Think of our ACA health care system as a bridge. It enables people to travel from the mainland of life to the island of health care.
For seven years the GOP has criticized the ACA bridge. “It costs too much to maintain. It doesn’t do this or that. We will replace with an improved bridge.”
In the seven years they did not engineer a stronger replacement. They did not gather supplies to build a replacement. What they did do, incessantly, was criticize the existing, working bridge that millions depend on. In the form of Graham-Cassidy they will vote on removing the bridge people are using. They do so with no plans or materials for a replacement bridge. Millions will lose this lifeline of a benefit.
They will do this because they’ve been saying they will for seven years and somehow feel they must. It is more important to the GOP to win a vote than to continue protecting millions of Americans. It is more important to them to tear down a working bridge. They had years to prepare an improvement. Now all they have for a replacement is making a point about political power.
Making that point will certainly lead to the deaths of thousands and impoverish millions as the bridge they depend on is demolished.