After declining to inform the public of where she stands on the Zombie Trumpcare bill, it appears that Congreswoman Martha McSally (R-AZ02) is fully behind it, according to AP reporter Erica Werner, who reports that McSally told her GOP colleagues it was time to get this “fucking thing” done.

The House is set to vote on the legislation today. The Hill is following the action on Congressional Hill.

Indivisible Southern Arizona is planning a “death march” on McSally midtown offices at 4400 E. Broadway at 5 p.m. today.

Here’s New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait’s take on this fucking thing:

The heart of the bill is the same one that was polling at under 20 percent and failed two months ago: a near-trillion dollar tax cut for wealthy investors, financed by cuts to insurance subsidies for the poor and middle class. They have added a series of hazily defined changes: waivers for states to allow insurers to charge higher rates to people with preexisting conditions and to avoid covering essential health benefits, and a pitifully small amount of money to finance high-risk pools for sick patients.

The implications of these changes are vast. The Brookings Institution notes that if a single state eliminated the cap on lifetime benefits for a single employee, then employers in every state could actually follow suit, thus bringing back a horrid feature of the pre-Obamacare system, in which people who get hit with expensive treatment suddenly discover that their insurer will no longer pay for their care. This would affect not only those getting insurance through Medicaid or the state exchanges, but also through their job.

The ambiguity of the details is the strategy. Republican leaders have been “assuring centrists that the Senate would make changes to allay their concerns and insisting that few states would actually use the waivers allowing higher premiums for pre-existing conditions,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Sean Spicer says it would be “literally impossible … to do an analysis of any level of factual basis.” Representative Fred Upton told reporters that if the Congressional Budget Office says the bill is underfunded he will push for more money — after it passes his chamber.

They are rushing through a chamber of Congress a bill reorganizing one-fifth of the economy, without even cursory attempts to gauge its impact. Its budgetary impact is as yet unknown. The same is true of its social impact, though the broad strokes are clear enough: Millions of Americans will lose access to medical care, and tens of thousands of them will die, and Congress is eager to hasten these results without knowing them more precisely. Their haste and secrecy are a way of distancing the House Republicans from the immorality of their actions.

This article appears in May 4-10, 2017.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

53 replies on “AP: McSally Urges Colleagues To Vote for This ‘Fucking Thing,’ aka Zombie Trumpcare”

  2. Upon hearing that the vote just passed, I only have one thing to say — LET’S VOTE THESE FUCKING PEOPLE OUT!

  3. I guess we’ll finally get that fucking “flexibility” that they wanted us to have: a junk healthcare plan with no consumer protections, a plan no one can afford or nothing. Fucking thanks for nothing McSally! Well, I guess she finally took her stand! I’ll be there at 5PM to record my displeasure.

  4. I tried to reach McSally by phone all morning. The DC phone number was just busy, busy, busy starting at around 7am Arizona time (10am Eastern). But even when her local office opened at 9am, no one was answering the phone. I managed to leave voicemail telling her to vote No, but clearly she doesn’t care at all about the thousands of her constituents who will, once again, not be able to have health insurance.

    This is a disgusting bill, heartless toward poor people and those who are the most sick, and generous to the richest 1 percent, who get a tax break! Medicare For All is the only answer to the terrible mess that is the US “health” system. Why are we the only industrialized country that allows people to go bankrupt because of illness? Our health care costs are higher than most other countries and our results are worse. Shame on this Congress and shame on McSally!

  5. Attention all snowflakes:

    Elections have consequences. -Barack Obama

    I waited 8 years to enjoy that thought.

  7. Victor is proof that the only guiding principle that the mouth breathers of the GOP have is pure spite. They’ll burn the country down just to piss off liberals. Make America hate again is their real motto.

  8. She needs to exclusively use this health Care plan for herself and her family with no other health insurance !!!

  9. Well, that’s just plain fucking McSilly.

    Betraying your constituents has consequences. They’re called “elections”.

    See you in 2018–on the cutting room floor.

  10. She’s too chicken-shit to answer her phones here and in DC and if you want to email her you have to provide a valid address in her district with a full 9 digit zip or your email will not be processed. Her twitter is @marthamcsally and her FB page is http://www.facebook.com/RepMcSally if you want to voice your opinion on her vote.

  11. Yeah, Victor. May you live in interesting times and I hope you get everything you voted for…good and hard.

  13. I am not sure what you guys want. The insurance companies have all but pulled out because of their losses. The new plan allows for a 9B$ fund to help low income pay the premium, along with tax credits, and tax credits for those earning under $75K. States will be able to legislate pre existing coverage.

    My health insurance rates tripled under Obama. I am hopeful that this puts them back where they were.

  15. She got to sponsor the bill to eliminate the special treatment for Congresspersons and their staffs. It passed unanimously. The leadership assigned that privilege to the most vulnerable Republican so she could show how tough she is. They let McSally sponsor the amendment.

  17. AZM- Nancy Pelosi does not want Single Payer in the democratic platform as she believes it will not work. But once the dust settles ask yourself this…

    If we reformed health care to lower costs, what did the doctors and the hospitals and the pharmaceuticals give up?

    The answer is nothing. If they were allowed to access single payer they would surely bankrupt our country.

  19. Oh goody, goody, I am resting so much easier knowing states get to legislate what constitutes a pre-existing condition! I’m sure they will be conditions and diseases that affect mostly men. Way to go McWorthless, you’ve put many women in danger.

  20. Scumbag. She flew an airforce airplane, big wow – the bus drivers in Tucson face more hostility than she ever did. Silver spoon scumbag. Happy to kill poor people after making sure they suffer long, while she brown-noses her wealthy overlords.

  22. Did she really say that while condemning her fellow Americans to suffer long and die early to pay for her overlords’ 3 martinis?

  23. Deaths perpetrated by the state, wrapped in the guise of the law, designed to enrich the rich and eliminate the weak and poor, declared a mandate from the people by the politicians pretending to act upon the will of the people is still murder.

  25. McSally, voted correctly.

    Their are No Congressmen-Congresswomen who have Obama Care that have publicly announced it.. If your so uppity on how good Obama Care is, ARE YOU ON IT? ARE your State and Federal Congress Representatives have Obama Care? If not WHY?

  26. She is a useless piece of shit and lets eliminate her and all the others in 2018 !
    WAKE UP PEOPLE…QUIT BITCHING AND VOTE !

  27. Oh no, they’re taking our Subsidies, aka free stuff.
    Everyone wants them some of that free stuff. You know who can afford healthcare? Doctors, nurses, radiologists, etc. You know who can’t? People with no skills, ambition, or work ethic.

  28. Let’s get a few things straight. This was not a HEALTH BILL. This was purely a tax cut for the bloodsuckers of this Country who are already filthy rich and never seem to be satisfied with what they have. A $350 Billion tax cut that leaves the most vulnerable people in this society at risk of no or inadequate health care. What kind of “CHRISTIAN” or “JEW” that has any moral compass whatsoever is o.k. with taking away health care from children, from the elderly, from the sickest people in this Country in order to buy more shit that they donl;t need. I hope, that if there is a God that they somehow choke on their greed. As for McSally; she’s nothing but a whore for the Koch Brothers who have financed each of her campaigns. Here’s my question for you Martha. You claim to have been a pilot and officer in the air force. Tell me something. What is it that you think the purpose of an Army is for our Country? Is it something that exists in order to fuck over the very people you are supposed to “PROTECT”? If its possible to have any emotion at all for you and your ilk in the Republican Party…this morning you ought to feel SHAME above all other feelings.

  29. Envy will get you nowhere. She was in the Air Force, not the Army, and they don’t exist to get you freebies. Punishing success must seem easier than doing something yourselves. Try Cuba.

  32. bslap and Hard Off:

    Asinine commentary and ignorance regarding the issues will get you nowhere.

    Please pay more attention and don’t bother to make commentary on issues that are too complicated for you.

  34. To those who are talking about “free stuff” and getting a better “work ethic” and “envy” about rich people — you are completely out of line.

    Don’t you know anyone who has diabetes or cancer? Don’t you know anyone who works a couple of part-time jobs to make ends meet and gets no benefits from either one? Don’t you know anyone whose child was born with a birth defect? Your heartlessness and lack of compassion are appalling. People will die if Trumpcare becomes law.

    This bill takes money directly from poor and working people and gives it to the extremely rich, who don’t need it at all. Why you would applaud such a move — which will eventually affect you and the people you love — is bewildering to me.

    You want to make America “great”? Let’s join the civilized world and do what every other developed country does (and many not so developed) and take care of each other. There’s plenty of money in the United States. We just spend it on the wrong stuff, like trips to golf resorts, multimillion-dollar bombs, and tax breaks for billionaires.

  35. It’s a losing argument when you try to make republicans feel bad for their selfish, inhumane way of thinking. Their mantra is “I got mine, screw you!”

  36. This woman needs to go… we need someone in office who has a backbone and not just a filthy mouth…. remember this when it is time to vote her OUT….

  37. Sorry blaze_mason but I have diabetes. I have birth defects and crippling disease in my family. I have worked three jobs to pay for what I felt was a priority. But I never expected the government or taxpayers to financially support me.

    You have gotten yourself caught up in the hatred and negativity that surfaced during the election.

    Thanks for calling me heartless. Nothing could be further from the truth.

  38. Thank you for writing what you did, Hard Work. But now I’m even more confused.

    Wouldn’t it be better for you and your family to not have to struggle so hard? Why does anyone have to “earn” health care? No one should have to work 3 jobs to be able to live a decent life.

    To me, “government” and “taxpayers” are human beings deciding that other human beings (all of us) deserve to be taken care of. Don’t the major religions all talk about caring for our neighbors? This is what I want my taxes spent on!

    EVERY OTHER civilized country provides some form of health care to their people. The president just praised the Australian system, where everyone has health care and prescription prices are controlled.

    The system we have isn’t working AND it’s expensive. We have relatively high infant mortality. We have lots of bankruptcies from health care bills. Our life spans are getting shorter.

    Why not — as a nation — take care of each other? If you are not heartless, then what stops you from opening your heart to this possibility? We as a country are so rich, and so talented — of course we can make this happen. What could possibly be your objection to that? There’s plenty of money. We’re just not spending it in the right places.

  39. Religions tell us to care for each. That doesn’t mean having the government do it for you. That means us. Demanding that the government confiscate money from the successful to fund our needs is not caring for each. It just lets people off the hook from really doing what the Bible tells US to do. Care for each other.

    You only need to look to the VA to see the government kills our own troops the way they dispense health care. I feel safer taking my chances at being self sufficient. I don’t want to burden others with my problems.

  40. Waiting for someone to explain how the billions of tax breaks for the top 2% benefit anyone in Tucson. McSally voted for a huge tax cut for no one she represents. This bill had very little to do with health care, except taking it away from, mostly, Trump supporters. Fortunately, it does not have a snowflake in Hell’s chance of becoming law.

  42. I am pleased that Colonel McSally voted for the AHCA.

    Obamacare is a failing bureaucratic mess, its mandates and discriminatory taxes are intolerable to me, and I want more choices in what I need in my healthcare insurance. Pregnancy/maternity care and “free” contraception coverage are not among my needs.

    Best, James Stewart

    james.stewart@umuc.edu
    profjstewart@gmail.com

  43. @David Sahadi:

    Charming. Your mother will be so proud when she reads your comment.

  44. Martha McFOLLY likes to “say” she “represents” district 2, but she’s nothing more than a toady for Paul Ryan. Yeah, easy to ruin our access to health care when the military has her covered.

  45. 56 countries have better child mortality rates than the United States, so it would seem a lot of people do not subscribe to “Hard Work Pays Off” philosphy of caring for each other. Lot of people are “Pro Life” as that costs nothing but as soon as someone makes the unwise decision to be born to poor parents, and their health care would cost the same people some money, its
    “fuck Em”.

  46. Not sure how James Stewart will have more choices if he has the misfortune to develop a condition that will effectively make him uninsurable i.e. an existing condition. Developing a serious illness can strike anyone, even those who lead healthly lifestyles etc. He will find his “Choices” will be slim to non existent.

  49. Prehaps Abbie G should engage in some critical thinking herself before she accuses people of having kneejerk reactions due to a lack of comphrension about actions of Republican congressmen. I was well aware of the original provision that her link concerns, before I made my comments. Sarah Kliff reported it on 03 May, where MacArthurs office confirmed that his proposals would not apply to members of congress or their staff. Only after she exposed it did MacSally engage in an ass covering exercise by introducing her amendment.

    https://www.vox.com/2017/4/25/15429982/gop-exemption-ahca-amendment

    Regardless of the this, the Act is effectively a tax break for rich people, and I suspect that MacSally is going to do very well financially from it herself. She will not be worried over insurance companies making insurance unaffordale to people with pre-existing conditions as she will have plenty of extra income to meet such surcharges.

  51. https://mcsally.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-unanimously-passes-mcsally-bill-striking-ahca-exemptions-members

    WASHINGTON, DCThe House of Representatives today unanimously passed U.S. Representative Martha McSallys legislation to prevent Members of Congress and their staff from being exempt from the State waiver provisions of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) as amended.

    Any law we pass that applies to our constituents must apply equally to Members of Congress as well. Anything short of that is hypocrisy. Congress must abide by the laws it passes and should be treated no differently than other hardworking Americans, said Rep. McSally. My measure eliminates double standards by preventing Members of Congress from exempting themselves from American Health Care Act.

    Due to Senate procedural rules within the Budget Reconciliation process, the MacArthur Amendment to the American Health Care Act would exempt Members of Congress and their staff. Rep. McSallys legislation, H.R. 2192, is a standalone two-page bill that would repeal this exemption for Members of Congress should the American Health Care Act become law. The measure passed the House by a vote of 429-0.

    If you skip the other two links, at least read this. It might help you:

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447632/ahca-macarthur-amendment-town-hall-critics-misunderstand-health-care-bill

  52. Let it go Abbie. They just arrested one of the opposition for making death threats against Congressperson McSally. I think they call it social justice.

  53. I keep receiving texts from this bitch! And I truly hate using this word. I have emailed her office and called but to no avail! I can’t stand her bullshit, lying and doing nothing. Oh yes, she’s a fighter pilot, big FD! KELLY IS SO MUCH BETTER & I will keep sending him $25 a shot.

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