After a long, depressing winter for politics—culminating in last week’s riveting testimony on Capitol Hill— it’s hard not to want to tune out the noise and negativity right now.
Really hard.
It’s summer! Let’s eat ice cream.
Unfortunately, there are some politicians who want to take advantage of the season to rush the awful repeal of Obamacare through the senate, potentially gutting care for expectant moms and sick kids. Fortunately, there’s concrete action we can take right now, which we’ve included below.
TPM reports on the latest goings-on in the Senate, where members are meeting in secret to hash out their version of the healthcare repeal, nothing that “the process so far has been entirely shut off from public view:
“The major details of a Senate GOP plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act have been discussed in closed-door meetings, and lawmakers have mostly held the state of the negotiations close to the chest when asked by reporters on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday, it was announced that access in the Capitol hallways would be limited for reporters with cameras, although there was no immediate indication that decision was related to the health care deliberations.
Some Republicans have said they would like to vote before the July 4 recess, giving them just a few days with the legislation following a CBO review that likely would take about two weeks. Others have warned that the timeline could stretch longer, but there’s been no guarantee that the public would get an extended time to analyze the legislation.“
Even worse than this secrecy is what we do know, and it ain’t good.
“Based on the few details that have floated out about what Senate Republicans are planning, it appears that the legislation will track closely with the House GOP bill, the American Health Care Act, which the CBO estimated would result in 23 million fewer people with health coverage while slashing $834 billion in Medicaid funding. Some Senate Republicans have said the House bill was unacceptable to them, but more than a few admitted Monday that they’re still in the dark about the details of the legislation their own leaders are working on.”
Activist group Indivisible has put together a “June Action Plan” for “stopping Trumpcare” with lots of details of what all of us can do. Check it out, because as they note, it’s really crucial.
“The Senate is everything now. Let’s be clear, if TrumpCare gets through the Senate, it will probably become law. The highest hurdle for Republicans was always the Senate, which means that if they manage to jam it through, there’ll be nothing left to stop it from getting to Trump’s desk. That’s why your focus needs to remain on your Senators. We know you’re tired. We know you’re frustrated. But this is it. And, it will depend on you and your groups.”
People on Twitter are taking up the call:
https://twitter.com/rainbowrowell/status/874686209007734784
RT if you agree: the Senate GOP's decision to hide their health care plan is undemocratic, dangerous, and just plain wrong. https://t.co/CDXBiHDzNN
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 12, 2017
