This Sunday, it will be 58 years since July 30, 1965 — the day LBJ signed Medicare and Medicaid into law. Two days before, it had passed the Senate 70-24. Seventeen Republicans voted against it.
The Republicans who voted for it — mainly liberal Northeast Senators like Jacob Javits of New York — would no doubt be Democrats today.
Ronald Reagan spoke out against Medicare and Medicaid, calling them “socialized medicine,” and saying they would “supplant private savings and curtail Americans’ freedom.”
Instead, Medicare and Medicaid have expanded Americans’ freedom. The freedom to get medical care when they need it. The freedom to live a longer, healthier life. Yet, to this day, the majority of Republicans remain hostile to everything they deem “socialized medicine.”
When we passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, we got not one Republican vote. And they fell just one vote short of repealing the ACA in 2017.
When Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act, it included a provision giving Medicare the power to negotiate the price of pharmaceuticals. Not one Republican voted for it. Even though Americans pay two to three times as much as Europeans do for the same pharmaceuticals.
At first, in the lead-up to the debt ceiling crisis, Republicans said they wanted to make cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. They backed down only when they heard the outcry from millions of Americans, including Republicans.
But make no mistake. If Republicans take the White House and one or both houses of Congress after the 2024 election, Americans will see drastic cuts in these programs.
This coming election, control of both houses of Congress is in play, as is, of course, the White House. Midwest Values PAC will be targeting key races just like we did so successfully last cycle. Please help us!
Al
P.S. Not so funny this one, huh? Well, sometimes this stuff just ain’t that funny. Please help MVP fight for the stuff you and your family care about. And thank you!
