Is there any remaining doubt that the modern Republican Party is perhaps the most hypocritical political party ever created in the United States? The Know Nothing Party had the virtue of not over-promoting itself. What is the case for the charge of hypocrisy?
1.) The Republican Party raised holy Hell with President Obama's executive orders but has been silent about President Trump's orders. Trump has made countless promises that the work of fixing the nation's problems will be done almost exclusively at the White House; also, he is the only one who can fix the problems.
2.) The Republican Party accused the Obama administration of ramming through the Affordable Care Act, whereas months were spent in hearings at which Republican lawmakers were allowed to propose amendments, which they did in spades. C-SPAN televised many hours of coverage of hearings in House and Senate committees. In comparison, two House committees each held one marathon session at which they approved the Republican creation: The American Health Care Act (AHCA).
Prior to the hearings, there was the incredible chain of events, in which the Republicans had locked up the AHCA and those who had learned the apparent room number, went there, and were met by armed guards, who denied them entry.
Major legislative actions that will have a long-term impact on the budget are customarily "scored" by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to determine the ten-year impact of the action. The House leadership sent the AHCA to two committees without waiting for the scoring.
3.) Republican-controlled statehouses and governors' offices have been trying to kill abortion rights through the administration of a myriad of legislative restrictions and specifications, even specifying the internal architecture of abortion clinics. Hypocritically, they claim to be solely concerned for the safety of pregnant women.
4.) Voter suppression bills continue to be introduced in Republican-controlled state legislatures. Even though these bills are promoted as needed to reduce rampant voter impersonation, they are clearly designed to deny the vote to those who are most likely to vote for Democratic candidates. Rather than spending money on yet another study of voter suppression, all the Trump administration needs to do is go over to the Brennan Center for Justice and get copies of studies showing that voter suppression is as rare as the probability that herds of unicorns will suddenly appear around the nation.
5.) House Speaker Paul Ryan contends that the guiding premise of the AHCA is to give people the freedom to provide for their own health insurance coverage. This is just another obfuscation, because people have always had the freedom to provide for their health insurance coverage. Two of the big problems have been that they didn't have the financial means to provide for adequate health insurance, or a preexisting condition had barred them from coverage.
6.) President Donald Trump is engaged in his own display of hypocrisy, as he told "Sixty Minutes" in 2015 that everybody should have health insurance coverage. Since becoming president, Trump has again promised universal coverage and lower premium costs.
Although the CBO has not yet released its scoring, other organizations have weighed in with projections on what the AHCA will do. The Brookings Institute projects that at least 15 million people will lose coverage at the end of the 10-year scoring period. It also says that the change in subsidies are unlikely to mitigate the coverage loss. There will be a $700 billion loss from the elimination of ACA taxes. Brookings also says: "Increasing total spending on tax credits while avoiding an increase in the deficit is likely impossible, even taking into account the bill's Medicaid cuts."
S & P Global says the AHCA would shake up the markets in a massive way, given how fragile and complex health care in the U.S. currently is.
The Commonwealth Fund says 30 million Americans could see 30% premium increases under the new plan -- a bigger penalty for a lapse in coverage than the ACA's penalty for going without.
The Joint Committee on Taxation forecasts a revenue loss of $595 billion, as killed would be the 3.8% investment income tax, the 2.3% medical device tax, a 0.9% high income tax, and delaying the Cadillac tax on luxury health plans.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the Medicaid cuts would largely or entirely pay for high-income tax cuts; however, the cost-shifting would "jeopardize coverage and access to care for tens of millions of low-income people." $370 billion would be shifted from federal to state budgets.
Another important consideration in replacing the ACA with the AHCA is that the reduction in the "doughnut hole" for purchase of prescription drugs would be reversed.
There is another important loss of coverage if the Affordable Care Act is replaced. In a speech in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, candidate Trump promised to "help all get the assistance they need to unchain themselves." In his address to Congress he pledged to "expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted." The GOP's legislation on repealing the ACA would yank coverage from 1.3 million people with behavioral health needs, according to an analysis from health care economists Richard Frank of Harvard University and Sherry Glied of New York University. The GOP bill eliminates the mental health and substance abuse coverage mandate. About two million people with substance use disorders, who would otherwise be uninsured, gained coverage through the expansion and the individual changes -- a third of them opioid users. The matching federal dollars prompted states to expand behavioral health services -- including medication-assisted treatments, such as Suboxone. About 29% of people enrolled in Medicaid alone need mental health or substance abuse treatment.
Starting in 2020, the Medicaid expansion would freeze and people who try to sign up would be locked out. More costs would be shipped to the states.
ADDENDUMS:
*Percentages of Medicaid recipients: 41% are white; 22% are black; and 25% are Hispanic, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
*A three-judge federal panel in San Antonio ruled 2-1 that Republicans in Texas gerrymandered some congressional districts to weaken the growing electoral power of minorities. Republicans hold two of the three districts ruled to be invalid. The judges didn't propose an immediate fix.
*It is estimated that the 400 highest-earning households in the U.S. will get an average tax break of $7 million per year with the repeal of ACA taxes on high-income people.
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