I’ve made my position clear: I do not like this Senate version of Paul Ryan’s healthcare bill. It’s not repeal and replace. It doesn’t accomplish what we were promised.
The NY Times Editorial Board, though, finds itself trotting out tired old talking points, because they have little else
It would be a big mistake to call the legislation Senate Republicans released on Thursday a health care bill. It is, plain and simple, a plan to cut taxes for the wealthy by destroying critical federal programs that help provide health care to tens of millions of people.
The Unaffordable Care ActBy this measure, the NYTEB is saying that Obamacare was not a health care bill, it was a “tax the hell out of everyone, including the rich, bill,” because what the GOP bill does is rescind all the taxes embeded in Ocare. The Internet front page and Opinion page subhead reads “The bill’s real aim is to cut taxes for the rich.” The EB makes zero attempt to actually explain the first paragraph nor subhead in the follow six paragraphs.
Interestingly, the repeal of all those taxes will help quite a few, if not all, of the very rich people who serve on the NYTEB, and the NY Times itself, especially if they offer the so-called Cadillac plans to their employees.
They do mention the taxes in paragraph two to a tiny degree.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and other Republicans have pitched the bill as a fix for the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. But their true ambition is not to reform Obamacare, which, whatever its shortcomings, has given 20 million Americans access to health insurance. If passed in its current form, the Senate bill would greatly weaken Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides insurance to nearly 69 million people, more than any other government or private program. It would do this by gradually but inexorably shifting more of the financial burden of Medicaid to states, in effect, forcing them to cover fewer people and to provide fewer services. Over all, the Senate would reduce federal spending by about $1 trillion over 10 years and use almost that much to cut taxes for rich families and health care companies.
This is dog whistle talk to their unhinged base, which says it hates the rich (but relies on the rich to keep the Democratic Party running). Democrats love dividing people. But, how this would help “The Rich” is never explained.
Would it help the rich? Sure. So many of the taxes are meant to penalize people for doing well, and what Democrats consider “The Rich” are singles making $200,000 a year and couples making $250,000 a year. Rolling back the OCare taxes will help them. It’s also significantly help small business owners, young people who do not want health insurance (a bad choice to not have insurance, but, I thought Democrats liked choice?). Taxes on health insurers gets passed on to consumers. Taxes on tanning. Taxes certain medical devices. Taxes on flexible spending accounts (which can hurt special needs kids).
All the NYTEB does is a typical knee-jerk freakout. But, what they really told us is that Obamacare was a tax everyone bill.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
To the left, once the government gives something to people who don’t earn it, they then own it, in perpetuity, and any attempts to stop taking so much money from people who do earn it is robbing the poor.
What kind of person would criticize having their own taxes cut?? Oh, that’s right, well-paid liberals.
We’ve slashed taxes on the wealthy since 1980, and debt, regressive payroll, state and local taxes have been used to make up the inevitable budget shortfalls. Now, the GOP proposes to slash services to the poor and further cut taxes for the wealthy. May the circle be unbroken.
“I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid†— Donald Trump, Daily Signal interview, 05/21/2015
“We’re going to have insurance for everybodyâ€â€” Donald Trump, Washington Post interview, 01/15/2017
“We’re gonna come up with a new plan that’s going to be better health care for more people at a lesser cost.”, Jan 2017
“We gotta take care of people that can’t take care of themselves,” he said in a CNN Town Hall last year.
What will working class voters say when it’s clear that trump lied to them?