Reich writes: "Never before in history has the House of Representatives moved so quickly on a bill that would affect so many on the basis of so few facts."
Robert Reich. (photo: Getty)
Never Before Has the House Moved So Fast to Pass Such a Bad Bill
09 March 17
ever before in history has the House of Representatives moved so quickly on a bill that would affect so many on the basis of so few facts. Early this morning, the House Ways and Means Committee approved the Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act. The vote occurred after only 18 hours of debate, with no knowledge of how many lower-income Americans would lose health coverage, and how much the rich would gain in new tax cuts.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office hasn’t yet analyzed the bill. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that didn’t matter. “If You're Looking At The CBO For Accuracy, You're Looking In The Wrong Place.” Really? Where does Spicer suggest looking?
The bill will face strong headwinds in the Senate. Mitch McConnell said this morning that lawmakers at least need to see the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of how the bill will affect the federal deficit. Four other Republican senators said they won’t vote for it if it strips their states of the Medicaid expansion in Obamacare. And Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) warned in tweets this morning that “House health-care bill can’t pass Senate [without] major changes. To my friends in House: pause, start over. Get it right, don’t get it fast."
Senators, even Republican ones, tend to be more responsible than their colleagues in the impetuous chamber on the other side of Capitol Hill.
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