Such a little bribe

Mark Sumner of DailyKos reports that the Congressional Budget Office, in the same report that said 22 million would lose healthcare under the Senate bill, also said the bill would save $188 billion more than originally anticipated and designated for tax cuts for the rich. Which means, says Sumner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has plenty of money to bribe holdout senators into supporting the bill.

Hey, senator, got a special project in your state that is being overlooked? Would $10 billion help?

McConnell won’t make that offer to either Michigan senators because both are Democrats. But I could imagine him going to someone like Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and closing a deal. Hey, Rick, baby, I hear roads in Michigan are pretty rotten…

One thing the money is not going to be used for is improving Medicaid just a smidge so that it throws off only 21 million people instead of 22 million.

So do not think that because McConnell delayed the vote that this monstrosity is dead. Especially since the vice nasty guy has been put in charge of guiding it to the finish line.

Even so, a few GOP senators, such as Mike Rounds of South Dakota, have noticed that the bill is being portrayed as throwing people off Medicaid (and causing many to die) to give a tax cut to the rich. The idea of blood money bothers them. In a media environment concerned with optics over substance, this is a case where the optics are helpful to the cause. Thanks, Senator Warren!

And if this nasty bill goes through and you lose your health insurance and die because you don’t get the care? Laura Vitto wrote a post for Mashable when the House passed its bill. In it she says there is a new website that offers a new service. You can fill out the appropriate paperwork so that after you die your ashes will be sent to your GOP Congressman.

I wouldn't want to see what kind of trophy wall they might build with all those urns.