Billionaire Money Behind Graham-Cassidy

The shameful Graham- Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill that would wreck the U.S.'s health care system is opposed not only by every major health organization, but is very unpopular as more of its provisions are made known. The Rethuglicans' public rationale, as infamously expressed by withered Sen. Chuck "Ass Is Grass" Grassley, is that they made a promise to their ignorant, Obama-loathing base to "repeal and replace," so they have to fulfill it no matter the damage they'll do.

There's a more prosaic and cynical rationale, too: as we noted on Wednesday, mega-donor wallets will snap shut if they don't come up with a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. In June at the Koch Network conference, the Rethugs were told to get a repeal bill done this year, or their contributions would be cut off, a threat that has been repeated since then in numerous contacts. As Eric Levitz writes in today's New York Magazine:

"Graham-Cassidy would cut federal spending on insurance subsides and the Medicaid expansion by an estimated $243 billion between 2020 and 2026. That is neither what Republicans campaigned on, nor what their constituents want. But it is what their most affluent donors want — or at least they believe it moves the ball in their desired direction. While Republican voters are broadly supportive of Medicaid — and many GOP senators from Medicaid-expansion states have touted their support for the policy — the conservative donor network funded by the oil billionaires Charles and David Koch has been unequivocal in its opposition to the federal program."

The Koch's and their ilk seem to have found at least one visible bag man: the detestable bigot Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum, who, among other scams, runs a PAC -- "Patriot Voices" -- to collect dark money to spend on far-right causes. According to reports, Santorum had a pivotal hand in drafting the Graham- Cassidy bill, despite being out of the Senate since 2006. If you think Santorum was acting as an independent agent without the backing of that dark money, we have a jar of moonbeams to sell you.

The tell in all of this is that despite broad public and institutional opposition, the Rethugs are charging ahead, not so much to "keep a promise" as  to keep those big donor wallets open, and their miserable careers alive....for now.

BONUS: New York Times also reporting that Rethugs are glum that big donor money will dry up. Sad!