The Not So Great Society aka The Raw Deal

As we brace for the first snowflakes heralding the Blizzard of 2017, it was with more than passing interest I read the various blog posts and media articles regarding the fallout from the Congressional Budget Office estimate of up to 24 million people losing health insurance due to the republicans' replacement of Obamacare with their very own torture memo.   I was particularly struck by Paul Ryan's characterization of the CBO score as "very encouraging".  I sure Savonarola said something similar as the full effects of the Inquisition started to be felt.  As one commenter put it " I don't know how Paul Ryan can look in the mirror every morning".  Obamacare was the largest redistribution of wealth in the US since the 1960s.  By taxing the rich, the landmark legislation was able to get 17 million more people insured.  Many more would have been insured if the many red states who refused Medicaid expansion had opted in.  The GOP plan is a reverse Robin Hood caper which claws back the taxes on the rich and strips many Trump voters of their newly found healthcare.  It is ironic that so many who voted for Cheeto Jesus will be screwed by the Congress they also enabled, mostly because they were so unsettled by a black President and the "others" who were being helped by the health care legislation.  As I have said for some time, racism is at the heart of politics in America.   This is just the latest ugly manifestation.