Thanks, Senator Toomey! This Is YOUR Draft Legislation.

As much as I love to write about how Trump lied (or is still lying) about the "Comey tapes" I think a more important issue is how the GOP in the Senate plans to "fix" Obamacare.

From ConsumerReports, there's an analysis.  Under the headline there's this one sentence summary:

The Better Care Act would roll out more slowly than the House proposal, but funding cuts could be even more severe

And then they begin:

Republicans moved closer to their goal of replacing the Affordable Care Act Thursday, with Senate Republicans issuing a plan that significantly restricts access to Medicaid and eliminates billions of dollars in taxes for companies and higher-income people.

The plan was hatched in a matter of weeks by a small group of senators meeting in secret. In many key ways, it's similar to the American Health Care Act, passed by the House in May after several failed attempts.

Thursday’s legislation, dubbed the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, gives the public—as well as senators who weren’t in on the discussions—the first detailed look at how the Senate proposes to amend the AHCA.

One of that "small group of senators" was Pennsylvania's own Pat Toomey. And yes, that's a pun, of sorts. He owns this. This is his work.  Back to what Toomey's work:

Medicaid expansion is phased out more slowly. Under the ACA, the Medicaid expansion brought health insurance to 14 million Americans who didn't previously qualify. The Senate pledges to continue to fund the expansion through 2021 and phase it out over three years. The House bill would have phased out and then stopped funding in 2020.

But funding for Medicaid is cut more drastically. Beyond the expansion, both the House and Senate legislation make fundamental changes to how the federal government pays for Medicaid, changes that have nothing to do with ACA provisions. But the Senate proposal would make even deeper cuts than the House plan. It would shrink the annual growth rate in federal funding to state Medicaid programs to align with consumer inflation—not medical inflation, which grows faster. [Bolding in original.]

And then there's this from President Obama:

The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America. It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else. Those with private insurance will experience higher premiums and higher deductibles, with lower tax credits to help working families cover the costs, even as their plans might no longer cover pregnancy, mental health care, or expensive prescriptions.

Cutting Medicaid. Tax cuts for the wealthy. Lotsa people will suffer while a few will have more money for a second luxury car.

It's mean and it's cruel and it came from the pen of Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey.

Thanks, Pat!  We'll remember this day.