Democrats have perfected the art of the bait and switch. Their playbook is effective: Insist that government intervention is needed to solve the probleme du jour; promise voters that their legislative fix will sunset, or expire, after a few years; and, when that day finally comes, vote to keep their darling laws in effect, if they control Congress — or lambast conservatives for actually doing what they promised, if they don't.

This dishonesty with Americans has nurtured the welfare state, slyly enlisting more people on the government dime while leaving hardworking taxpayers to pick up the bill. It's a recipe for runaway spending. No wonder the federal budget grew more than 50% between FY 2019 and 2024, and the annual deficit by almost as much.

And now, Democrats are at it again.

This month Republican lawmakers let Affordable Care Act subsidies expire, exactly as they were designed when the Biden administration approved them. But to hear Democrats — and the liberal media — tell it, Republicans are pulling the rug out from under needy Americans who can no longer afford their coverage.

These subsidies — or "temporary enhanced premiums" — were bundled under former President Joe Biden's first mega spending bill, the American Rescue Plan. They were pitched as a short-term stopgap to ensure individuals could afford health care coverage in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and, in fact, were set to expire in 2022.

Lacking a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Democrats legislated the law as a reconciliation bill. No Republicans voted for it, just as no Republicans voted for the Affordable Care Act.

In 2022, the Biden administration and its allies on Capitol Hill muscled through the Inflation Reduction Act (a misnomer if there ever was one) just as it did the American Rescue Plan — by spinning it off as a reconciliation package. Despite concerns from former Sen. Joe Manchin, apparently the only fiscally minded leader in his party, the bill passed with no Republican support. Former Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.

Even then, Biden's second spending bill maintained a sunset on the health care subsidies, which expired at the end of 2025. Apparently, even the most reckless tax-and-spend White House in recent history understood that it is unsustainable for these handouts to continue in perpetuity.

Yet only two months ago, Democrats staged the longest government shutdown in history to preserve these benefits. And why not? The taxpayer-funded freebies provided benefits to millions of illegal immigrants and moved the U.S. health care system one step closer to socialization. Of course the left wanted to keep them in place!

Sadly for Democrats, under President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress, the spend-first, finance-it-later salad days are over. They are not raising costs on families; they are ending senseless government intervention and letting the markets work.

That's the fallacy of runaway big government growth. It distorts the free markets and sucks people into believing costs can be controlled simply by Uncle Sam stepping in, when in fact those costs are just getting redistributed onto other taxpayers — most of whom don't qualify for benefits and may never have supported them in the first place.

There is a lesson in this situation, though Democrats won't want to learn it. Throwing federal money at every want and need isn't a solution; it's socialism. It breeds dependence on the government and usurps the roles of communities — churches, nonprofits and grassroots organizations — that meet needs much more efficiently, and where they truly exist, than the clumsy hand of Washington.

Rising health insurance costs are not a phenomenon. Former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act (also a misnomer) drove up prices for families already working hard to pay their premiums, who then had to pay for those who previously chose to go without coverage. When that became unsustainable, Democrats artificially and temporarily brought them down by throwing good money after bad, even though that too was unsustainable.

It's a cycle. Bad policy begets worse policy, and at every step the inevitable reset becomes an even harder Band-Aid to pull off.

There's room for honest debate about health care policy. But it requires just that: honesty, not empty promises and kicking the can. Democrats can bemoan Republicans for holding them accountable and abiding by the small print. But this is a problem of the left's making, and the majority of Americans who still trust more in competitive markets than lofty Marxist ideals know where the blame lies.

Ken Buck served in the United States House of Representatives from 2015-2024 representing Colorado's 4th congressional district. He now serves as a Fellow with the Independent Center. To find out more about Ken Buck and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Piron Guillaume at Unsplash