Sunday, September 17, 2017

Red alert (Trumpcare is back)

I'm Ben Wikler, MoveOn's Washington Director. I'm writing you today because I've been on phone calls with lawmakers and Hill staff all weekend, and I have some really bad news: The GOP is a hair's breadth away from passing the most devastating health care repeal bill yet

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm Ben Wikler, MoveOn's Washington Director. I'm writing you today because I've been on phone calls with lawmakers and Hill staff all weekend, and I have some really bad news: The GOP is now a hair's breadth away—closer than they've ever been—to passing a devastating health care repeal bill, shredding the Affordable Care Act and gutting Medicaid.1

This is a five-alarm fire. We need to fight back, now. 

Can you chip in $3 to fund an emergency-overdrive campaign to stop this rush to repeal?

I know, it seemed like the ACA fight was over. And the media is behind on this, not yet reporting the severity of the situation we're in.

But behind the scenes, a group of hard-right Republicans—including former senator Rick Santorum—have been gathering GOP support in the Senate for a repeal bill just as destructive than the ones that failed this summer.2 And this time, they might have Senator John McCain's vote, which is enough to pass this Trumpcare bill if no other senators flip (it was just one vote that stopped Trumpcare in July).3,4

Time is short. The Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Republicans have to pass their repeal by September 30 or start the process over from scratch. That's why the GOP is wasting no time—they're rushing toward a vote in less than two weeks.

This is the final showdown in this year's epic fight to stop the Republicans from taking away health care from tens of millions of Americans. To win, we'll need to crank up the volume of public outrage all the way to 11.

We know exactly how to do that—it's how we won the last repeal vote. But it takes substantial resources. Which is why I'm asking:

Will you chip in $3 to help stop Trumpcare?

Yes, I'll chip in.

This is sudden-death overtime. There's no margin for error: If the GOP gets 50 Republicans to support this repeal bill, they'll bring it to the Senate floor, Mike Pence will cast the tie-breaking vote, it'll be rushed through the House, Donald Trump will sign it into law, and millions of Americans will begin losing their health insurance coverage as premiums skyrocket and protections for pre-existing conditions disappear.5,6

That's why we must stop Republicans from getting to 50 votes. With your help, we will:

  • Keep the phones of Republican senators ringing off the hook using every channel at our disposal. We'll drive calls over email and use advanced analytics and phone technology to empower volunteer teams to call and send text messages to millions of folks who are represented by a Republican senator.
  • Protest on Capitol Hill and outside of in-state GOP Senate offices across the country to show senators, their staffers, and the press the intensity of opposition.
  • Run digital video ads blanketing social media sites in targeted states that make vivid the local cost of repeal and tell constituents how to pressure their senators.
  • Make grants to local organizers in key states to aid emergency organizing campaigns to make sure that senators are met by repeal opponents everywhere they turn.

All of this will be done in close concert with allies, as part of a movement-wide mobilization to stop this lethal repeal bill. And while we ramp up this emergency health care defense push, we must still continue our fierce campaigns on other fronts full-force—especially continuing to press for a clean Dream Act.

Can you donate $3 to get the fight against health care repeal over the finish line?

Yes, I'll chip in to support MoveOn's emergency campaign to stop Trumpcare.

Nobody should have to worry about whether they'll be able to afford to see a doctor. Which is why, in the long run, we're fighting for Medicare for All as our ultimate goal. But if the GOP succeeds with ripping up the advances we've already made, things will get far worse instead of better. We can't afford to go backwards.

The GOP has been trying to take away our health care since the moment they were sworn into office. Every time, we've risen to the fight. Now, as the clock ticks down to the September 30 deadline, we're called to join the battle once again. Let's make this a victory so complete that the GOP never attempts this hideousness again.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ben, Manny, Ann, Jo, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Republicans Are Seriously Getting Optimistic About Passing Obamacare Repeal Again," Slate, September 15, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/14534?t=5&akid=189987%2E10220574%2E8nLxG8

2. "Cassidy, Graham Unveil Last-Ditch Obamacare Repeal Bill," Governing, September 15, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/14535?t=7&akid=189987%2E10220574%2E8nLxG8

3. "McCain backs Graham-Cassidy ObamaCare repeal effort," The Hill, September 6, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/14536?t=9&akid=189987%2E10220574%2E8nLxG8

4. "McCain considers a new Obamacare repeal bill, and activists scramble to stop it," The Washington Post, September 6, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/14537?t=11&akid=189987%2E10220574%2E8nLxG8

5. "Like Other ACA Repeal Bills, Cassidy-Graham Plan Would Add Millions to Uninsured, Destabilize Individual Market," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, September 13, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/14538?t=13&akid=189987%2E10220574%2E8nLxG8

6. "Cassidy-Graham's Waiver Authority Would Gut Protections for People with Pre-Existing Conditions," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, September 15, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/14539?t=15&akid=189987%2E10220574%2E8nLxG8

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back towards sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.


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