The Bill that just passed the Senate -- with yes votes from all but 3 Republican senators*, every one of them a sniveling, worthless coward -- is catastrophe for the nation in every possible way. It represents the largest upward transfer of wealth -- from the poor and middle classes to the wealthy -- in our history, at the cost of blowing up the national debt. But I can't write about everything so I'll concentrate on what it's going to do to the medical institutions that have brought us historically unprecedented health and longevity.
You don't have to take it from me, you can take it from the Congressional Budget Office as reported by the Center for American Progress.
"Roughly 17 million people would lose health coverage and become uninsured by 2034 because of the Medicaid and ACA marketplace cuts in the bill, the bill’s failure to extend enhanced premium tax credits for ACA marketplace coverage, and other harmful ACA marketplace changes being made via rule changes, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). That’s up from the House Republican plan, which would cause about 16 million people to become uninsured."
This also means that more than 300 rural hospitals will be at risk of closure or drastic reductions in service, and that 25% of nursing homes may go out of business.
The people who will be most severely affected by this disaster are, of course, disproportionately people who voted in November to make it happen. Then their grandmother gets thrown out of the nursing home and dumped on their front lawn, and they have to travel 3 hours to find a hospital but they won't be able to pay for its services once they get there, who are they going to blame? I'm very interested to find out.
*Credit where it's due, Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted no. Lisa Murkowski voted yes. If she had not, the bill would not have passed.
4 comments:
I don't understand why the Rubberstamp lawmakers would so willingly torpedo their re-election chances.
Here are 4 reasons why they might vote for this abomination:
1. They're too stupid to understand what they are committing;
2. They're cowards, terrified of The Don's retribution should they cross him;
3. They're confident the next elections will be subverted, and they'll be shoo-ins; or
4. They're totally corrupt and eagerly anticipate scavenging the spoils of his coup.
I'd add a positive reason if I could imagine one.
To be honest, I'm as puzzled by it as you are. As far as I know, the worst retribution Orange Julius can wreck upon them is to sponsor a primary challenger, in which case they might (might) no longer be in congress. That hardly seems a fate worse than death, especially since many of them must recognize that they're unlikely to win a general election after this. I don't think they can be confident of point 3, and while 1 and 4 likely apply to some of them (an overlapping group) I can't believe they apply to 100% of them. As I say, I find it puzzling.
The grifters and racists are firmly entrenched. It's institutional madness. Why are we trying to apply logic to the "thinking" of these entirely lost people? Their motives are perceived self-interest and tribal loyalty. They're not "thinking" in any logical or meaningful way. Our corrupt country just got "corrupter."
Oh, hey, Cervantes -- Don't be so naive: NO CREDIT goes to either Murkowski or Collins, who's ALWAYS been a shill for Shitler. Collins has NEVER "done the right thing." She is, politically, a whore ... and obviously, a little back-room deal went down there. It probably sounded something like this:
Collins: "I'm running for reelection in 2026. Obviously, if I vote AGAINST the horrible, brutal bill and you vote FOR it, it will pass."
Murkowski: "Okay, Susie. I'll just say that I HAD to vote for it to protect Alaskans [even though they're going to be fucked, too], even though it will screw every other state."
Collins: "Thanks, big L. I've got your back when this shit all goes down again in the next election if I'm still alive."
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