HealthCare Notes

10/26/18

GOP Lies About Pre-Existing Conditions May Have Reached Peak Absurdity

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-tweet-pre-existing-conditions-gop_us_5bd0a4f9e4b0a8f17ef35bab?fbclid=IwAR3Yb_kuMdCGvI5xzLFf3HeYVRAJM9SXPt_KVPM1mE51dvexh3OeB3T6r5w
"Republicans are desperate to fool the public about what they did ― and would still do."

Republicans Are Now Running as the Defenders of Healthcare—While Simultaneously Trying to Gut It

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a23835562/republicans-health-care-preexisting-conditions-donald-trump/?fbclid=IwAR22vtfbmnO8moh7Na84lB5seue_6prH0OgzJH18cF4ZkgTJ2K74dEECOjQ
"it was never about the debt or the deficit, was it. There are no Tea Party Patriots holding rallies on the National Mall now that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that debt will rise to 96 percent of GDP by 2028. (Tea Party organizer Tim Chapman told The New York Times Tuesday that "the Tea Party wave of 2010 was animated by federal spending, but that has definitely subsided." Strange! Perhaps it has something to do with changes to The Presidential Complexion.) As others are increasingly saying outright, the plan was always to slash taxes on the wealthy, then cite the resulting budget shortfalls as a reason to cut "entitlement" programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security on the basis they constituted out-of-control spending. There are a lot of things to change in this country. One is that we ought to call Medicare and Social Security what they actually are: earned benefits that recipients have been paying into their whole lives. We ought to call Medicaid part of the social safety net that any humane society with the means provides. And we ought to find a new way to categorize what Republicans are doing right now when they cast themselves as The Real Defenders of Healthcare. "False" is no longer sufficient. "Flip-flop" is useless. Hypocrisy is drowning in a tsunami of shamelessness, and threatening to take us all under if we don't keep fighting the swirling current."

Republicans try to rewrite history and paint themselves as the real defenders of Medicare

https://thinkprogress.org/ahead-of-midterms-republicans-suddenly-pretend-they-havent-opposed-medicare-for-decades-d4026a87c684/?fbclid=IwAR3ENkgAy2B6H2b_vUKqgcOL3Glg_Mp534HJj2J1PBoxNuZi8dgqNAHl4AE
"Once a upon a time, conservatives cautioned against the creation of a government-run health insurance program for people over 65, calling Medicare “socialized medicine.” But now — in campaign ads and speeches — Republicans across the country are positioning themselves as the real defenders of Medicare. The new posturing helps conservatives claim they’re the ones preserving the status quo. Nevermind Republican lawmakers’ long quest to privatize Medicare."

McConnell sets his sights on Medicare and Social Security, saying the debt is ‘very disturbing’

https://thinkprogress.org/mcconnell-tax-cuts-budget-deficit-debt-very-disturbing-f7d976976996/?fbclid=IwAR3zeizmi8HvHZU6idQePx__34xyq07o2aVcB7kCWSwvGYjTF2CG1i7bhxk
"The same lawmakers who exploded the federal deficit by gifting millionaires and billionaires a favorable corporate tax bill are now telling the public that the way to fix the deficit is to shred the social safety net."

10/4/18

Trump pick to run Social Security allegedly impersonated police officer to avoid trespassing charge

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-pick-social-security-allegedly-impersonated-police-officer-666aa57d9212/
"Like other Trump nominees, Saul has no background in the field he was chosen to lead."

Republican Senate hopeful Martha McSally lies about her pre-existing condition record

https://thinkprogress.org/arizona-senate-martha-mcsally-lies-pre-existing-conditions-71d974ab3df9/
"Rep. Martha McSally (R), her party’s nominee for the open U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, was a staunch supporter of the Trumpcare legislation to repeal Obamacare, literally telling her Republican House colleagues that they needed to get the “f**king thing” done. Now that she is under fire for her vote for the wildly unpopular legislation, she is simply lying to her constituents and pretending that the bill would not have eliminated insurance protections for the more than 100 million Americans with pre-existing medical conditions."

10/3/18

In Destroying Social Security, GOP Has No Plans for Elderly Americans

https://truthout.org/articles/in-destroying-social-security-gop-has-no-plans-for-elderly-americans/
"For decades, congressional Republicans have been rigorously supported by Republican presidents like George W. Bush and Donald Trump in vain attempts to steal the trillions from the “lock-box” of the self-sustaining Social Security Trust Fund. In 2017, it stood at $2.9 trillion, an astronomical sum that could easily cover those tax-cut bills today."

GOP congressman lies to his constituents about his vote for Obamacare repeal

https://thinkprogress.org/gop-iowa-congressman-david-young-pretends-he-stood-up-to-party-pre-existing-conditions-95f66a6ac579/
"Rep. David Young (R-IA) voted for TrumpCare but hopes his constituents won't notice."