McConnell Wants Another Crack At Repealing Obamacare

On the heels of setting the stage for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to balance out Republican wealthfare tax cuts, Republican turtle/ human hybrid Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell (R- Dystopia) has another wish he'd like fulfilled:

Republicans could make another run at repealing the Affordable Care Act if they retain control of Congress next year, the Senate’s GOP leader said on Wednesday. 

The statement, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made in an interview with Reuters, came in response to a question about what the GOP had accomplished since President Donald Trump took office ― and what business McConnell felt was unfinished. 

He called the failure to repeal the law known as Obamacare his singular disappointment but promised that Republicans haven’t given up. “If we had the votes to completely start over, we’d do it,” McConnell said. “But that depends on what happens in a couple weeks. ... We’re not satisfied with the way Obamacare is working.”

He may not be satisfied, but the majority of Americans don't want Obamacare repealed, and it's become a strong issue for Democrats in the mid- terms, with numerous ads slamming Republicans for sabotaging Obamacare and wanting to eliminate protections for pre- existing conditions.  McConnell's aim here is unclear, though his interest is to hold the Senate at all costs.  Perhaps this plays well in some deep red states with close Senate elections, but it's hard to imagine anywhere where this is a winning position right now.  But, when you've got nothing...

Keep digging that hole, Missy!

(Photo:  What a vicious sociopath looks like)

The Republican Obamacare Repeal Bill: "Scribbled Tax Cuts On A Bar Napkin"

Yesterday, the House Republican leadership trotted out its Affordable Care Act "repeal and replace" plan that's been guarded in a Capitol basement on an eyes- only basis up until now, for good reason. It would give us health care the paleo- Republican way (spoiler alert!): more afflicting the afflicted and comforting the comfortable.

Margot Sanger-Katz tells us how it performs this typically Republican maneuver:

Republicans in the House have performed major surgery on the Obamacare replacement plan they circulated a few weeks ago. But compared with the Affordable Care Act, the new plan still shifts a lot of benefits from the poor to those who earn more. 

Legislative language for what House leaders call the American Health Care Act, released Monday evening, would substantially cut back funding to states that cover poor adults through their Medicaid program. It would cut back on financial assistance for relatively low-income insurance shoppers above the poverty line. 

It would offer new financial benefits for the upper-middle class and the rich. Americans higher up the income scale would be eligible for subsidies to help them buy health insurance. Taxes on high incomes would be reversed. And the law would allow people to save more money each year in tax-free health savings and flexible spending accounts — accounts that are most valuable to people who pay high income tax rates and have money to save. 

The bill even does away with a provision meant to tax incomes of insurance executives that top $500,000.  (our emphasis)

It's not even clear the bill will survive intact in the House Republican caucus, as members of the crackpot right "Freedom Caucus" are already saying it doesn't inflict enough pain on the poor to suit them, calling it "Obamacare 2.0" (ouch!).  A few Senate Republicans are also balking at the Medicaid provisions that would change the funding structure to a state- by- state allotment system and freeze enrollment in Medicaid expansion in 2020.  Here's a pretty fair summary of the House bill's retrograde aspects.

Having made "repeal Obamacare!" the rallying cry for angry dimwits everywhere, Republicans now have to follow through on their rhetoric. We have a few far- from- fearless predictions:

1. The media will largely treat this as a serious proposal, because Paul Ryan! In doing so,

2. They will ignore the fact that Republicans have prohibited the Congressional Budget Office from conducting a review of the bill, because it would show how much the bill will cost taxpayers. Nevertheless,

3. More and more Republicans (a.k.a., the dogs that caught the car) are going to be jumping ship as their "leaders" attempt the impossible: to cobble a plan that satisfies their sociopathic ideology while keeping the uninsured rate from skyrocketing (less than a day after the unveiling, they're already backing away in the White (Supremacist) House).

The wonderful former Democratic Rep. John Dingell sums it up better than most:

House GOP had the better half of a decade to provide a viable alternative to the ACA. Instead, they scribbled some tax cuts on a bar napkin.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) March 7, 2017

We'll have some more reactions on Twitter later.

BONUS:  All around villain Rep. Jason "Clouseau" Chaffetz (Weasel-UT) says people might need to choose between health care and a new iPhone.  Really.

Today's Tomorrow Cartoon - "Welcome To Trumpcare"

(click on image to enlarge)


(Tom Tomorrow, via Daily Kos)

Hyperbole?  We think not.  Also remember, this would be coming from the same source that brought us Trump "University."

Most of us have known since the days when the Affordable Care Act was being developed that providing health insurance to millions of previously un- or under- insured Americans was a complicated issue. However, our genius unPresident is apparently just figuring it out:

"...Very complicated issue.... I have to tell you, it's an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated."

"Nobody knew..."  Genius, I tells ya.

Tweetstorm Of The Day - The Republican Bill To Repeal Obamacare

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has seen the leaked House Republican bill* to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and he has some thoughts:

Let me count thy ways that the leaked GOP ACA repeal plan will totally, completely, monumentally screw you.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 24, 2017

(1) You get a couple thousand bucks to help u buy insurance. That's it. If u aren't rich or healthy, u won't be able to afford anything.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 24, 2017

(2) It gets worse. When u can't afford your premiums bc the tax credit is too small, you get a huge penalty when you try to sign up again.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 24, 2017

(3) Coverage mandates and penalties only work if you make insurance affordable. GOP plan cuts subsidies so much that penalty is unworkable.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 24, 2017

(4) Mandatory benefits are repealed. So even if you CAN get insurance, it doesn't have to cover ANYTHING. Out of pocket expenses skyrocket.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 24, 2017

(5) Oh, and Medicaid expansion is effectively GONE. Millions and millions lose coverage, start using ERs again for health care. Others die.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 25, 2017

(6) Last rant, for now. If you're older, your premiums go WAY up. GOP plan guts premium protections for older consumers.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 25, 2017

* We would offer working titles for the Republican bill: "Afflicting the Afflicted, and Comforting the Comfortable Act of 2017" or perhaps "The Real Health Care Death Panels Act of 2017" or maybe "The Ayn Rand - Paul Ryan Health Care Dystopia Act of 2017."  Just remember -- it's all about Freedumb!