I hope I’m wrong, but I think this is correct (boldface mine):

Much of what I’m about to explain comes from general reporting and observation over recent weeks but also a report this morning from Punchbowl. The gist is that Senate Democrats may make their ask a short-term extension of the Obamacare subsidies which were cut as part of the President’s budget bill. Those subsidies are important. Cutting them will lead to millions of Americans losing their health insurance. Critically, those cuts kick in before the 2026 midterms, while many of the other cuts are intentionally timed to kick in after the midterms. But this move doesn’t actually restore the subsidies, just delays the cuts past the election.

I said I briefly agonized over this because even for a few months those subsidies and the coverage they provide have a big effect on people’s lives. But what we’re really talking about here is a short-term extension, which makes it far more likely these subsidies will never come back on a permanent basis, especially if Democrats fail to regain control of one or both houses of Congress in 2026. You need to read the room and understand the moment you’re in. Democrats are in a battle for everything. Helping Republicans remain in total power in Washington, DC in exchange for momentary relief is not the answer….

I suspect the White House would like Democrats’ cover to push these cuts until the midterms because Trump sees losing control of Congress as an existential threat.

It was pretty obvious rank-and-file Democrats would have to fight our own party to make them take an actual stand.

This also demonstrates the internal incoherence of party leadership. Their plan has been to let everything go to shit and hope voters figure out who is responsible. Never thought we would see accelerationist moderates and centrists, but here we are. Protecting Republicans from their own stupidity by preventing things from going to shit is the exact opposite of what leadership has decided to do.

That said, the larger problem is that the Democratic leadership, such as it is, still hasn’t internalized that the Republican Party is fascist. That does matter, as once you accept your opponents are fascists, you realize that there will be costs to be paid to stop them. There already have been people hurt, in one way or another, by this regime, and there will be more no matter what we do, until the regime is stopped. And the act of stopping them is going to result in American Carnage, one way or another. Hopefully, it will be less carnage than more and those responsible for it will bear the greatest cost, but it could get very bad–and far worse than a few months of healthcare subsidies (as murderous as that will be). To stop fascists, you actually have to stop them, not work on healthcare policy.

Like the post title says–and anti-fascists like the 43 Group understood–one of the worst things about fighting fascists is what you have to do to stop them.