Politics and views in the United States.

Nebraska farmers struggle as the shutdown stalls loans and delays the Farm Bill. Indiana Republicans clash over redistricting and policy experts warn millions could lose Affordable Care Act coverage without tax credits.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Those producers that are the most vulnerable are those that have been in agriculture the shortest amount of time, which is about a fourth of all the ag producers have been in for less than 10 years.

So they don't have as much equity and they have more operating debt to service.

Nebraska Farmers Union President, Don Hanson, says the federal shutdown now in its sixth week is threatening family farms.

With USDA offices closed, many can't access the loans they rely on for planting.

And that's bad for rural economies, already hit by tariffs and stagnant commodity prices.

Many farmers get their health insurance through Obamacare, and the ACA exchanges are now allowing open enrollment.

But with insurance subsidies still set to expire, Gideon Lukens at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says millions could be priced out of coverage.

He says, for example, nearly a million people in North Carolina could see their premiums double.

Even if tax credits are eventually extended, every day that goes by without an extension means more people dropping coverage and ending up uninsured next year.

Lynn Cowles with Every Texan is watching the impact of that and cuts to Medicaid on already struggling small rural hospitals.

Hospitals will have to transfer the cost of caring for uninsured people onto the insurance companies of people who do have health insurance.

Right now, there are 21 rural hospitals across Texas that are at risk of closure.

President Donald Trump is facing backlash for hosting a lavish Great Gatsby themed gala at Mar-a-Lago in spite of the shutdown.

Historians note that during the roaring 20s, farmers in rural areas were already suffering a deep economic shutdown that many call a cause of the Great Depression.

The president's redistricting hopes are not moving forward in Indiana at the moment.

Former Republican strategist Megan Robertson, now with Indiana Conservation Voters, says there is a divide between the White House and the state's GOP lawmakers, worried about challenges in court.

That's in spite of the efforts of the Republican Governor Mike Braun.

The legislature has told him specifically they don't have the votes, but he keeps pushing forward because he's listening to Washington insiders instead of New Jersey.

Hundreds packed a Newark, New Jersey college gym to hear former President Barack Obama speak in support of the Democratic candidate Supporters wrapped around multiple blocks for the Get Up and Vote rally for Representative Mikey Sherrill.

Nine people are recovering after gunfire erupted at a birthday party at an Airbnb rental near Akron, Ohio.

Police say most attendees were teenagers.

There have been more than 360 mass shootings so far this year.

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom calls a new deployment of so-called National Guard Strike teams to U.S. cities an assault on Democratic institutions.

He's joining other governors in suing.

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.