Paul Ryan’s response to the CBO report on Fox News was defiant. He is doing what the GOP has been doing for decades. Slowly justifying policies that hurt Americans with a smile and rhetoric. This one kills people.
Paul Ryan’s Normalization of Evil
Fox News Bret Baier interviewed Paul Ryan. He spun the CBO report in a manner that must be considered evil and expressed as such. It kills people.
“Well, actually, I think, if you read this entire report, I’m pretty encouraged by it,” Paul Ryan said. “And it actually exceeded my expectation. … We’re saying that government’s not going to force people to buy something they don’t want to buy. And if we end an Obamacare mandate that says you must buy this government one-size-fits-all plan, guess what? People aren’t gonna buy that. So of course, they’re going to suggest that if we’re not going to make people do something they don’t want to do, they’re not gonna do it. That’s really what’s behind this. What I’m encouraged is, once our reforms kick in, what the CBO is telling us is, it’s going to lower premiums. It’ll lower premiums 10%. It stabilizes the market. It’s a $1.2 trillion spending cut, and 883 billion tax cut and 337 billion dollars in deficit reduction. So of course, the CBO is going to say, if you are not going to force people to buy something they don’t want to buy, they won’t buy it.”
There is absolutely no humanity in that statement. To state that a report that says 14 million Americans will lose coverage next year, that 24 million will lose coverage by 2026, and that over 52 million will be uninsured in 2026, is encouraging and exceeded his expectations is mind boggling. It illustrates the detachment of Republican orthodoxy from the well-being of the average American citizen.
His claim that the reason for the large numbers of uninsured is simply a choice people make because they do not want to spend on insurance is ludicrous. Many will be unable to afford the insurance because one of the things the Trump/Ryan draconian bill does is to strip billions from subsidies to give a large tax break to a small number of wealthy Americans and to reduce the budget on the back of the poor and the middle-class.
Newsweek says it best.
Costs for the near elderly, those in their 50s and 60s who aren’t yet to eligible for Medicare—which kicks in at age 65—would rise especially sharply. For a person who is 64 the tax credit they would receive to help them buy insurance would drop, on average from $13,600 to $4,900 leaving them shelling out $14,600 out of pocket more than under the current system. By contrast, a 40-year-old might only have to pay about $700 more than they do now, while a 21-year-old buying health insurance would probably pay less than they currently do in part because they’ll be able to buy plans that only cover catastrophes. (Obamacare requires anyone to buy a fairly robust package of insurance).
In other words, people in their 50s and 60s will bear a significant portion of the cost of giving tax breaks to a few with much higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Of course, some of those either foolishly choosing not to purchase health insurance or unable to afford to do so, encouraged by the Trump/Ryan health care law, will be bankrupted if they unluckily get sick.
Donald Trump and Paul Ryan are playing with the lives of every poor and middle-class American. As MSNBC’s Ali Velshi explained, the free market simply does not work for health insurance, period. Chuck Todd recently pointed out that the new plan decimates coverage for all but mostly to the Trump voter.
Call your Senators and Congressional Representatives every day and let them know you do not want the Affordable Care Act repealed. If you do not know how to get in touch with them, click here.
Learn why Single-Payer/Medicare-For-All is our future.