Why the GOP Is Hell-Bent On Passing An Unpopular Healthcare Bill

Because it would mean a huge tax windfall for the wealthy.

Amanda Robertson
Jul 27, 2017 · 5 min read

As for a replacement, the solution suggested is sending the money back to the states and give them the power to spend on health care as they see fit to meet the needs of their states.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement after voting for the Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) amendment to repeal Obamacare. The amendment stipulates that Obamacare be dismantled and gives Congress two years to present a replacement package. The vote failed 45–55.

“Today I voted to repeal Obamacare — with a replacement to come at a date certain. As for a replacement, the solution I support is very simple — send the money back to the states and give them the power to spend on health care as they see fit to meet the needs of their states. .One of the biggest benefits of this approach is it will end the drive toward a national single payer health care system by taking money and power out of Washington and returning it to the people. If an individual state wants to set up a single payer system they are free to do so under this solution, but they can’t drag the rest of the states with them.”

I’d like to ask Lindsey, how well has, for example, South Carolina handled spending when left up to the state?

Infrastructure

  1. The state of South Carolina is currently spending about $415 million a year on pavements, according to DOT, when it should be spending about $900 million a year.

Education

  1. In another blow to the state’s lackluster reputation on schools, South Carolina ranked dead last in the education category in U.S. News & World Report’s inaugural ranking of all 50 states.

Social Services

After several children died while in the care of Social Services, a legislative investigation two years ago revealed some workers at the agency were carrying caseloads more than twice the nationally recommended norm. Social Services leaders also told legislators that, because of low pay, they could not hire enough new workers to replace the employees who were quitting because of overwhelming work loads.

Health and Environmental Control

Last October, 31 state-regulated dams failed in a historic rain storm, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage. The collapses followed shrinking spending on dam inspections by the Department of Health and Environmental Control. For years, that program’s budget — one of the most poorly funded in the country, according to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials — hovered around $200,000 or less. After October’s dam-busting rains, DHEC asked for $595,000 more to increase its dam-safety staffing.

Juvenile Justice

Earlier this year, a Columbia detention facility for youth offenders was wracked by riots. In response, Department of Juvenile Justice leaders told legislators that trouble recruiting and high turnover had led to a large number of vacancies among corrections officers who were supposed to control the facility. Among the vacancies: police chief and an anti-gang expert.

South Carolina state government that spends less per resident to provide services — almost $300 a resident less, in inflation-adjusted dollars — than it did nine years ago, in 2007–08.

For 15 years, Republicans have talked about running government more like a business, and eliminating waste and fraud. Meanwhile, there is little focus on social services, education, healthcare, and other essential services.

“If people in this state are satisfied with driving on bad roads, with having poorly educated children, it will never change,” she said. “What the public has got to understand is that they have to hold us accountable and stop falling for the okie-doke.” — Democrat Cobb-Hunter

The bottom line is the Republican campaign to repeal Obamacare was always based on a false promise (okay, a lie): that it was possible for all Americans to have better, cheaper medical care without raising taxes or reducing the incomes of doctors and the profits of hospitals and drug companies.

In a country that spends roughly twice as much as other advanced countries for mediocre results, it would be possible to restructure the system to give most people more for less. But, alas, the Senate bill does almost nothing to restructure the way medical care is delivered, how much is consumed and how it is priced, because to do so would have meant taking on the business interests that the Republicans are counting on to finance their reelection.

There is only one reason why the Republicans want to get rid of the “ACA” and that is due to whose name is associated with it. It is time to swallow your racism and work across the aisle as the Democrats have been saying from the beginning. Quit all these backroom deals and start working toward what is correct for your constituents.

South Carolina Progress

Journalism for the Southern Left

Amanda Robertson

Written by

Passionate educator, mother, activist. Woke.

South Carolina Progress

Journalism for the Southern Left

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