The question is, can we kill the Senate health care bill before the Senate health care bill can kill us?

I’m not one to underestimate the political cunning Mitch McConnell, but it certainly looks like the Senate version of Trumpcare may be destined to go down in flames. [Which isn’t to say, of course, that we should stop fighting. If anything, it means that we should redouble our efforts.] Not only has it been slammed as “harmful” by both the AARP and the American Medical Association, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office came out today with its official assessment of the pending legislation, showing that, if passed, 22 million currently insured Americans would lose their coverage by 2026. And, for what? To further enrich America’s donor class. As former president Barack Obama said quite correctly a few days ago, this Senate legislation isn’t a health care bill at all, but “a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America.”

By all accounts, this current iteration of Trumpcare, if it passes the Senate, will put nearly $569 billion into the pockets of out most wealthy over the course of the next ten years as the taxes on America’s super-wealthy, which were passed as part of Obamacare, are repealed. As successful venture capitalist Ken Norton pointed out earlier today, this bill essentially trades human lives for tax cuts, which is why physicians groups like the AMA have come out against it, as it violates their “first do no harm” credo. But, as you might imagine, America’s most wealthy, don’t seen to care so much. In fact, the Koch brothers, two of our most wealthy American industrialists, have pledged to contribute between $300 and $400 million to Republicans that vote to pass the legislation despite what it will likely do to their constituents.

[Here’s an interesting fact: The Trumpcare tax breaks received by America’s richest 400 households equals the amount in insurance premiums tax credits of 800,000 people across 20 states. In other words, the money going back to these 400, assuming this passes, will keep 800,000 people from having health insurance.]

Trump, after celebrating the passage of Trumpcare in the House, as you may recall, was reported to have called the proposed bill “mean”, imploring Republican Senators to improve upon the legislation, ensuring that it had more “heart“. Well, today we saw the result of that effort on the part of Senate Republicans. They took a House bill that would have, according to the CBO, left 23 million Americans without insurance, and they somehow got it to the point where only 22 million Americans would lose their existing coverage. That, I suspect most of you would agree, isn’t really all that less mean. But, then again, that wasn’t really ever the point.

I won’t drag this out any further, as I know you can find better analysis elsewhere, but I wanted to at least note the fact that, if they’re not stopped, Mitch McConnell and the Republicans will rob an estimated 22 million Americans of the health care coverage they currently have, a a good number of those people will die unnecessarily. So, if you have a moment, please do whatever you can to keep this subject in front of your friends and family. The Republicans know that their only chance is to push this legislation over the goal line before the American people know what’s happening. And we can’t allow that to happen.

While I certainly get the sense that the momentum is moving against the Republicans right now, as even conservatives think tanks are beginning to come out in opposition to this horrific piece of legislation, I’m not ready to rule out the possibility that McConnell could pull off an upset. Yes, the AMA, the AARP, and a majority of Americans are against him, but he’s been able to pull things like this off in the past. So, just to be sure, find the numbers for your Senators, call them up, and demand that they do everything in their power to stop this bill from passing when McConnell attempts to jam it though later this week… We need to show them that we know what’s happening. We need to show them that, even though they’re shutting down the legitimate press, we’re still aware of what they’re trying to do, and that we’re not going to allow it to happen.

Senate Democrats, for what it’s worth, are doing their part. Right now, they’re steps of the Senate, hearing from children with pre-existing conditions. And tomorrow they intend to hold the floor in the Senate, demanding that hearings me scheduled to discuss this legislation in detail. But they can’t do it alone. We have to show them that we’ve got their backs, and that we’re willing to fight alongside them, just so long as they’re fighting for us.

We're out on the Senate steps hearing stories of children with preexisting conditions, adults fearing lifetime caps. #Trumpcare pic.twitter.com/inOoMiDwXa

— Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) June 27, 2017