00:00:04
We're going to dive straight in with our
00:00:05
main story tonight, which concerns a
00:00:07
piece of legislation dear to President
00:00:08
Trump's heart.
The one big beautiful
00:00:11
bill is among the most important pieces
00:00:13
of legislation in our country's history.
00:00:15
I don't think there's ever been anything
00:00:16
bigger. And I said, "Let's make it one
00:00:18
big beautiful bill." We're voting
00:00:20
essentially on the big beautiful that
00:00:22
gorgeous big beautiful bill.
Stop it.
00:00:25
Stop it right now. First, the one big
00:00:28
beautiful bill sounds either like a
00:00:30
lumberjack with an Only Fans page or a
00:00:32
Pornhub tab for people who come to
00:00:34
Twoucans, but it is truly massive and
00:00:37
it's currently moving through Congress
00:00:39
after passing the House by the narrowest
00:00:41
of margins.
With cheers of USA, House
00:00:44
Republicans passed their sweeping
00:00:46
version of the president's agenda.
00:00:48
Republicans in the House held two
00:00:50
overnight sessions. In the end, Speaker
00:00:52
Johnson eaked out his biggest victory
00:00:54
yet, winning by a single vote. Though
00:00:57
the dark of night cost him. One member
00:00:59
who would have voted yes overslept and
00:01:02
missed it.
It's true. It passed by a
00:01:05
single vote. Even though one
00:01:06
representative, Andrew Garberino, slept
00:01:08
through it, which is a little surprising
00:01:10
given his official portrait seems less
00:01:12
sleepy and more high on expired cough
00:01:15
medicine. The bill's currently in the
00:01:18
Senate and Trump is pushing them to pass
00:01:19
their version as soon as possible.
00:01:21
Posting to my friends in the Senate,
00:01:22
"Lock yourself in a room if you must.
00:01:24
Don't go home. Pass it immediately. No
00:01:27
one goes on vacation until it's done."
00:01:30
This whole process has been rushed to
00:01:31
the point that some House members who
00:01:32
voted for the bill later had to admit
00:01:34
that they hadn't read all of it.
00:01:36
Marjorie Taylor Green, arguably one of
00:01:37
the worst things to come out of Georgia
00:01:39
since the Trail of Tears, was upset when
00:01:41
she learned the House version included a
00:01:43
provision prohibiting states from
00:01:45
restricting AI for the next 10 years.
00:01:48
This past week, I have come out in full
00:01:50
transparency and said, "When I voted for
00:01:53
the one big beautiful bill, I didn't
00:01:55
know about this clause."
Yeah, that's
00:01:57
not great. Although, to be fair, who
00:01:59
among us hasn't approved things that we
00:02:00
haven't read properly? It's why none of
00:02:02
you noticed Apple's new terms and
00:02:03
conditions technically give them rights
00:02:05
to your firstborn child. It is true Tim
00:02:08
Cook is pulling a rumple stiltskin right
00:02:10
now and he's coming for them as soon as
00:02:12
they can hold a tiny little screwdriver.
00:02:15
But a lot of people don't know what's in
00:02:17
this bill. About twothirds of the public
00:02:19
say they've heard little or nothing
00:02:20
about it. But when they do, they don't
00:02:22
like it. As polls show, those who've
00:02:24
heard a great deal or good amount about
00:02:25
it oppose it by a roughly 2:1 margin.
00:02:28
Even some Senate Republicans will admit
00:02:30
that not all their colleagues are
00:02:32
thrilled about the bill's contents.
We
00:02:34
could spend four weeks, we could spend
00:02:37
four years and when we're done done, not
00:02:40
every Republican senator is going to
00:02:42
want to French kiss this final product.
00:02:45
It's just not going to happen.
That is
00:02:47
such a weird way to phrase that. Why
00:02:51
would you force us all to imagine
00:02:52
lawmakers tonguing a stack of paper? But
00:02:55
as regular viewers know, Kennedy loves
00:02:57
gratuitous sex talk. From inserting the
00:02:59
phrase, I like omelets better than sex
00:03:01
into a discussion about, and this is
00:03:03
true, USID cuts, to this memorable
00:03:06
moment.
I can't wait to have your
00:03:10
in my mouth.
It's always always good.
00:03:14
And it is important to remember that in
00:03:16
the records of Congress, there is an
00:03:17
answer to the question, what if Faulhorn
00:03:19
Legghorn was a power bottom? And look,
00:03:22
as of taping, the bill still needs to
00:03:24
clear the Senate and then go back to the
00:03:26
House. And things are still coming in
00:03:27
and out of it. But the broad contours
00:03:29
are clear. It is a massive
00:03:31
redistribution of wealth upward
00:03:33
accompanied by gigantic cuts to critical
00:03:35
programs for the most vulnerable. So
00:03:37
given that tonight, let's talk about the
00:03:39
one big beautiful bill, what it
00:03:41
contains, and what it will actually do.
00:03:43
And let's start with the fact when Trump
00:03:45
talks about this bill, the main thing he
00:03:46
emphasizes that it will extend the tax
00:03:48
cuts Republicans passed in 2017. and add
00:03:51
some more, which he claims will be good
00:03:53
for everyone. The White House recently
00:03:54
said it'll deliver a blue collar boom
00:03:57
all caps, which sounds like a new
00:03:59
special at IHOP, tied to the Smurfs
00:04:00
movie that'll make you immediately
00:04:03
yourself. But that is more than a little
00:04:05
misleading because while the bill does
00:04:07
contain tax cuts for basically everyone,
00:04:09
their benefits are massively
00:04:10
concentrated among the wealthiest
00:04:12
Americans. In fact, 60% of the tax cuts
00:04:15
would go to the top 20% of households.
00:04:18
And you should know just about every
00:04:19
independent analysis agrees this bill
00:04:22
would add trillions to the national
00:04:24
debt. And to the extent the bill's tax
00:04:25
cuts are going to be paid for at all,
00:04:27
it'll be through slashing programs that
00:04:30
benefit the poor. And I want to talk
00:04:31
about two key areas they're targeting.
00:04:34
Health care and food assistance. When it
00:04:36
comes to health care, there are lots of
00:04:38
cuts, both big and small. For instance,
00:04:40
the bill fails to extend tax credits for
00:04:42
healthcare premiums under the ACA, while
00:04:44
adding burdensome paperwork that would
00:04:46
make it hard for people to remain on the
00:04:47
plans they already have. And I know that
00:04:49
might not sound like much to you, but
00:04:51
it's estimated those tweaks alone will
00:04:53
lead to 4.2 million people becoming
00:04:55
uninsured, which makes them pretty
00:04:57
consequential tweaks. It'd be like
00:05:00
changing RuPaul's drag race to Rand
00:05:02
Paul's drag race. You you can call it
00:05:05
just a tweak, but it's about to make
00:05:07
everything way worse.
00:05:10
But the big target here is Medicaid, the
00:05:13
public insurance program providing
00:05:14
health coverage to, among others, people
00:05:16
with low incomes and disabilities.
00:05:18
Though, this bill's defenders will
00:05:19
insist Medicaid is safe.
I'm going to
00:05:23
say this very clearly. Our legislation
00:05:25
preserves Medicaid, strengthens Medicaid
00:05:27
for the people who actually need it and
00:05:29
deserve it. Look, we're going to do
00:05:30
everything we can to strengthen Medicaid
00:05:33
to preserve it for those who need it the
00:05:35
most.
Medicare, Medicaid, none of that
00:05:37
stuff is going to be touched. Nothing.
I
00:05:39
want you to have to.
Okay, but there's a
00:05:41
few problems there. Starting with the
00:05:43
fact following through on a promise not
00:05:44
to touch something has never exactly
00:05:46
been one of Trump's strong suits. Also,
00:05:49
the math just doesn't support those
00:05:51
claims. As one analysis puts it, major
00:05:54
Medicaid cuts are the only way to meet
00:05:57
House budget resolution requirements.
00:05:59
And the big way this bill tries to do
00:06:01
that is by adding work requirements for
00:06:03
many low-income recipients who got
00:06:05
coverage under Medicaid expansion.
00:06:07
Effectively removing a lot of them from
00:06:09
the roles. Basically, under the bill, to
00:06:12
get Medicaid, they'd have to prove they
00:06:14
worked, volunteered, or went to school
00:06:15
for 80 hours a month. That alone is
00:06:18
projected to cause over 5 million
00:06:20
Americans to lose coverage by the end of
00:06:22
the decade. Though to hear Mike Johnson
00:06:24
tell it, that's just not a problem
00:06:26
because they're just targeting one
00:06:28
specific group. You don't want
00:06:30
able-bodied workers on a program that is
00:06:32
intended, for example, for single
00:06:34
mothers with two small children who's
00:06:36
just trying to make it. That's what
00:06:37
Medicaid is for. Not for 29year-old
00:06:39
males sitting on their couches playing
00:06:41
video games. We're going to find those
00:06:42
guys and we're going to send them back
00:06:44
to work.
Okay? 29-year-old male sitting
00:06:46
on the couch playing video games. How is
00:06:49
it possible that Mike Johnson always
00:06:50
sounds so old and out of touch while
00:06:52
also managing to look like a 12-year-old
00:06:54
who dressed up as Steven Colbear for
00:06:56
Halloween?
00:06:57
The problem with that argument is that
00:07:00
most Medicaid enrolles are working. The
00:07:03
most recent data shows that nearly two
00:07:04
in three work and most of the rest have
00:07:07
a disability, are caring for family
00:07:09
members, or are attending school. And
00:07:11
yet, Republicans won't stop painting
00:07:13
lurid scenarios of Medicaid freeloaders.
00:07:16
For instance, here's the current head of
00:07:17
Medicare and Medicaid services, who
00:07:19
remember is inexplicably Dr. Oz
00:07:21
unloading the single weirdest
00:07:23
hypothetical you will ever hear in your
00:07:26
life. Here's a metaphor. You get home at
00:07:28
night with Lou and there's someone
00:07:29
sitting on your couch in the basement.
00:07:31
You don't know them and but they have
00:07:32
health insurance that you're paying for.
00:07:34
And you say, "Listen, to keep his health
00:07:35
insurance, I want you to apply for a
00:07:37
job. You don't have to work. Just apply
00:07:38
for a job. go get an education,
00:07:40
volunteer somewhere, be involved in the
00:07:42
community, or take care of one of the
00:07:44
kids in the family, help out a little
00:07:45
bit. If they say no, you say, "Well, I'm
00:07:47
taking your insurance away." That's not
00:07:49
an unreasonable deal to make. Okay,
00:07:52
let's just pause together for a moment
00:07:55
and unpack what he just described. In
00:07:57
that scenario, you get home at night to
00:07:59
find a complete stranger sitting on your
00:08:01
couch in your basement. Naturally, the
00:08:03
first thing they say is, "Hi, I have
00:08:04
health insurance that you're paying
00:08:06
for." But instead of screaming and
00:08:07
immediately calling 911, you calmly say,
00:08:09
"Okay, person I've never seen before.
00:08:11
I'll let you keep the health insurance I
00:08:13
just found out I'm paying for without
00:08:14
asking who you are or how you got into
00:08:16
my house. My one and only requirement is
00:08:18
that you apply for a job. You can use my
00:08:21
Wi-Fi as apparently you live in my
00:08:22
basement now." And that's a reality I've
00:08:23
quickly accepted. Or you can go get an
00:08:26
education or volunteer or take care of
00:08:27
one of my kids. Naturally, I trust you,
00:08:29
a complete stranger, unexpectedly in my
00:08:32
home with the lives of my children. And
00:08:33
then this individual says, "No, that
00:08:35
doesn't seem reasonable to me." So you
00:08:37
say, "Okay, well, you leave it with no
00:08:39
other option. I'm going to have to take
00:08:41
your insurance away." Obviously, you can
00:08:43
still live in my house. That goes
00:08:44
without saying your family now, but
00:08:46
you'll have to find a way to pay for
00:08:48
your own health insurance. That's not an
00:08:50
unreasonable deal to make. But honestly,
00:08:53
the weirdness of that scenario is
00:08:55
actually preferable to what it sounds
00:08:57
like when Dr. Oz gives you a glimpse
00:08:59
into what he really thinks work
00:09:01
requirements are for. I have confidence
00:09:04
in the American people. You give people
00:09:05
a chance to work. And we know we have
00:09:07
twice as many jobs as there are people
00:09:09
looking for them. Go out there, do entry
00:09:11
level jobs, get into the workforce,
00:09:12
prove that you matter, get agency into
00:09:15
your own life. It's a much more
00:09:17
enjoyable experience. If you're going
00:09:19
through life thinking you control your
00:09:20
destiny, and you'll get better insurance
00:09:22
at the same time.
Hold on. Prove that
00:09:25
you matter. So, a person only means
00:09:27
something if they work. That is not true
00:09:31
at all. In fact, if ever there were
00:09:33
proof that you could work for decades
00:09:35
while adding exactly zero value to
00:09:38
society, it is Dr. Oz himself who, as
00:09:41
we've mentioned before, wanted an
00:09:42
episode of his show where he asked
00:09:44
Cameron Diaz this.
Does this ever happen
00:09:46
to you?
Um, luckily, no. I'm not a girl
00:09:49
that gets constipated.
That is
00:09:53
the perfect facial response to that.
00:09:55
That was on daytime television that
00:09:58
played in restaurants and waiting rooms.
00:10:01
And as if work requirements weren't bad
00:10:03
enough, many are worried that federal
00:10:05
cuts to Medicaid will mean that states
00:10:06
are likely to cut things like home and
00:10:08
community based supports, which will
00:10:09
have huge consequences for those who
00:10:12
rely on those services to literally keep
00:10:14
them alive, as they have been trying to
00:10:16
make people understand.
20% of Erie
00:10:20
County residents receive Medicaid
00:10:22
services, including more than 100,000
00:10:25
children, but that funding is now in
00:10:28
jeopardy. Advocates for people with
00:10:30
disabilities say cuts to Medicaid could
00:10:33
mean cuts to home health care services
00:10:35
that literally enable some residents to
00:10:38
get out of bed each day.
I really truly
00:10:40
believe that without Medicaid, without
00:10:43
my my direct care workers, my personal
00:10:46
care assistants, I would be dead.
Yeah,
00:10:49
that woman clearly deserves to have
00:10:52
health care that keeps her alive. Even
00:10:53
in the insane theoretical situation that
00:10:56
she somehow moved into someone's
00:10:58
basement with no warning, which to be
00:10:59
clear has never happened to anyone and
00:11:01
never will, that would still be the
00:11:03
case. And as if that weren't bad enough,
00:11:06
and it really is. It is worth noting
00:11:08
people not on Medicaid will be affected,
00:11:11
too, as it's a major source of funding
00:11:13
for hospitals across the country. So
00:11:14
with these cuts, rural hospitals are
00:11:17
likely to be forced to reduce the
00:11:18
services they offer, cut staff, or close
00:11:20
altogether. And when you take all of the
00:11:22
bill's provisions concerning healthcare
00:11:24
together, the CBO estimates they'll
00:11:26
result in 16 million more uninsured
00:11:29
people in the year 2034 than would
00:11:31
otherwise be the case. And it is not
00:11:32
like people haven't tried to warn
00:11:35
Republicans of the consequences here. A
00:11:37
few weeks ago, we showed you this clip
00:11:39
of Joanie Erns delivering a bonkers
00:11:41
response to concerned constituents at a
00:11:43
town hall.
00:11:45
We people are not
Well, we all are going
00:11:49
to die.
00:11:51
For heaven's sakes,
00:11:54
for heaven's sakes, folks.
Yeah, it's
00:11:57
pretty bad. It's pretty bad. But
00:11:59
incredibly, it's still not as bad as the
00:12:02
sarcastic follow-up video that she
00:12:04
posted the next day.
Hello everyone. I
00:12:07
would like to take this opportunity to
00:12:09
sincerely apologize for a statement that
00:12:13
I made yesterday at my town hall. I made
00:12:18
an incorrect assumption that everyone in
00:12:21
the auditorium understood
00:12:24
that yes, we are all going to perish
00:12:28
from this earth.
00:12:31
So, I apologize
00:12:33
and I'm really really glad that I did
00:12:36
not have to bring up the subject of the
00:12:39
tooth fairy as well.
What the is
00:12:42
wrong with you? First, did you actually
00:12:45
drive to a cemetery for your fun little
00:12:48
video there? And second, no one was
00:12:50
under the impression that we're all
00:12:52
immortal, nor do we think the tooth
00:12:53
fairy is real, nor indeed the Easter
00:12:55
Bunny. Now, do I happen to believe that
00:12:57
leprechauns exist? Yes. But that's
00:12:59
because of a personal experience I once
00:13:01
had in Dublin. I don't want to get into
00:13:02
it now. Suffice to say, I'm down one pot
00:13:04
of gold and I know what I saw. But in
00:13:06
any case, the problem isn't being naive
00:13:08
to the concept of death. is that this
00:13:11
bill could make people die sooner than
00:13:12
they otherwise would. So that is
00:13:15
healthcare. What about the other crucial
00:13:17
program on the chopping block here
00:13:19
involving food? Well, this bill also
00:13:21
includes massive cuts to SNAP, the
00:13:23
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
00:13:25
Program or Food SNAPS. Currently, more
00:13:27
than 41 million people receive benefits
00:13:29
through it. It's the nation's largest
00:13:30
food aid program. And this bill would
00:13:32
reduce federal spending on SNAP by $287
00:13:36
billion over 10 years. Like the Medicaid
00:13:39
cuts, a lot of that is being done
00:13:40
through work requirements. SNAP already
00:13:42
has those, but this bill's about to
00:13:45
expand them significantly, including
00:13:46
raising the age limit at which they
00:13:48
apply from 54 all the way up to 64. The
00:13:51
Senate's version would also strip
00:13:52
exemptions from work requirements for
00:13:54
veterans, people experiencing
00:13:56
homelessness, and former foster youth.
00:13:58
And guess who is completely fine with
00:14:00
all that? If you're going to get free
00:14:03
food on a SNAP program, you have a work
00:14:05
requirement. It's an obligation to try
00:14:06
to work. You might not get a job, but
00:14:08
you got to try.
Yeah, Dr. Oz is back
00:14:11
with his pull yourself up by your own
00:14:12
connections to Oprah That man
00:14:15
is a real piece of Which piece of
00:14:18
Who can say exactly?
00:14:21
One estimate found more than 5 million
00:14:24
people would be at risk of losing at
00:14:26
least some of their food assistance. And
00:14:28
on top of that, for the first time, the
00:14:30
bill would require states to pay for a
00:14:32
portion of SNAP benefits and cover more
00:14:35
administrative costs. In fact, the CBO
00:14:36
estimated that in a 10-year period, this
00:14:38
would shift about $121 billion in costs
00:14:41
to state governments, which has a lot of
00:14:44
people worried because states may not be
00:14:46
able to afford that. And those added
00:14:48
costs could force them to shrink SNAP
00:14:50
eligibility or even leave the program
00:14:52
altogether. And it is not like food
00:14:54
banks can easily pick up the slack here.
00:14:57
as the head of one in Iowa will tell
00:14:58
you,
SNAP is the most effective tool
00:15:02
that we have to fight hunger uh in the
00:15:05
United States.
Riverbend Food Bank
00:15:07
President Chris Ford says for every meal
00:15:09
his food bank provides, SNAP gives out
00:15:12
nine meals.
We would not be able to meet
00:15:15
the needs of all those individuals. It
00:15:18
would be unprecedented times for food
00:15:21
banks. Yeah, it's not great to hear the
00:15:23
phrase unprecedented times for food
00:15:25
banks given they just survived a global
00:15:28
pandemic. In the same way that I'd be
00:15:30
nervous to hear that it's going to be an
00:15:31
unprecedented year for Katy Perry. What
00:15:33
more can possibly happen to her? She
00:15:36
went to space and fumbled this historic
00:15:39
baddy. Orlando, I need you to contact me
00:15:41
urgently. One of my writers is single
00:15:43
and is pointing a loaded gun at me as I
00:15:45
read this to you.
00:15:47
And at this point, it is worth pausing
00:15:50
to explain what's really going on here
00:15:52
with both Medicaid and SNAP. Because
00:15:53
even if you're thinking, well, maybe
00:15:55
work requirements are needed and limits
00:15:57
should be put on who gets these
00:15:58
benefits, there are some important
00:16:00
things you should know. First, study
00:16:01
after study has shown work requirements
00:16:04
do not increase work. What they do cause
00:16:06
is large drops in program participation,
00:16:08
including crucially a lot of people who
00:16:11
are actually still eligible to receive
00:16:13
help. And the reason for that is
00:16:14
something called administrative burdens.
00:16:16
basically all the obstacles between
00:16:18
someone and a program they're qualified
00:16:20
to receive, from paperwork to interviews
00:16:22
to regular check-ins and reertification,
00:16:24
which can wind up kicking them off. This
00:16:27
happens much more than you'd think. One
00:16:30
survey of people who were eligible for
00:16:31
but not participating in SNAP found that
00:16:34
40% were deterred by the paperwork
00:16:36
involved and another 37% noted that the
00:16:39
application was too timeconuming given
00:16:41
their family and work responsibilities.
00:16:43
and SNAP's administrative burdens have
00:16:45
meant that even those who do keep trying
00:16:47
can still wind up going without as this
00:16:49
couple with five children learned during
00:16:51
the pandemic.
For a family of seven to
00:16:54
qualify, their income needs to be under
00:16:56
$52,000.
00:16:58
What's your best estimate of your yearly
00:17:02
income now?
It's like 20,000 or under
00:17:06
for the two of you. That's combined.
For
00:17:08
that's combined.
That's combined.
You've
00:17:09
applied for the SNAP program. We've been
00:17:12
denied several times. It said that I
00:17:14
need to turn in verifications of end of
00:17:18
employment for jobs that Barry hasn't
00:17:21
had in years.
In years. Company doesn't
00:17:23
even exist anymore.
Has it been hard to
00:17:25
get people on the phone?
Yes. Yes.
Yeah.
00:17:29
No I have no idea how I'd get the
00:17:32
last company I worked for on the phone
00:17:34
either, especially as that company was
00:17:36
AT&T.
00:17:37
I guess my best bet for contacting them
00:17:40
would probably be to whisper my
00:17:41
complaint into a bottle and throw it
00:17:43
into the Hudson River. I can't see any
00:17:45
other way. So basically, this bill is
00:17:48
taking all that bureaucratic
00:17:50
and somehow making it even worse. And
00:17:52
Republicans will insist these new work
00:17:54
requirements will work and that no one
00:17:56
truly deserving will be left behind. But
00:17:59
we know that is not true. And maybe the
00:18:02
best way to show this is to look at
00:18:03
Georgia and a state program called
00:18:05
Pathways to Coverage. It's a program
00:18:07
that rolled out there a few years ago
00:18:09
and Republicans apparently used it as a
00:18:10
possible template for restructuring
00:18:12
Medicaid. Pathways offers health
00:18:15
insurance with work requirements and it
00:18:17
launched with testimonials from people
00:18:18
like this man who owns an auto repair
00:18:20
shop.
Uh became a member of Pathways in
00:18:23
the last year. Pathways is is a great
00:18:25
program that offers offers insurance to
00:18:29
lowincome and uh working professionals
00:18:32
such as myself, but I highly recommend
00:18:34
it because again, it offers that avenue
00:18:36
to you for you to have uh health
00:18:38
insurance uh where you otherwise would
00:18:41
not.
Now, on his face, that sounds good.
00:18:43
A working man getting health insurance.
00:18:45
Dr. Oz would call him someone who
00:18:46
matters. Mike Johnson would call him not
00:18:48
29 and playing Halo. both would
00:18:51
presumably think he's a good candidate
00:18:53
for health insurance. It's no wonder he
00:18:54
became the deacto face of the program.
00:18:57
Unfortunately, it quickly became clear
00:18:59
Pathways had significant problems,
00:19:02
particularly regarding how its work
00:19:03
requirement was getting administered.
00:19:05
People 50 and older had an especially
00:19:07
hard time proving they met the
00:19:09
requirements, which forced them to
00:19:10
provide paperwork verifying their work
00:19:12
status every single month. That can be
00:19:14
hard, especially if you're not computer
00:19:16
savvy or don't have reliable internet.
00:19:18
There were stories like the man who had
00:19:20
to spend more than an hour every month
00:19:22
uploading employment documents to
00:19:24
reconfirm his eligibility, often using
00:19:26
the free Wi-Fi at his public library.
00:19:29
And this director of a clinic for
00:19:30
low-income patients reported that none
00:19:32
of her patients had enrolled. And she
00:19:35
wasn't surprised.
The qualifications are
00:19:38
just too steep. You know, I have
00:19:40
patients that I have to put A on the
00:19:43
pill bottles if they take them in the
00:19:45
morning and P on the pill bottles if
00:19:47
they take them at night. And you expect
00:19:50
these people to be able to upload
00:19:52
documents and renew their health
00:19:55
insurance monthly.
00:19:57
It's not going to work.
She's right.
00:19:59
Benevolent Anna Wintor is right because
00:20:02
just think about it. No matter who you
00:20:04
are, uploading documents can be
00:20:06
challenging. Have you ever tried to
00:20:08
upload new patient forms to a doctor's
00:20:10
online portal? It is a nightmare. You
00:20:12
click the upload button and select the
00:20:14
PDF of your form, but then the site says
00:20:16
something like PDF files not accepted.
00:20:18
Please upload Gulp files. Except you've
00:20:20
never heard of Gulp files before. So you
00:20:22
Google how do you convert PDF to Gulp.
00:20:24
And the results say that you need an app
00:20:26
called Gulp Transformer that cost $9.99.
00:20:28
And so you go back and search free PDF
00:20:30
to Gulp converter and finally find a
00:20:32
site that says you can do it with Adobe
00:20:33
Acrobat. First, you have to convert the
00:20:34
PDF to a muks file and then convert the
00:20:37
mukes to a gulp. And at that point, you
00:20:39
just throw your computer out the
00:20:40
window. Even people savvy enough to
00:20:45
navigate George's system found it hard.
00:20:47
One single mother wasn't able to enroll
00:20:48
because she said the portal crashed each
00:20:50
of the three times she tried to apply.
00:20:52
And after calling the customer service
00:20:54
line, she bounced around from one robot
00:20:56
voice to another before ultimately
00:20:58
giving up. Even that repair shop owner
00:21:01
had his benefits canled twice due to
00:21:04
bureaucratic red tape. He described one
00:21:06
of those times saying, "My head
00:21:07
exploded. I didn't get a text or an
00:21:09
email. I did what I was supposed to do,
00:21:12
but that wasn't good enough." Which is a
00:21:14
pretty startling U-turn from the face of
00:21:16
pathways to coverage. It'd be like Jane
00:21:19
Goodall suddenly saying, "You know what?
00:21:21
chimpanzees.
00:21:23
They're stupid, hairy and if I
00:21:25
could strangle everyone until they went
00:21:27
extinct, I would. Jesus Christ, Jane,
00:21:30
what happened?
00:21:32
And this administrative cluster
00:21:34
wasn't cheap either. By the end of last
00:21:36
year, the Pathways program cost federal
00:21:38
and state taxpayers more than $86
00:21:40
million, 3/4 of which had gone to
00:21:43
consultants. And 18 months into the
00:21:46
program, a mere 6,500 participants had
00:21:48
enrolled. And remember, that's the
00:21:51
program Republicans apparently modeled
00:21:53
their new Medicaid policy on. So, if
00:21:55
that's what's coming on a national
00:21:56
scale, that is terrifying. As
00:21:59
one source put it to us, the term people
00:22:02
use is work requirements, but that's a
00:22:04
misnomer. You should really think of it
00:22:05
as a paperwork requirement. And look, I
00:22:08
would say that eligible people losing
00:22:10
coverage is an unintended consequence.
00:22:13
But I think it's the whole point here
00:22:15
because the vast majority of cost
00:22:16
savings that you're getting from
00:22:18
instituting something like a work
00:22:19
requirement don't come from kicking
00:22:22
people off Medicaid and SNAP who don't
00:22:24
qualify. They come from kicking off
00:22:26
people who do but who now can't get it
00:22:29
because of the burdens you've just put
00:22:31
in place. It's death by a thousand cuts.
00:22:34
And the true hypocrisy is it is not like
00:22:36
Republicans aren't up in arms about
00:22:38
administrative burdens in other
00:22:40
contexts. Because when it comes to
00:22:42
regulations on businesses, they just
00:22:44
never shut the up about it. I was
00:22:47
tired of hearing small businesses say we
00:22:49
can hardly make it because of the stack
00:22:51
of paper we have to fill out.
Every hour
00:22:53
spent on paperwork is an hour not spent
00:22:55
on growing their business.
This
00:22:56
paperwork and red tape will bury workers
00:22:59
and businesses trying to make a living.
00:23:01
Small businesses continuously list
00:23:05
Washington red tape and regulation as a
00:23:10
top issue keeping them from growing and
00:23:14
in too many cases simply surviving.
You
00:23:18
know, it is pretty striking how
00:23:20
horrified Joanie Ern sounds at the idea
00:23:23
of businesses struggling to survive. But
00:23:24
when it comes to vulnerable human
00:23:26
beings, all of a sudden she's like, "You
00:23:28
know what? Grow up. Death happens. Worms
00:23:31
will eventually eat everything you love.
00:23:33
Someday a real rain's going to wash the
00:23:34
scum from these streets. Erns 2026.
00:23:36
We're all going to die.
00:23:39
And look, I get that red tape can be a
00:23:42
problem for businesses, but this is
00:23:43
medicine for the sick and food for the
00:23:45
hungry. The stakes are just higher. And
00:23:48
the burdens this bill is about to impose
00:23:50
won't just be kicking 29-year-old gamers
00:23:53
and Dr. Oz's imaginary basement
00:23:54
squatters off the rolls. They can impact
00:23:57
single moms, working people, and those
00:23:59
who fear that they would be dead without
00:24:01
assistance. Right now, Republicans are
00:24:03
trying to rush this bill through because
00:24:05
they know how toxic it is. It may have
00:24:08
even passed the Senate by the time you
00:24:10
are watching this. And while I know
00:24:12
there is a lot going on right now, it is
00:24:14
worth paying attention to this bill
00:24:16
because if it becomes law, we're going
00:24:18
to be looking back on it decades from
00:24:20
now the same way we look back at all the
00:24:22
destructive that Reagan did. And
00:24:24
when that happens, Republicans cannot
00:24:26
say they didn't know what was in it or
00:24:28
what it would do. Everyone who votes for
00:24:31
this should be held accountable. Or to
00:24:33
put it in terms that John Kennedy can
00:24:35
understand, if you're going to vote for
00:24:37
this bill, you better French kiss it.
00:24:39
Help. You might as well put its whole
00:24:41
in your mouth because you're going
00:24:44
to be married to it for the rest of your
00:24:46
life.