It's The Holiday Season...
and You’re a Mean One, G.O.P.
The U.S. Congress has left town. Gone home.
The Republican-led House and Senate adjourned four days ago, until 2026, with no plan in place to keep the soon-to-expire healthcare subsidies that support, and preserve, President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Which means that 22 million Americans might soon be unable to afford their healthcare.
The costs for which will rise exponentially next month, and make health insurance unaffordable for, again, 22 million Americans. For example, a $495.32 monthly premium could jump to $2,168.68 a month. This is budget-busting stuff, as so many increasingly, barely, make ends meet.
To date, just four Republicans have sided with Democrats to continue these healthcare subsidy extensions, which were put in place by the Democrats during the Biden Administration in 2021. Also 3 out of 4 people soon to be affected live in states that Trump won.
So if you don’t care that this is what 22 million Americans face as the holidays approach — since they might soon live just one medical event away from financial (and emotional) ruin — then you are quite likely a monster.
You’re a Mean One, G.O.P. You are the Grinch.
Taking everything you can, from as many as you can.
“You’re a rotter, [G.O.P.].
You’re the king of sinful sots!
Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots [G.O.P.].
Your soul is an appalling dump heap, overflowing
With the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable,
mangled up in tangled knots!”
Against these developments, and Republican-masterminded evil dropped on us, daily and ongoing, an important reminder:
“Your political views aren’t just opinions. They reveal your values, your capacity for empathy, and the way you view other human beings.
They show what you notice, and what you choose to ignore.
They show the fears you inherited, the biases you never questioned- and the limits of the world you imagine for others.
They show who you instinctively protect, and who you’re comfortable overlooking.
In the end it’s not about sides at all.
It’s about who you believe deserves care, and who you quietly leave behind.
And the part people rarely admit is this…
Your politics expose the limits of your imagination, long before they expose the limits of your intelligence.”
In the end, you’ll see — we will win.
Project 2026 kicks off in 9 days. So rest up.
And register here, to do your own important part.
What I’m reading this week:
Heather Cox Richardson’s December 20, 2025. A glimpse into this no good, very-bad past week for Democracy. In these here United States.
Timely thoughts:
A gift to The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) right now would make an important impact.
Established in 1911, USCRI is a non-governmental, not-for-profit international organization which provides legal & health services to refugees, unaccompanied migrating children, trafficking survivors, and other immigrants- in all 50 states, in the U.S.
In the spirit of Christmas…organizations like this one will need our individual, and collective, support. Now more than ever.