It's Becoming Tough For GOP Senators To Keep Their Eyes Shut To The Damage The Big Ugly Bill Will Do

Thom Tillis Blows The Whistle On Drastic Republican Medicare Cuts

And who does it hurt worst-- rural MAGA voters

Trump’s big ugly bill is coming together in the Sente— but very badly. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who’s up for reelection in a competitive situation, handed out this flyer Monday listing 10 states that would stand to lose the most amount of federal Medicaid funding over the next decade. North Carolina would forfeit the most by far— $38.9 billion, according to Tillis, including about $10 billion in lost hospital receipts. His flyer notes something that Democrats have been saying but that Republicans deny: 

“Medicaid coverage for over 600,000 North Carolinians would be at risk.”

600,000... that's a lot of voters in a state where the margin of statewide victories is much narrower than that. Trump beat Biden by 74,483 votes. He beat Kamala more decisively, but still a lot less than by 600,000. The vote last year was 2,898,423 for Trump and 2,715,375 for Kamala, a 173,048 difference. and the last time Tillis faced the voters, he ran against a pretty weak Democrat, Cal Cunningham, and only beta him by 95,633 votes. So is Tillis going to cast his ballot to kick 600,000 North Carolinians off Medicaid and decimate the state's rural hospitals?

9 of the 10 states losing the most under the GOP plan, are states that voted for Trump. Virginia, which has elections this year, is the exception. These states are the biggest losers in this part of the Big Ugly Bill:

• North Carolina- $38.9 billion

• Virginia $24.8 billion

• South Carolina- $20 billion

• Louisiana- $20 billion

• Tennessee- $16 billion

• Kentucky- $12 billion

• Ohio- $8.4 billion

• West Virginia- $6.2 billion

• Missouri- $6.1 billion

• Iowa- $4.1 billion

It’s almost as though Republican senators are saying that Trump voters will role over,  suck up their Medicare losses and continue voting Republican anyway. That’s not going to work in Virginia. Jessica Anderson is on the verge of flipping a GOP held seat in rural Virginia. (You can help her here.) This morning, she told us that “We have too many in Congress right now who believe their deep red districts will protect them in future elections. Yet, Republicans, who sit in incredibly competitive seats, are being more transparent about what is truly on the line with this big ugly Bill. The Medicaid cuts that Virginia alone will experience, under this bill, that current Virginia congressional leaders voted for, to include my own congressman, Rob Wittman, could affect more than 600,000 Virginian’s access to healthcare. And the reality is that Virginia has the opportunity, this November, to protect those important programs and funding by electing a Democratic trifecta for the three statewide elections and expanding the house majority, with one of those seats running right through my district here in the 71st. As someone who was once dependent on these life-saving programs, we cannot stop shining a light on what the Republicans are doing, and we have to ensure that we are voting in every election at every level of government. Those elections start THIS year, 2025, in both Virginia and New Jersey!”

Andrew Desiderio, who’s watching this crap in the Senate like a hawk, also reported that Kansas Senator Jerry Moran (R) is also “saying the provider tax language is bad for his state” and they’re not even on the list of the ten hardest hit. Iowa is though and Democrats there are already furious. Travis Terrell is running for a Republican held congressional seat in southeast Iowa. (You can help him here.) “This is what her told us about Tillis’ revelations this morning: “In Trump’s second term, Iowans have already lost millions to his seesaw tariffs. Then he let an unelected oligarch, Elon Musk, slash USAID funding, costing Iowa farmers hundreds of millions. Now they’re trying to land the finishing blow by stripping billions from our rural hospitals. Closures and deaths will follow, and you can bet they’ll try to blame it all on Democrats. Meanwhile, Mariannette Miller-Meeks is clapping like a seal and calling herself a doctor, while a billionaire destroys the lives of hardworking, working-class Iowans. Iowans have had enough. There are protests, and anger everywhere you go from people who have wisened up to her betrayals and the evil she enables.”

Meanwhile take a look at this very strong new ad from Home of the Brave that just started running today: