Even The Washington Post is admitting that Democrats are effectively using political blackmail to keep the government shut down.

Here's how the Post editorial board explained what we've been telling you for weeks:

"President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats used covid-19 to justify chasing the mirage of a European-style welfare state without raising the necessary taxes to pay for it. Now, prodded by the left, party leaders have shut down the government in a bid to permanently extend what was sold in 2021 as emergency subsidies to help people struggling during the pandemic afford health insurance."

Translation -- Democrats are holding the nation hostage to preserve the massive expansion of government they passed as an emergency measure during covid.

+ + $350 Billion price tag for Dem's blackmail...

The Post's board then gets even more specific....

"Democrats have demanded that Republicans agree to extend the covid-era insurance subsidies without proposing any way to pay for it. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this will cost $350 billion over the next decade. These temporary benefits were included in the American Rescue Plan of March 2021 and extended the next year in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act until the end of 2025."

+ + ObamaCare "never actually affordable"

The Post's analysis digs a bit deeper (again, conservatives have been saying this since 2013 when Obama first forced ObamaCare on us):

"The real problem is that the Affordable Care Act was never actually affordable. President Barack Obama’s signature achievement allowed people to buy insurance on marketplaces with subsidies based on their income. The architects of the program assumed that risk pools would be bigger than they turned out to be. As a result, policies cost more than expected.

The Post then makes an admission that Big Government Leftists generally avoid like the plague...

"This is how entitlement programs work. Once you habituate people to some generous government handout, they grow dependent on it. And it becomes politically perilous, if not impossible, to fully claw it back. Conservatives fought so hard to stop Obamacare 15 years ago because they anticipated fights like this one."

Grassfire was one of the leading conservative groups that fought ObamaCare 15 years ago (we still carry the scars from that fight, but that's a story for another day). To the Post's editorial board, all we can say is.... Welcome to the Party (but you're a bit late).

+ + Another vote TODAY

Majority Leader Thune is forcing another vote today. Sadly, we are reading more and more about Republicans who are getting ready to CAVE to the Dems and their spending blackmail.

We believe the next 24-48 hours are critical. Please let Senators know where you stand!