Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) told disabled protesters who are fighting to keep their health care to shut up, and then had the police remove protesters as he had put the hearing on the Graham-Cassidy bill into recess.
Video of disabled protesters:
More video:
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BREAKING: Senator Hatch orders Graham-Cassidy health care hearing to recess as protesters in wheelchairs are removed by authorities pic.twitter.com/St8sBGbzEn
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 25, 2017
These are the exact optics that Republicans were trying to avoid. If Graham-Cassidy becomes law, individuals with disabilities will lose their healthcare, and if they are in the minority who have employer-provided healthcare, they will see their premiums skyrocket because their disabilities will be considered pre-existing conditions.
The hearing could not have gotten off to a worse start. The bill is historically unpopular, and hauling people out of a hearing for whom this issue is a matter of life and death drives the point home that the Republican Party doesn’t care who they hurt, they just want to say that they repealed Obamacare.
The hearing did resume, as Republicans are back to their business of trying to harm millions of Americans by taking away their healthcare.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
