Culture

Protesters Are Being Dragged Away From Mitch McConnell’s Office Following The GOP’s Healthcare Bill Unveiling

On Thursday, Senate Republicans dropped the Obamacare repeal bill that’s been shrouded in secrecy for a few reasons: (1) Any legislation that will place healthcare out of reach for millions of Americans arrives with plenty of controversy; (2) The GOP wants to bring this sucker to the Senate floor next week, so they dragged their feet to avoid a negative CBO review before voting. With that said, a 142-page “discussion draft” (the Better Care Reconciliation Act) now sits on the Senate website, and it led to instant scrambling by critics and supporters alike. And since the bill significantly cuts Medicaid spending, a crowd of angry protesters have gathered outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office. As the above MSNBC video reveals, one senior woman was dragged away by Capitol Hill police, and below, a man gets hauled down the hallway.

According to the Daily Beast, one upset person screamed, “The government wants to kill me!” The Beast also says that custodians were left “cleaning blood off the floor” following the forcible ejections, including the dragging of people from wheelchairs. This screencap of a throng of protesters in wheelchairs is staggering, along with videos of protesters chanting, “Don’t touch Medicaid, save our liberty!”

The text of the current bill — in addition to relying heavily on tax credits for funding — heavily rolls back Medicaid expansion. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has some harsh reactionary words following the draft’s big reveal. “This is a bill that would end Medicaid as we know it,” he said. “Cutting federal support for the program even more than the House bill.”

And it’s no wonder that people are upset, especially since a certain 2015 tweet — in which Trump brags, “[T]here will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid” — is making the rounds.

The bill will likely see further revisions when it comes to the Senate floor, but screencaps like this one are taking over the Internet discourse.

https://twitter.com/DavMicRot/status/877920555458060288

(Via Senate.gov, MSNBC, The Daily Beast, ABC News & USA Today)