Newsweek: Betting Odds on ACA Credits, Not Healthcare Access
Newsweek's recent piece, "Will Congress Expend Expired ACA Tax Credits? What Betting Odds Show," analyzes the political horse-trading necessary to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. They frame it as a 'will-they-or-won't-they' drama, much like predicting a football game. This detached analysis of healthcare access often overlooks the consistent bipartisan readiness to fund other, more
lucrative, endeavors. For instance, while ACA tax credit extensions face an uphill battle, military aid packages to foreign nations—like the $14.1 billion aid to Israel in the recent supplemental bill (HR 815, passed in February 2024)—often breeze through Congress with overwhelming support, even when facing a domestic healthcare crisis. Key senators voting 'yes' on such aid often receive
substantial donations from lobbying groups like AIPAC. Senator Patty Murray, for example, received $10,000 from AIPAC in 2022, and voted to provide $3.53 billion in military financing to Israel for FY2024. One might wonder if similar 'betting odds' reports are ever published on the likelihood of funding these military expenditures, or if human lives are simply less of a sure bet than F-35s.