So now the Trump administration is sending out one-time $500 checks to people who bought their health insurance through HealthCare.gov and paid the full price because they didn’t qualify for taxpayer subsidies. In other words, people who’s income is roughly 400% above poverty and could already afford to pay full price for their health insurance are getting a $500 check from the president. And guess when those checks started showing up? October 1. Weeks before the midterm election. The checks come with a letter from Trump lying about why you’re getting your $500. And here’s the really interesting part: this isn’t being distributed evenly across the country. Of the roughly $475 million being sent out, 71% of it, or $339 million, is going to people in just 13 states. Those 13 states happen to be major midterm battlegrounds. They contain eight of the nine Senate races and 10 of the 12 governors’ races that nonpartisan analysts consider the most competitive. Call it whatever you want. I’ll call it what it is: a bribe.