Your vote for the so-called American Health Care Act will live in infamy. The Act should be called the No-Care Act. Those who voted for it do not care about the American people, except for the wealthiest.
You voted to remove health insurance from up to 24 million of your fellow citizens, not to mention your constituents.
You voted to take reliable health care from the poor and give a trillion-dollar tax cut to the richest 2 percent of Americans. And to insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry.
You voted to allow rating for pre-existing conditions, again making obtaining health care coverage expensive and difficult for many people.
You voted to give billions to insurance companies and the obscenely wealthy by taking it from the poor and helpless. You voted, as you have consistently, to make America more unequal — to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
You voted against the interests of your constituents — that is, except for your large contributors.
You voted for the U.S. to continue as the only developed nation in the whole world not to have universal health care. Where we spend twice as much as Britain, Canada, Australia or Sweden and have worse outcomes.
You voted to replace a flawed system with a more flawed system.
You voted for a bill without reading it and without waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to assess its impact. Why the emergency when you have had seven years to come up with a bill?
Your party voted then celebrated at the White House. I can’t tell from the picture whether all or some of you attended the kegger, but it was certainly a large collection of white guys. Usually when you get that many white people together they break out in the Chicken Dance.
Your party celebrated taking health care from poor people. You celebrated making pregnancy, acne, asthma and who knows what else pre-existing conditions.
Your vote will live in infamy. It will follow you to your grave. But you will most likely be preceded in death by many of the poor from whom you removed obtainable health insurance. As congressional representatives, you enjoy gold-plated healthcare, so you may well live longer than most ordinary Americans. But every day will be a reminder of the damage you inflicted on May 4, 2017.
And to Rep. Massie — your vote against the revolting bill does not redeem you, as you voted “nay” only because the proposed formula wasn’t cruel enough.
Cincinnati native MARK PAINTER served as a judge for 30 years (Municipal Court 1982-1995, Court of Appeals 1995-2009, United Nations Appellate Tribunal 2009-2012) and as an adjunct law professor at the University of Cincinnati for 20 years. He is the author of six books. Contact: [email protected]