Sanders: GOP healthcare proposal a 'absolute disaster' and a 'disgrace'

[TomCADem]

Source: The Hill

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday slammed the proposed GOP healthcare plan as an "absolute disaster” and a "disgrace."

“It is an absolute disaster. It is a disgrace. And by the way, this really has nothing to do with healthcare,” Sanders told CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

“What this has everything to do with is a massive shift of wealth from working people and middle-income people to the very richest people in this country.”

* * *
“In my view, what the American people want is an improvement on ObamaCare, not the decimation of ObamaCare and throwing so many people off of health insurance and raising premiums substantially.”

Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-a-place-of-need-an-unhealthy-contradiction/ar-AAo9lqt

[dalton99a]

1. It is an outright scam.

[FakeNoose]

2. Thank God for Bernie Sanders

He's a Statesman not a Politician.
Brass Balls and no fucks to give. Love the guy!

[George II]

5. Corey Booker was on CNN about 2 hours earlier and said the same thing. Thank God for Booker.

[sheshe2]

12. Excellent

Thank you Cory Booker!

[LiberalLovinLug]

23. good for you for pointing that out

so helpful

[George II]

25. Anything to oblige. Need to borrow $5?

[Ned Flanders]

28. LOL, thanks for the comic

They just have to say something to shoot him down. Knee-jerk reaction. And they don't even see it in themselves.

[PotatoChip]

18. +1000

[JudyM]

19. +1M. It's great that his voice of reason and anti-corruption is now getting airtime.

[QC]

20. Amen!

It's a pity that some are still so wrapped up in the last primary campaign.

[George II]

26. True. It's sad that many ignore the several Senators who have come out similarly all week.

[pnwmom]

3. I wish he'd added that it is also a direct attack on MEDICARE

and Medicaid, both of which the GOP had targeted pre-Obamacare.

Repealing Obamacare eliminates the Medicaid expansion and the new taxes on the wealthy that were put in place to shore up Medicare.

Their goal has always been to eliminate Medicare, and without these taxes they will say that Medicare is failing.

[FakeNoose]

7. Medicare is not an "entitlement"

I agree that Trump will wipe out Medicaid as soon as possible. It was one of his campaign promises.

However he can't touch Medicare, we've paid for that with our taxes.
I'm about to retire (next month) and I've got 40 years paid into the Medicare fund and Social Security.

If Trump or Ryan try doing anything to those funds, they'll be strung up.

[pnwmom]

9. Wrong. It most certainly is an entitlement -- we are ENTITLED TO IT.

They have turned entitlement into a dirty word, but we shouldn't be accepting that.

And sadly, you are wrong if you think they can't touch it. That is a primary goal here. Obamacare contains tax monies that were approved to help pay for Medicare, because the taxes we had been paying weren't enough. The repeal removes the new tax.

Everyone needs to understand this. Getting rid of Medicare is an end goal here. Seniors aren't as protected as they think -- and should be FIGHTING LIKE HELL, not feeling complacent under the misguided idea this won't affect them.

The AARP understands this. So should every older person.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/11/15/paul-ryans-plan-to-phase-out-medicare-is-just-what-democrats-need/?utm_term=.e92104d8ea38

I’m speaking of Paul Ryan’s wish to privatize Medicare, or phase it out, depending on how you want to look at it. In an interview last week with Fox News, Ryan made clear that as part of the legislative bacchanal Republicans have planned for Trump’s first months in office, he plans to begin the Medicare phaseout he has long advocated. He seems to want to package it together with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act: “Well, you have to remember, when Obamacare became Obamacare, Obamacare rewrote Medicare, rewrote Medicaid. If you are going to repeal and replace Obamacare, you have to address those issues as well,” he said. “What people don’t realize is because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke.”

As part of his strategy, Ryan must convince people that Medicare is all but dead already, so we don’t actually lose much by putting it out of its misery. That’s why he says things like, “Because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke.” This is not just a lie but the precise opposite of the truth, and Ryan knows full well it is; in fact, the ACA extended the solvency of the Medicare trust fund by over a decade. And be warned: Any time you hear Republicans say the phrase “entitlement reform,” understand that phasing out Medicare is what they’re talking about.

[FakeNoose]

13. It's not a freebie handout from the government

That's how the GOP treats it.

Yes we're entitled to the benefits we've paid for, it's a social contract.
The GOP acts like we're freeloaders though.

[pnwmom]

15. Of course an entitlement is not a freebie. That is the point. But Medicare IS on the chopping block.

No one who's counting on Medicare should be complacent. Repealing Obamacare IS an attack on Medicare solvency and a primary goal is to phase-out Medicare.

We must fight that and not assume we are safe. They couldn't care less about the "social contract."

[Eyeball_Kid]

29. You can say the same for Medicaid and Soc. Sec.

All through our working lives, we pay for these services, with every paycheck. We all contribute. And for those who are unable to pay into the system, we pay for them, too. When we all chip in for our fair share, there's more than enough to go around.

[Kimchijeon]

27. Yep you are right

Maybe they figure the elderly will just die out, and the disabled/poor/working class just won't have the wherewithal to do anything either.

[Scarsdale]

8. Exactly

How many of THEM have signed up for this crappy medical coverage? Not a one, I would bet. They should be asked that "Will you enroll your family in this plan?"

[LakeArenal]

4. The word disgrace is synonymous with Trump Administration

and the entire GOP.

[George II]

6. .

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[Scarsdale]

10. Past time

for universal healthcare. To HELL with the insurance companies, and their bought and paid for politicians. We should DEMAND what other countries have, a universal health plan. Ryan met with the lobbyists for insurance companies, right before he rolled up his sleeves and put on his ACT.

[George II]

11. Don't know what you're talking about.

[Scarsdale]

14. Britain

I was born and raised in the UK. Still have family there. They are shocked at what passes for healthcare in this country, where people die for lack of insurance. My son could not afford the $500 monthly fee when he was laid off. He gambled that he would be called back to work, and his health plan re-instated. He was not, he DIED. I begged him to go to a clinic and he said "They will send me for all kinds of tests, and I will be in debt for the rest of my life" True story. Shortly before that I had an MRI and the bill was $8,000. Fortunately I had Medicare and a supplemental insurance. Greatest healthcare in the world? Yes, if you can afford to pay for it. My family in the UK gets excellent healthcare, and do not have to worry about bills.

[elleng]

17. Right, it's the only rational way to go.

DAMNED if I want to perpetuate we the people, including my children and grandchildren, paying f*ing insurance companies, an unnecessary middle-entity, for interfering with our ability to obtain healthCARE.

[jalan48]

16. Thanks Bernie for shining the light on the shift in wealth to the rich.

That's what this is all about in the end. Those who have done well, (and in some cases become obscenely rich) not wanting to pay the taxes necessary to make the system function for everyone.

[PatrickforO]

21. Yes, and this repeal attempt will hurt them

bigtime. Especially if they succeed and it is signed into law, we're looking at massive voter uprisings, now in the form of demonstrations, and in 2018 in the voting booth.

[FigTree]

22. In one word, deplorable. nt

[democrank]

24. Thank you once again, Bernie.

Tell it like it is.