2 OCT 2025
This week it’s the government shutdown occupying our attention and the sticking point is, unsurprisingly, those insurance subsidies keeping Obamacare alive. It’s an ironic situation, to say the least, that while Republicans destroy the safety net, the only part of it that get Democrats finally to dig in their heels is the Obamacare subsidies, that is, keeping billions of federal dollars pouring into the pockets of for-profit insurance companies. But under our crazed system, the alternative is even more millions of people losing their coverage entirely. All of which brings to mind the title of this digest/videocast: “Do Not Resuscitate.” Both sides of our political duopoly are in hock to the private sector. We need to start over from scratch and make health a public good funded from the public purse a.k.a. single-payer or Medicare for All. Everything else is, in the long run, tinkering with a corpse.
As always the written version of this digest has links to all the articles mentioned and more. Find it with the same title and date here on Substack.
