{"id":13328,"date":"2026-02-25T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-chess-move-that-sold-out-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T19:30:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:30:58","slug":"the-chess-move-that-sold-out-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/the-chess-move-that-sold-out-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018chess move\u2019 that sold out Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=3ba4ce41-a358-5d9b-b360-ebd942a1f4df&#038;function=cover&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;width=2000\" width=\"1680\" height=\"958\" alt=\"\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is how freshman Congressman Jeff Hurd\u2019s campaign is trying to explain away his vote to continue Obamacare subsidies for three more years: \u201cThis is a chess move \u2026 playing the long game \u2026 There has been enough communication with Republican Senators to know the bill will not pass as written. It will be changed and sent back \u2026 The system is broken, but this push-and-pull is a necessary evil our representatives must engage in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the justification for voting with Democrats to extend Obamacare subsidies. It\u2019s garbage.<\/p>\n<p>Calling this a \u201cchess move\u201d is a slap in the face to families crushed by skyrocketing premiums, small businesses drowning in costs and rural hospitals forced to beg Washington for scraps. This isn\u2019t a strategy \u2013 it\u2019s cowardice dressed up in consultant-speak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t worry, the Senate won\u2019t pass it\u201d is not leadership. That\u2019s how Washington excuses bad votes and protects big insurance. If a bill is wrong, you vote no. Period.<\/p>\n<p>These massive subsidies prop up the big insurance giants, especially those in Colorado, while taxpayers foot the bill. Plain truth: This money funds abortion coverage and transgender surgeries on minors. Your dollars are being forced into elective abortions via Medicaid and state plans, plus irreversible procedures on kids, all mandated by Colorado\u2019s extreme laws that demand insurers cover gender-affirming surgeries with zero limits.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t health care. It\u2019s corporate welfare fused with ideological extremism.<\/p>\n<p>If Hurd\u2019s record were truly conservative, it wouldn\u2019t require this much spin. Rural Colorado doesn\u2019t need Washington games or \u201cnecessary evils.\u201d We need fighters \u2013 not excuse-makers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eric Grossman<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-f82aae6776863a8968f6d25b77c285a4\">Creede<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is how freshman Congressman Jeff Hurd\u2019s campaign is trying to explain away his vote to continue Obamacare subsidies for three more years: \u201cThis is a chess move \u2026 playing the long game \u2026 There has been enough communication with Republican Senators to know the bill will not pass as written. It will be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[125],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-newsletter-opinion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13328"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18922,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13328\/revisions\/18922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13328"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}