LAST CHANCE TO STEAL OUR HEALTH CARE

By Robert P. Bomboy

What does it say about the cruelty of human nature today that Senate Republicans - many of them millionaires - would try once again, at the last minute, to steal the medical care of 15 million of their fellow Americans?

            One would think they would be ashamed, but they have no shame, especially knowing that they would gain while the others lose. Even this latest Frankenstein bill sneaked out from under the rug by Senators Lindsey Graham and William Cassidy still has tax cuts for the rich. How can they say the "savings" will go back to us and the nation, when actually any savings will go into their own pockets.

            I'm sure you agree that what's admirable in human nature are the actions and feelings that elevate it, not those that degrade us and hold us up to the kind of scorn that the Republican senators, in fact, deserve.

The American people are not, by nature, cruel. We bend over backwards to help others. My wife and I live on Social Security, but, since the hurricanes, she has already mailed two donations to the Red Cross. Millions of others have done the same.

This is indeed a sneak attack. Graham, Cassidy, and the Republicans want to steamroller it through the Senate before September 30 so they can pass it with only 51 votes. After that the Senate rules say they would need an impossible 60.

            There are nasty provisions in this stinker, such as taking money from states like New York and giving it to states like Senator John McCain's Arizona, and punishing Pennsylvania and the 30 other states that expanded Medicaid, which covers 70 million people and is combating our soaring drug overdose problems here and elsewhere.

In fact, the Graham-Cassidy sneaker would rob states of money to pay for health insurance. Millions of Americans would lose coverage as a result - 15 million of us in the next year alone.

This bill is just as vicious, if not more, than all of the other Trumpcare bills that have failed this year. It strips health insurance from millions, as I said, makes premiums completely unaffordable, guts and destroys Medicaid, and forces rural hospitals to close.

            How can they do this to us? How many times so far have our representatives in the House and Senate dragged out these abominable plans to cheat us, knowing that what they're doing won't affect them? They've brought bills to a vote without even letting their members see them. They had seven years to come up with a good plan, and couldn't do it. Ashamed of what they were doing, they conspired in the dark, out of sight, like mold growing under a rock.

            Then the public, you and I, found out what they were doing. We got mad and they didn't like it. We were at their office doors, on their phones, at town hall meetings, in the newspapers, and on TV.

            We need to stop them again, and do the same things. Cowards plot in the darkness. When we shine our spotlights on them, they step back and slink away.

Call our Senators, Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to vote against this attack on our lives, and call or email the Senate Republican heroes who blocked Trumpcare before:

·         Susan Collins: Twitter? @SenatorCollins - Email? Google Senator Susan Collins and click Contact Senator Susan Collins.

·         Lisa Murkowski: Twitter? @lisamurkowski - Email? Google Senator Lisa Murkowski and click Contact Lisa.

·         John McCain: Twitter? @SenJohnMcCain - Email? Google Senator John McCain, then click Contact. See Share Your Opinion and ask for a response.

Think of your brothers and sisters, your father, your mother, and your Uncle Joe. Think of all those you don't know, all those 15 million who are people as real as we are. Email these senators. Urge them to cross the aisle on this grave issue. Tell them about the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have done to you.

·         Shelley Moore Capito: Twitter? @SenCapito - Email? Google Senator Shelley Capito and use her email contact form.

·         Mike Lee: Twitter? @SenMikeLee - Email? Google Senator Mike Lee, use his email contact form, and ask for a response.

·         Tom Cotton: Twitter? @SenTomCotton - Email? Click CONTACT TOM at the bottom of his Google page and use his email contact form.