Thanks a Bunch
It's staggering that the Far Right Party in Washington is still trying to take health care away from millions of Americans. Like their leader, they may be 'the dog that actually caught the car it was chasing.'
Since its inception, they've been saying they want to kill it. In the 30 seconds Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a majority in the House, they passed this weakest-possible version of universal care - which still leaves millions uninsured, but whatever, right? That was against the scorched-earth opposition of the whole Far Right Party.
Now that that party has successfully Gerrymandered and lied its way back to majority status in both houses (as we know, they actually got fewer overall votes in both houses - and the presidency) they have what seems to be the opportunity to take the ACA out behind the sheds and put a bullet in it.
Why hasn't that happened?
First, it's so much easier to destroy than to build. Because of the success of the ACA, millions of citizens have lifesaving care that they never had before. So killing the ACA will literally impoverish, sicken, and kill millions of Americans. For the Far Right Party that's not a bug, it's a feature. Immiserating folks who aren't rich is half their party's mission.
But to the folks out there in not-Washington, that's a big deal. The Far Rightists thought it would be easy to end the ACA and thought it would be scrapped by February. But they overplayed their hand when they agreed to 'repeal and replace.' Because millions of people are saved by the ACA every day, they choice was to do the 'replace' thing to show a façade of caring about the unwealthy.
If they'd gone ahead with 'repeal' without 'replace' as they'd intended, it would have been a shock. Even though their nefarious plan would sunset ACA over several years, there still would have been a massive backlash . Image you're on a countdown to losing health care over three years. Especially if a loved one was dealing with a serous health issue. 'Dad can't go to treatment any more after 2020.' There would be riots.
The only way to avoid that and still inflict cruel misery on America was to design a 'replace' that looked like it was a real plan but was actually a removal of coverage for millions - and then hope nobody notices. That worked in the House - they put together a plan savagely cutting 22 million from care and making everyone else pay many times their current premium.
Oh, and it gives the rich a huge tax cut. That's the other half of the party's mission.
But the Senate hasn't managed it yet. All the baked-in cruelty is just too obvious. And it's easy to attack the ACA when you know you won't win. It's hard when you may win and what you're doing is horrific. They've been pulling the trigger click-click-click for years - now the gun is loaded. Will they take the shot?
It's shocking to think that many of them want to. Their ideology is so ghastly that lots of them would happily savage millions of lives and give rich people a raise. Several would not.
Which is no great badge of honor for them. Oh, so you don't want to cause millions of preventable deaths, huh? Do you want a medal or a statue, Sunshine?
Seriously, the media is calling these three or four Party loyalists "moderates" and "centrists." Bullshit. The Far Right Party has taken 100,000 steps to the right over the past decade. A few have only taken 99,000. They're still fascists who support the whole agenda of right wing ideology - but take one step back.
There are no Moderates or Centrists in the Far Right Party. They all want to have the poor and middle class pay the entire tax bill and their rich sponsors pay nothing. They're going to kill our grandkids because they've stopped the American fight against climate change. And disenfranchising minority voters is what they do for fun on weekends.
These are bad people. And after brooding on the topic, they decided not to support what must surely be one of the worst legislative initiatives in American history. It's like a mass murderer coming into your house and saying: "It's okay - I decided not to kill you today."
Thanks a bunch.
Since its inception, they've been saying they want to kill it. In the 30 seconds Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a majority in the House, they passed this weakest-possible version of universal care - which still leaves millions uninsured, but whatever, right? That was against the scorched-earth opposition of the whole Far Right Party.
Now that that party has successfully Gerrymandered and lied its way back to majority status in both houses (as we know, they actually got fewer overall votes in both houses - and the presidency) they have what seems to be the opportunity to take the ACA out behind the sheds and put a bullet in it.
Why hasn't that happened?
First, it's so much easier to destroy than to build. Because of the success of the ACA, millions of citizens have lifesaving care that they never had before. So killing the ACA will literally impoverish, sicken, and kill millions of Americans. For the Far Right Party that's not a bug, it's a feature. Immiserating folks who aren't rich is half their party's mission.
But to the folks out there in not-Washington, that's a big deal. The Far Rightists thought it would be easy to end the ACA and thought it would be scrapped by February. But they overplayed their hand when they agreed to 'repeal and replace.' Because millions of people are saved by the ACA every day, they choice was to do the 'replace' thing to show a façade of caring about the unwealthy.
If they'd gone ahead with 'repeal' without 'replace' as they'd intended, it would have been a shock. Even though their nefarious plan would sunset ACA over several years, there still would have been a massive backlash . Image you're on a countdown to losing health care over three years. Especially if a loved one was dealing with a serous health issue. 'Dad can't go to treatment any more after 2020.' There would be riots.
The only way to avoid that and still inflict cruel misery on America was to design a 'replace' that looked like it was a real plan but was actually a removal of coverage for millions - and then hope nobody notices. That worked in the House - they put together a plan savagely cutting 22 million from care and making everyone else pay many times their current premium.
Oh, and it gives the rich a huge tax cut. That's the other half of the party's mission.
But the Senate hasn't managed it yet. All the baked-in cruelty is just too obvious. And it's easy to attack the ACA when you know you won't win. It's hard when you may win and what you're doing is horrific. They've been pulling the trigger click-click-click for years - now the gun is loaded. Will they take the shot?
It's shocking to think that many of them want to. Their ideology is so ghastly that lots of them would happily savage millions of lives and give rich people a raise. Several would not.
Which is no great badge of honor for them. Oh, so you don't want to cause millions of preventable deaths, huh? Do you want a medal or a statue, Sunshine?
Seriously, the media is calling these three or four Party loyalists "moderates" and "centrists." Bullshit. The Far Right Party has taken 100,000 steps to the right over the past decade. A few have only taken 99,000. They're still fascists who support the whole agenda of right wing ideology - but take one step back.
There are no Moderates or Centrists in the Far Right Party. They all want to have the poor and middle class pay the entire tax bill and their rich sponsors pay nothing. They're going to kill our grandkids because they've stopped the American fight against climate change. And disenfranchising minority voters is what they do for fun on weekends.
These are bad people. And after brooding on the topic, they decided not to support what must surely be one of the worst legislative initiatives in American history. It's like a mass murderer coming into your house and saying: "It's okay - I decided not to kill you today."
Thanks a bunch.
posted by Abraham Binder at 1:20 PM
1 Comments:
Spot on commentary, as always. I wish I didn't have to read this blog because you didn't have to write it. If there was a shred of decency among the people who claim to be "pro-life," they'd realize that providing life-saving affordable (preferably free) health care is part of that moniker. Sad days in America. Thanks for the insights!
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