A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

4 May 2017 — 1422 mdt

Quist rips U.S. House’s approval of Trump-Ryan ACA repeal bill

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A couple of hours ago, the Republicans in U.S. House voted 217–213 to repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and replace it with a stingy system that the rich will love and the poor will recognize as closely akin to the status quo ante. Twenty Republicans voted against the bill. No Democrat voted for it.

Following the vote, Rob Quist, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in the 25 May special election to replace Ryan Zinke, issued the following statement:

The House of Representatives today passed a bill that would kick thousands of hardworking Montanans off of their health insurance and raise premiums by hundreds of dollars a month. This bill ends protections for people with preexisting conditions and would force older Americans to pay even more. The list goes on.

I oppose this bill because it would hurt the people of Montana and hardworking families across the state. No real Montanan would vote for it.

This is exactly why we need an independent voice standing up for Montana in the U.S. House of Representatives.

We know where my opponent stands. Greg Gianforte stands with the special-interest authors of this bill – they’re the ones bankrolling his campaign. And he’s standing with millionaires like himself, who get a massive tax cut from the bill while the rest of us are left paying more for health care.

He’s standing with politicians who want to get in between women and their doctors. He’s all for defunding Planned Parenthood – which this bill does.

And he’s standing with a Washington, D.C. Super PAC that has spent an astonishing $2 million to attack me on his behalf.

Montana deserves a Congressman who will speak out when special interests are rushing through something as disastrous as this bill, which will raise health care costs for hardworking Montanans.

In the House of Representatives I will fight for you, not the special interests.

No decent human being would vote for such a bill, either. But Bozeman businessman Greg Gianforte would — which is why it’s in the enlightened self-interest of decent Montanans to vote for Rob Quist.