Congressman Byron Donalds didn’t mince words on The Chris Salcedo Show this week when he ripped into Democrats for their failure to fix American health care, arguing the real cure is getting rid of Obamacare’s rotten architecture — not papering over it with bigger subsidies. His blunt assessment is exactly the kind of straight talk voters deserve: the left created the mess and now wants to throw more taxpayer money at it instead of admitting the law itself is the problem.
Look at the facts the left pretends to ignore: the ACA reshaped markets, shoved millions into Medicaid expansion programs that strain state budgets, and handed insurers convoluted rules that encourage higher costs and less competition. Yes, millions enrolled in ACA plans over the last decade, but enrollment numbers alone don’t prove the system works for hardworking Americans who face soaring premiums and shrinking provider access.
Democrats love to point at subsidies as if a monthly government check is a long-term solution, but subsidies are a temporary prop for a structurally broken market. The way the premium tax credits are designed does help some families pay bills, yet they leave the underlying price spiral untouched and tie more Americans to a system that grows ever-larger and more intrusive. Americans deserve real, permanent reforms that lower costs and expand access, not permanent dependency on Washington handouts.
Rep. Donalds is right to highlight the political cowardice of the left: when you refuse to reform the regulations that drive prices, all you can offer is more money from taxpayers to paper over the damage. Conservatives should own the debate — concede the coverage gains where they exist, but insist on policies that restore competition, empower patients, and make insurance portable and affordable. That’s not fantasy; it’s common-sense market reform that respects individuals and families instead of enlarging Washington.
There’s another layer Democrats downplay: today’s enhanced subsidies are a political time bomb because many of the temporary measures could expire, producing sticker shock for millions who have come to rely on them. That’s the reality of relying on Washington fixes — Democrats build crises that only more government can “fix,” and then use the crisis to demand permanent expansion of federal power. Conservatives should warn Americans about the unsustainable path and offer a real alternative before the bill comes due.
The conservative prescription is simple and patriotic: repeal the failed mandates, eliminate the strangling regulations that reduce choice, and unleash interstate competition and Health Savings Accounts so families can steward their own care. Restore the doctor-patient relationship and let innovation and private capital lower prices instead of rewarding bureaucrats and middlemen. These are pro-worker, pro-family reforms that respect taxpayers and restore dignity to health care.
If Republicans are serious about helping everyday Americans — the blue-collar men and women who keep this country running — they must stop playing defense and start offering bold, common-sense plans to replace Obamacare’s failing framework. Byron Donalds and others who speak this truth deserve support for putting families over federal control, markets over mandates, and freedom over dependency. Washington’s job is to protect liberty and opportunity, not to force every American into a one-size-fits-none system funded by your tax dollars.
