This Democrat Just Beautifully Trolled Trump & Paul Ryan With This Amendment
This morning, Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs tweeted out an image of a proposed amendment to the Republican Party’s “American Health Care Act” (AHCA), also known as “Trumpcare” the bill seeking to replace Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA).
Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), tired of all the false promises and the lies of House Republicans, laid all his cards on the table and stood up for the American people with this amendment:
.@repblumenauer has an amendment to AHCA that is some high quality trolling pic.twitter.com/BRlHKjEOf6
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) March 8, 2017
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) proposed to add “The Trump Promise Test,” an amendment that will prevent the bill from passing unless the new health care law will fulfill Donald Trump’s campaign promise to provide accessible health care for every American.
The text reads:
None of the provisions of this Act … or the amendments made by such provisions shall take effect unless and until the date on which the Congressional Budget Office certifies that such provisions or such amendments would result in health insurance coverage for all taxpayers and their dependents.
Trump spent his entire campaign promising better health care than what Americans received under Obamacare, and he promised that the new program would cost both Americans and the government less. He might as well have promised every American a unicorn.
Rep. Crowley (D-NY) got in on the fun as well by proposing one of the same amendments that House Republicans proposed during the passage of Obamacare, demanding if any of them had actually read the bill:
And now @repjoecrowley is proposing an amendment to require that members state if they read the bill pic.twitter.com/A6zN8Rpn4s
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) March 8, 2017
Trump still has not offered a comprehensive plan to make affordable health care universal. Instead, he has immediately thrown his weight behind the AHCA, a bill that will strip millions of Americans of health care coverage, disproportionately burden the poor and the elderly, and will actually increase overall costs of coverage.
The American Medical Association opposes the AHCA because it will “result in millions of Americans losing coverage and benefits,” and “make coverage more expensive — if not out of reach — for poor and sick Americans.”
The AARP, a powerful lobby group representing all senior citizens in America, also opposes the AHCA because it will “weaken Medicare’s fiscal sustainability, dramatically increase health care costs for Americans aged 50-64 and put at risk the health care of millions of children and adults with disabilities, and poor seniors who depend on the Medicaid program for long-term services and supports and other benefits.”
Blumenauer’s amendment calls out Trump’s hypocrisy. Trump promised affordable coverage for all, but decided to support a bill that will do exactly the opposite.
It is unlikely that the Trump Promise Test will actually be added to the AHCA, but it makes its point loud and clear. Perhaps a few Congressional Republicans will be shamed into thinking twice about the AHCA.
More importantly, Blumenauer highlights Trump’s hypocrisy and willingness to sell out American voters. Americans should listen up and demand better from their representatives before it’s too late.
