Despite Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, their signature domestic policy legislation is overwhelmingly unpopular. One analyst is now pointing out that the GOP has resorted to outright lies in order to sell the bill to their constituents.
In a Thursday op-ed for the Washington Post, columnist Catherine Rampell observed that H.R. 1 – President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," or OBBB — has been thoroughly rejected by Americans in numerous public opinion polls. She linked to a June survey by Quinnipiac University showing that 67% of Americans disapprove of the House of Representatives' version of the OBBB and a separate Washington Post-Ipsos poll finding that a plurality of respondents (43%) also opposed it, while only 23% supported it and 34% who had no opinion on the legislation.
Rampell opined that H.R. 1 turned into an even more draconian bill after being revised by Senate Republicans. She reminded readers that its already unpopular Medicaid provisions (which include more stringent work requirements putting beneficiaries through even more bureaucratic hurdles) were made even more rigid in the Senate version, while tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the richest Americans remain in place.
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"Cruel, unpopular ideas from Republicans are a political gift to Democrats, of course," Rampell wrote. "So how are Republicans responding? Not by defending their agenda on its merits, but by lying about or misrepresenting what they plan to do."
Rampell called Republicans out for lying about the legislation's projected impact on Medicaid recipients, noting that while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected 11 million people would lose their health insurance as a result of the OBBB, Republican elected officials are attempting to confuse the public about how bad the bill would be for their poorest constituents.
"Republican officials have responded by asserting: 1. no one will lose their insurance (a completely false claim from Trump’s budget director, Russell Vought); 2. don’t worry, only undeserving freeloaders will lose their insurance, not hardworking Americans like you (per House Speaker Mike Johnson, among others); or 3. hey, we’re all going to die anyway (guess you can’t argue with that take, via Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst)," she wrote.
"If you don’t have anything nice to say, just make something up instead," Rampell wrote in summation of Republican arguments.
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Click here to read Rampell's full op-ed in the Washington Post (subscription required).