Chuck Schumer should quit but would his imaginary friends agree? | Arwa Mahdawi

"At one point the imaginary couple, who feature in Schumer's 2007 book, Positively American, were called the O'Reillys. According to the Hill, one Schumer aide said the name then was changed because the publisher thought O'Reilly was too ethnic for mass consumption. Another aide said that claim was false, and Schumer just wanted a name that sounded more national. Naming strategy aside, the key point here is that Schumer has said he runs all his policy decisions by this completely fictional couple."

"With that in mind, you can probably thank the Baileys for the latest Democratic disaster. The US government has just emerged from the longest shutdown in history. About 700,000 federal employees worked without pay, desperately needed food benefits were disrupted, court cases were delayed, national parks closed and flights got cancelled. All this pain was supposed to be in service of a very specific gain. Senate Democrats triggered the shutdown because they wanted to take a stand on healthcare."

"The 24 million people who get their health coverage through Affordable Care Act marketplaces (commonly known as Obamacare) are going to see their premiums more than double after an enhanced tax credit expires at the end of the year. The Democrats want to extend the credits; the Republicans have refused to commit to a vote on the issue. You can certainly argue that shutting down the government to force a vote on Obamacare subsidies was the right thing to do."

Chuck Schumer invokes an imaginary middle-class Long Island couple, Joe and Eileen Bailey, as a heuristic for policy choices. The couple’s surname was changed in the past amid aides’ disputes over the reason. Senate Democrats precipitated a 43-day federal shutdown to press for extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act marketplace tax credits. The shutdown left about 700,000 federal employees unpaid, disrupted food benefits, delayed court cases, closed national parks, and canceled flights. Enhanced tax credits expire at year-end, threatening doubled premiums for 24 million marketplace enrollees. Democrats sought an extension but failed to secure a committed Republican vote.

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