GOP Reconciles Suffering

From Fitzpatrick to the Senate: Republicans Sacrifice Lives for Loyalty

No matter how you spin it, you can’t right a wrong.

Many Americans—especially so-called deficit hawks on the right—profess deep concern about the national debt. Yet last week, those same "fiscally responsible" Republicans voted to increase it by trillions. Their justification? That the bill merely targets fraud and waste.

That’s not just misleading—it’s dangerously false.

People will go hungry. People will lose medical coverage. And yes, people will die as a result of this bill.

One Vote Could Have Stopped It: Fitzpatrick Backed the GOP's Deadly Budget

He’s the The “Problem Solver” creating problems for those not privleged. Fitzpatrick even publicly stated he opposed cuts to Medicaid—before voting for them. He could have stood up. He could have cast the one vote that would have stopped this cruelty. Instead, he fell in line.

Some “problem solver.”

Many of those voting yes—including our Representative Brian Fitzpatrick—claimed that the cuts were only about fraud and waste, which is patently false. People will go hungry; they will go without medical insurance; and some will die as a result. And Republicans will all swear that Medicare won’t be affected. But because the bill increases the deficit by as much as it does, it triggers cuts to Medicare as well!

From historian Heather Cox Richardson:

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the bill cuts at least $715 billion in healthcare spending, mostly from Medicaid, and $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, causing more than 2.7 million American households to lose benefits. Because the massive debt increase in the measure triggers a 2010 law requiring offsets, it will cut Medicare, as well, by an estimated $500 billion.

Get Out of Jail Free Card

And if all that weren’t bad enough, the bill also includes a provision to shield Administration officials from criminal contempt—undermining the only real legal mechanism for holding them accountable.

Now the bill heads to the Senate, where a few voices are raising concerns. But let’s be clear: it’s the same political theater we saw in the House. They object just enough to lower the volume of public protest—then fall in line at the last moment.

This bill isn’t about fiscal responsibility. It’s about killing safety nets to give billionaires a payday. And no amount of spin can make that right.

Fiscal Responsibility for Thee, Not for Me

Debt Without Decency

Deficits and debt matter, unless there is wealth to transfer to the obscenely rich.

Where have all the deficit hawks gone? Are they migratory—only flying in when a Democrat is in the White House? How do they rationalize adding trillions of dollars to the debt?

A Big Bill With No Conscience

The same Republicans who once warned of “fiscal collapse” if we extended child tax credits or expanded health care are now silent—or worse, complicit—as the deficit balloons under policies that overwhelmingly benefit billionaires and corporations.

What happened to the principled conservatives who claimed they couldn’t in good conscience saddle our grandchildren with debt? Are they expecting the obscenely rich billionaires they're planning to gift with money to pay it off?

Or do they think we’ve stopped paying attention?

Once again, we see the truth: Deficits and debt are only a crisis when poor families are getting help. But when it comes to transferring wealth to the top 0.1%, suddenly the money is there.

And we must ask again, not for the first time, not for the last: Have they no decency?

Brian Fitzpatrick Voted Against Our Families

John Lewis wouldn’t stand for the likes of Brian Fitzpatrick.

As Cyril Mychalejko writes in the Bucks County Beacon:

Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick could have stopped President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that will slash Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits spending by almost $1 trillion. 

Fitzpatrick’s single vote could have stopped the bill that passed 215-214 Thursday morning in the House.  

Instead, the self-described moderate fell in line with the MAGA leadership of the Republican Party and his single vote sent the budget bill that will take food and health care away from millions of Americans to the Republican-controlled Senate. Two Republicans who were independent enough to vote against the budget were Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio.

We should be angry about this. Get up to good trouble as John Lewis would say.