The Republicans want to take healthcare from poor people to give a tax break to the wealthiest.

I have to be careful how much political commentary I watch on TV because I find myself getting angry with our entire political situation. No one seems to be able to (or even want to) come to any kind of consensus, which means nothing gets done. And of course consensus, which is reached by everyone giving up some ground to arrive at something that, while clearly not perfect from either perspective, is at least acceptable, is the core process for making our government work. But now, each side refuses to budge; obviously willing to do nothing rather than allow the opposite party to make points.

So of course what we have is stalemate. I believe that Democrats have negotiated in good faith, but I willingly admit that may be my biases revealing themselves. In my defense I suggest looking at the negotiations (done out in the open, with public hearings and weeks and weeks of deliberation) that lead up to the Affordable Care Act. The result, while watered down from the original position that I felt was not only workable but necessary for the long term, resulted in the most significant benefit to the poor, sick and elderly since Medicare. Contrast that with what the Republicans have done:  concocted what is little more than a scheme to take vast sums of money from existing programs to give tax breaks to the top 1%, who manifestly don’t need them. This new “Trumpcare” plan was done in almost complete secrecy to avoid any comment or scrutiny until the last possible second, with the intent to ram it through a vote before the financial and social implications could be evaluated. The particular hypocrisy of Senate leader Mitch McConnell is staggering, since he was one of the most vocal critics of the Democrats’ plan, which he said was negotiated without time for public commentary or legislative deliberation; exactly what he’s doing now.

He doesn’t currently have the votes to pass this pig of a bill, but I’m not really very happy with the reason; only two or three Republicans have voiced concern about healthcare access by the poor or ill among their constituency; most of the rest who say they won’t support it, say so because, unbelievably, it doesn’t go far enough.

There’s a full-court press by McConnell to whip up support in the Senate. Particularly chilling to me is a report I read about a meeting he held with fellow Republican Senators where he evidently told them that “a no-vote on his bill is a yes-vote on Obamacare (which as everyone knows they have spent the last 10 years promising to repeal). But what was even more disturbing was his follow up statement that, if his bill goes down in flames, the Senate may actually have to negotiate with Democrats in the next iteration.

Think about that for a minute. McConnell is telling his colleagues that the worst possible thing to do would be to actually have to sit down with Democrats and negotiate. I’m truly astounded that he would say that. Isn’t that what a representative democracy is all about? Shouldn’t that be the first and most important thing he would do? Last I checked the Democrats (and, by the way, Independents such as myself) are citizens of this country too. When bozos like McConnell dismiss more than 50% of the populace as being beneath the courtesy of sitting with at the negotiating table, it is abundantly clear that he and his like-minded lackeys to the ultra-rich have put political ideology above what’s right for the country.

Not especially surprising, but disappointing nonetheless.  It is disgusting that, in the richest country in the world, the party in power is trying to take away the right to healthcare from the poorest in order to give money to the wealthiest.