The Republican Congress Voted To Kill You

During the fight to pass Obamacare, Republicans decried the legislation would result in "death panels" convened to mete out healthcare in some dystopian fashion. Guess what, the Republicans themselves happily became the death panel they once so feared on Thursday when they passed the AHCA that, if signed into law, would strip health care from millions and gut the coverage mandate for pre-existing conditions.

Short of calling it murder, there's little other way to spin this move. Depending on your income, employment status, and current state of health, House Republicans voted to kill you. They showed no remorse. To celebrate, they had carts of beer - that you likely paid for - brought into the Capitol after the vote. They ordered your murder and then had a beer. Nice.

The evidence at the crime scene is staggering. By 2020, the number of uninsured Americans will be back on the rise, premiums will go up across the board, and the grim reaper of pre-existing conditions will start claiming victims. President Trump stated Thursday, "What we have is something very, very incredibly well-crafted." It's not clear that Trump has actually read the bill as the AHCA is anything but "well-crafted" unless it's being compared to a Ford Pinto, Galaxy Note 7, or the Titanic. Trump also tweeted the bill was a "repeal and replace" of Obamacare. That statement alone signaled Trump is more interested in being able to defend his adoption of that tired and hollow GOP mantra rather than deliver meaningful improvement to healthcare in America.

Greed appears to be the motive behind the crime for the rest of the GOP. The original AHCA draft used cuts to Medicaid as part of a broader strategy to pay for tax cuts for the rich. The now passed version still includes $800 million in Medicaid cuts that will kill, literally, some low income Americans. The repeal of certain tax provisions within Obamacare under the new bill delivers tax cuts totaling $346 billion over 10 years to wealthy American taxpayers earning more than $200,000 a year.

The AHCA means higher premiums, fewer insured, removal of protections for pre-existing conditions, Congressional healthcare remains likely unchanged, and the rich white guys that wrote the law all get a big tax cut.  If none of that seems like enough to convict here's one last gem. People with employer provided healthcare plans are not safe either. The AHCA contains a provision that could gut safeguards against catastrophic costs for people with coverage through large employer plans across several states.

The AHCA is universally horrific. The men that wrote it are guilty of premeditated murder. Those that voted for it are accomplices. Period.

The Senate gets a crack at the AHCA next. It's not yet clear whether Senators will join the Manson family-esqe House and vote to kill you or send a different bill back for reconciliation. Either way, the outcome is in the hands of the Republicans that control both chambers so odds are you're: dead man walking.

Maybe the AHCA vote will finally alienate the voters that repeatedly choose against their own interests by returning a Republican majority to Washington. Otherwise, the only solace will be in the less pleasant alternative of change through attrition since those voters will simply die off as a result of what their representatives delivered in the AHCA.