Tuesday, July 25, 2017

And the Gates of Hell Swung Open

So, the Senate Republican leadership rammed through a blank check bill of ACA changes to be filled in later. There will be multiple amendments, but, as MoveOn.Org's Washington director Ben Wikler points out, the one that counts will be last one introduced. Then the bill goes to conference committee, and the hard right will drive the amendments. (Discussion: David Dayen and Corey Robin.) We have no idea what the ultimate law will be; it is even possible, yet, that this will fail. But, no, this bird doesn't believe that. They've made it so far. They probably will pass something.

One ironic thing: "amendment king" Bernard Sanders, as ranking member of the budget committee, will be the Democratic debate manager. May he have fun obstructing the fascists.

The main thing here is not the health care bill, which will be bad enough, but that Ryan, McConnell and their shadowy backers can pass enormously cruel and unpopular laws – even laws which will kill Americans – written in secret. Now that they have succeeded in that, there will be more such laws passed. The USA is now an authoritarian state run by a largely secret faction.

Pretty sure that isn't what the radical right guys who voted for Trump and the Republicans mean by freedom.

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