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Sen. Joni Ernst is encouraging her constituents to think big-picture about the Medicaid cuts in the “big, beautiful” bill President Donald Trump and House Republicans passed last week.
The Iowa Republican tried to justify the cuts —which are expected to kick at least 10 million people off the health care program —during a town hall event today, an attendee appeared to yell out: “People are going to die!”
Ernst began to respond but then stopped herself, exasperated.
“Well, we all are going to die,” she said, smirking as the audience jeered.
Republicans have been struggling to justify the tax bill’s cuts to Medicaid and other social services, which are wildly unpopular. GOP lawmakers have been arguing that the millions of Americans who are expected to lose health care over the cuts are undeserving and are abusing the system.
“It’s corrections of overpayments and of people who have not been eligible for these programs, by law as it is currently written,” Ernst said before her constituent pointed out that people will die. “When you are arguing about illegals who are receiving Medicaid benefits, 1.4 million, they are no eligible, so they will be coming off.”
This is total bullshit.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) pointed out while arguing against the bill last week that of the millions of Americans projected to lose coverage because of the “big, beautiful” bill, exactly zero are undocumented, as undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid. The tax bill does, however, cut federal Medicaid funding to states that use their own funds to provide care for undocumented immigrants. The cuts, which will affect millions of vulnerable American citizens, are in service of giving the wealthiest Americans a tax break.
Ernst continued to claim that Republicans are looking out for the less fortunate, though. “Listen to me when I say that we are going to focus on those that are most vulnerable,” she said in response to her constituents booing her. “Those that meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, we will protect. We will protect them, OK? Medicaid is extremely important here in the state of Iowa.”
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Americans are starting to see through the lies Republican lawmakers are pushing about their legislation to make the rich richer at the expense of the poor.
