Former president Barack Obama posted a stinging critique of the Senate Republican healthcare bill Thursday on Facebook.
Calling the new bill “a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America,” he called on Americans to push back against plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“Simply put, if there’s a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family — this bill will do you harm,” he wrote. “And small tweaks over the course of the next couple weeks, under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach, cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.”
The GOP-proposed bill would repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate, drastically cut back federal support of Medicaid, and eliminate Obamacare’s taxes on the wealthy, insurers and others. It also looks to defund Planned Parenthood for one year.
“So I still hope that there are enough Republicans in Congress who remember that public service is not about sport or notching a political win, that there’s a reason we all chose to serve in the first place, and that hopefully, it’s to make people’s lives better, not worse,” he wrote.
He also called on Americans to lobby their senators: “If you’re willing to call your members of Congress. If you are willing to visit their offices. If you are willing to speak out, let them and the country know, in very real terms, what this means for you and your family.”
Read through this whole statement on Facebook here.