The Republicans are racing to enact AHCA under cloud of secrecy and distraction provided by the Russia investigation. They are intent on their mission and won't be denied. But why the hurry, why the secrecy, why the subterfuge and why the cruelty?
The AHCA and other upcoming bills tell us the agenda of the Republican party. If we analyze what they are doing, we can connect the dots as to why, and where they want to take our country. I can't comment on the Senate version of AHCA because nobody has seen it. But I can comment on the House version. We can be confident that, while the Senate version may have some differences, the effect will be similar. The House and Senate are both controlled by Republicans, and those in charge share an agenda. Thus, while there may be differences around the edges, the substance will be intact.
We can derive from the CBO score that the House AHCA benefits those of privilege and the healthy young, while gravely harming the aged, the disabled, and the poor. The question we ask is why? Why are they protecting those in least need of protection and savaging those in greatest need of protection? What is the end game?
As I wrote in a post earlier (read it here), we are racing toward corporate feudalism. Based on their priorities and allegiances, it is obvious that this is the goal of the Republican establishment. They have a protected class, and the purpose of the rest of society is to serve, pamper and enrich the protected ones. The protected class consists of corporations and the wealthy. To complete corporate feudalism, they must have control of all factors of production, that is, the means of creating wealth. A read of the House version of AHCA and the CBO scoring of it shows that they are doing all they can to accomplish that. It also reveals a sinister undercurrent in the Republican Establishment thinking: Those who are not able to serve, pamper and enrich the pampered ones have a duty to die. I will say it again, those who do not fit the purpose of the elite have a duty to die. But, as I will explain later, they must die in the most horrible ways, and only after any wealth they may have been able to generate is returned to the corporations.
Let's take a look at who is primarily targeted by the House AHCA. It is the elderly, the disabled, those with preexisting conditions, the poor and the sick. Why are they the targets? These are the people who contribute nothing or little to the corporate bottom line. These are the people Republicans have been calling the "takers." Not the corporations making billions in profits while collecting millions in tax dollars. The "takers" are the people who continue to live while not enriching the protected. Based on the content of bills being pushed by the Republicans, it is clear Republicans believe these "takers" have a duty to die and stop using resources.
Those who are not targeted, the young and healthy at their peak of production, are covered by AHCA as long as they stay healthy. They bring in far more profit than they cost to cover. The protected class needs them to do the work. The young and healthy are the most valuable factors of production, and they are worth the investment to maintain. But the bill has some huge gotchas in it for them. If they have preexisting conditions, that will be out of pocket, and at a higher rate than the actual cost to treat those conditions. (For example, there is no way it costs $2000 a month to make and distribute insulin to a diabetic. But that is what they are going charge the diabetic. Same with a number of other drugs. The pharmaceuticals are having a heyday with life saving drugs.) The portion of the bill that allows lifetime caps on coverage for the employed is a way to exact maximum profit from workers and discard them when they are no longer profitable. It also discourages workers from accessing their coverage in order to have it available in time of great need.
Women and children are targeted in this bill. We should note that with this bill plus their other policies and practices, women are to be nothing beyond toys and incubators. There is to be no sex education (hence Betsy), no birth control (hence targeting planned parenthood and other Republican sponsored bills both in congress and in the states), no prenatal coverage (now, isn't that crazy if you want a healthy baby?), no maternity coverage, no neonatal protection, and once the child is born, no public assistance (they are working on dumping WIC and severely restrict even food stamps), no assistance with child care. But if you don't manage to raise the child the way they think the child should be raised, you can be fined, charged, arrested and even imprisoned. This only makes sense in a corporate feudal framework where women and children are little more than livestock. We should notice from their behavior that in their minds, the place of women in their society is the serving, pampering and enriching via sex. Going beyond reproduction, Republicans are pushing policies that would have children not from the protected class educated in institutions that push a religion that supports their caste system and restricts knowledge to those things that will make those children grow up to be little more than capital (financial assets, like machinery). Once their value is fully depreciated, they revert to being "takers."
The "takers" have a duty to die. But if you look at the rest of the administration, you find that it is more than a duty to die. AG Sessions has spoken out against both medical marijuana and death with dignity laws. Why would he oppose those? The reason is evil in the rawest sense. Marijuana has been shown to relieve pain and other symptoms of disease and is relatively inexpensive. It has been shown to offer comfort for cancer patients, especially in their final stages. It has been shown to offer some help for dementia patients. Why not encourage its use? And why, when a person has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, not allow them to pass on peacefully and painlessly at a time of their choosing? I can only come up with one rationale for these things. People using medical marijuana are not using expensive pharmaceuticals. People who choose to die peacefully and at the time of their choosing wind up not using the pain killers or living in nursing homes. In other words, Republicans want to ensure that as you are suffering and dying, you will first cough up any assets you have managed to acquire in your life to corporate interests before you go. You have a duty to die, and to die broke and in agony. To serve the protected class.
I am not sure what can be done about our trajectory. Now that the GOP is in control of two branches of government and is about to cement their control in the judiciary (not only in the Supreme Court, but in all the Federal courts as well), a course correction may not be possible. As of this summer, we may be officially a corporate feudal state.
cross posted to My Gedanken Experiments