutdown in history.
The point of contention was the extension of what were supposed to be temporary additional Obamacare subsidies enacted during COVID-19.
"Temporary" in Washington means forever. This is what must change.
The "temporary" subsidies were supposed to expire last year. But Democrats could not resist the opportunity to push Republicans up against the wall and associate them with Obamacare premium increases.
A deal was cut to address the subsidies after the first of the year and get the government funded and open. Which is what happened.
Now the House is dealing with the subsidies. The truth is no different now than it was last year. Obamacare is rife with inefficiencies and fraud, and the additional subsidies add hundreds of billions in red ink to a federal government already bleeding massive deficits.
Now we have another issue. Democrats do not want the Hyde Amendment, which, for half a century, has prohibited the use of federal funds for elective abortion, applicable to Obamacare.
Where we wind up, if it's up to Democrats, is more inefficient healthcare expenditures, exacerbation of an already dire fiscal state of the nation, and now allowing taxpayer money to fund abortion through Obamacare plans.
Democrats are looking at President Donald Trump's current shaky polling numbers and believe that more government spending and abortion will win them back Congress in 2026.
I say, "Bring it on."
Republicans must brand the Democratic Party as what it has become – the vehicle leading our nation to fiscal and social bankruptcy.
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When Congress passed the Hyde Amendment in 1976, the vote was bipartisan. Both Democrats and Republicans agreed that federal funds, our tax money, should not be used to fund abortion.
The vote was 199 to 165. The 199 votes in support of Hyde consisted of 107 Democrats and 92 Republicans.
Bipartisanship in support of life, bipartisanship opposed to using taxpayer dollars to fund the destruction of life, is, unfortunately, a relic of the past.
Now we have one party, Republicans, that cares about life, family, and children. And, another party, the Democrats, is the opposite.
In 1975, the year before the Hyde Amendment was passed, 18 percent of Republicans and 19 percent of Democrats said, per Gallup, that abortion should be "legal under any circumstances."
In 2025, 10 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of Democrats say abortion should be "legal under any circumstances."
In 1979, per Gallup, 87 percent of Democrats ages 30-50 and 84 percent of Republicans ages 30-50 were married. That's a difference of 4 points.
In 2024, 49 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans ages 30-50 were married. That's a difference of 18 points.
The Institute for Family Studies reports that "Conservative women born between 1975-1979 – women who finished having children – have a completed family size of 2.1." For a liberal woman, it's 1.5.
With a national fertility rate of 1.6, with 2.1 being the rate at which the population is not shrinking, we have a problem.
As Trump makes more bold initiatives around the world – not to be the world's policeman, but to protect our interests and take a stand in an increasingly dangerous world – it must be clear what principles America stands for.
The movement of the country away from its core principles – the movement toward big government, toward the collapse of family and marriage, and loss of reverence for the sanctity of life – is a direction that has been led by the Democratic Party.
To lead abroad, to inspire direction at home, Republicans need to be rooted in our principles.
A nation that taxes citizens' hard-earned income and allows those taxes to fund abortion is not a nation that is strong at home and can command respect abroad.
The barn door may be open to extend the Obamacare subsidies for a few years.
But if Republicans care about 2026 and after, those subsidies must be covered by the Hyde Amendment.
Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Her recent book, "What Is the CURE for America?" is available now.
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