And it’s really going to happen… unless we can raise holy hell
The Senate GOP released its secret Trumpcare bill on Thursday, ending the most secretive and undemocratic process used to craft a large-scale reform in modern American history.
But that’s not the story that really matters now.
The story that really matters is this is all a charade.
Mitch McConnell sees the 50 votes necessary to pass this thing lining up, or he wouldn’t have released a bill. And all the members of his caucus are merely players in a production designed to give the appearance of a negotiated breakthrough that allows the House to pass the whole thing by July 4.
Yes, they want this entire monstrosity to be law in less than two weeks.
And this is really going to happen… unless the outrage against this bill becomes the biggest story in America and stays that way until Trumpcare dies.
When four conservative Senators quickly came forward to say they opposed the bill in its current form, only one was likely serious — Rand Paul. The other three are seeking slight concessions to buck up the right and giving cover to the four Republican Senators who will actually decide if this plot to immiserate much of America happens:
Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia – (202) 224-6472
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska – (202) 224-6665
Dean Heller, Nevada – (202) 224-6244
Susan Collins, Maine – (202) 224-2523
If any of these four represent you, please call them and keep calling until you can’t any more.
These are the only four Senators whose concerns about this bill that don’t involve a GOP primary.
Conservatives complaints about this legislation give them cover and serve their prime political directive — pretending to be “moderate.” If they represent you, tell them that you’re watching to make sure that they aren’t bought off by a slight concession that will do nothing to change the fundamental design of this crime against freedom.
“It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America,” President Obama wrote on Facebook. “It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else.”
Adding a few billion to fight the Opioid crisis or even removing the provisions that attack Planned Parenthood won’t change that. Here’s why:
1. Trumpcare chains you to your job.
Job lock, which Obamacare alleviated for many, will be back — big time. We’ll be paying more for worse insurance. And few of us will have the freedom to start a new venture, especially as you age and premiums rise drastically and subsidies drop off a steep cliff.
2. Trumpcare leaves you at risk of a crisis that could easily bankrupt you.
Yearly and lifetime caps will be gone for millions of Americans who live in states that will seek waivers. This means if you or your kids need just one serious surgery, you could exhaust your entire coverage in just days.
3. Trumpcare threatens the entire insurance market.
Reforming 1/6 of our economy exclusively to benefit rich people in this slapdash manner leaves us with a bill that has all the things Republicans pretended to hate about Obamacare — higher premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs in general — and a formula for an actual death spiral, leaving tens of millions of us priced out of any decent care.
Sure, this could eventually lead to single payer. COULD. EVENTUALLY.
But how many people would die in the meantime?
4. Trumpcare gives the wealthy even more control of our politics.
This bill gives the richest 400 Americans a $7 million tax break EACH YEAR, largely paid for by cutting $880 billion from Medicaid. This $2.8 billion is a key to Republicans believing they can get away with this massive legistlative heist. That’s about how much money was spent on the entire presidential election and the richest Americans will know exactly whom to thank with generous donations — GOP Senators and Members of Congress in vulnerable seats.
5. Trumpcare dooms anyone who has family or loved ones who may get old, disabled or sick and doesn’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on their care.
Take a look at this chart put together by Margot Sanger-Katz:
These are the people who’ve depended on Medicaid since 1965, which is why the afflicted suffer greatly in America but kids, the disabled and the elderly are generally not abandoned.
Chances are you know at least one person in one of these groups or you actually are one. This law will change your life forever. Medicaid will be strangled — possibly out of existence.
Republicans believe that the biggest problem in America is that millionaires who earn investment income have to pay a 3.8% tax on income over $250,000. Trumpcare solves that. In exchange, you can expect to drain your 401k taking care of your sick parents or family members — if you’re ever able to put any money into it at all.
