Brian Schatz: “earlier this week, some Republicans--I think the Republican Study Committee, 170 House Members--released their plans for…”

“earlier this week, some Republicans--I think the Republican Study Committee, 170 House Members--released their plans for governing next year. Here are some of the things on their healthcare wish list: ending Medicare as we know it, which would drive up costs and threaten care for seniors; trying again--I think we are now on 50 attempts--to gut the Affordable Care Act, leaving tens of millions of Americans without coverage overnight and punishing people with preexisting conditions; and banning abortions, IVF, and contraception in every single State through bills ``designed to advance the cause of life.'' If budgets are statements of a party's value, then Republicans are making no secret of theirs: less access to quality healthcare and less control over their personal health. And there is no reason not to take them at their word, other than that, if we take them at their word, you sort of sound like you are exaggerating. That is the problem. It is that what they are proposing is so outlandish, that it sounds like, you know, a Democrat and someone who wants my point of view to win the day. It sounds like I am exaggerating their point of view. I actually had to read this stuff from the Republican study group, and they are way out of the mainstream--way out of the mainstream. Again, there is no reason not to take them at their word because, in Congress and in Statehouses across the country, Republicans say what they want to do, and then they do it.…”