ALL COMEDY IS CONSERVATIVE:

Like the Republicans who came before him, Trump is trying to gain leverage by sabotaging the governance of the country; unlike the Republicans who came before him, Trump is responsible for the governance of the country, and so he is sabotaging himself. This would all be quite comic if not for the millions of people who badly need decent health insurance and are going to suffer as Trump teaches himself this lesson.

Go deeper

For an excellent overview of the legal dispute around the cost-sharing reduction payments, read law professor Nicholas Bagley's history of the case.

The Congressional Budget Office has analyzed the effects of canceling the payments, and their predictions are grim. The key point is that "gross premiums for silver plans offered through the marketplaces would be 20 percent higher in 2018 and 25 percent higher by 2020," which would in turn send federal subsidies skyrocketing.

The Kaiser Family Foundation also has an excellent report on the subject, which concludes, among other findings, that "the increased cost to the federal government of higher premium tax credits would actually be 23% more than the savings from eliminating cost-sharing reduction payments."

For these reasons and others, it's not just Democrats upset over Trump's decision. Nevada's GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval blasted the policy: "It's going to hurt people. It's going to hurt kids. It's going to hurt families. It's going to hurt individuals. It's going to hurt people with mental health issues. It's going to hurt veterans. It's going to hurt everybody."

Tweet   @brothersjudd