After Senate Republicans unveiled their ObamaCare replacement on Thursday, ABC smeared the bill during World News Tonight with claims that people were going to pay more for less and that Medicaid was being cut. On Sunday, Clinton lackey George Stephanopoulos took to his show, This Week, to continue their smear campaign. “The President right there said no cuts in Medicaid … Why is the President going back on his promise,” he rudely yelled at Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.
According to Stephanopoulos, “A lot of senators have questions about the Senate bill. Particularly those cuts in Medicaid. More than $800 billion.” He also asserted that the cuts to Medicaid in the Senate bill were larger than those in the House bill.
“These are not cuts to Medicaid, George. This slows the rate for the future and it allows governors more flexibility with Medicaid dollars because they're closest to the people in need,” Conway tried to explain. “We are trying to get Medicaid back to its original moorings. And--” she said before her host cut her off and spoke over her.
Sounding irritated, the ABC host said: “Kellyanne, I don’t see how you can say the more $800 billion in savings is not cuts.” He tried to back up is claim with the criticisms of big government Republicans. “You don’t have to take my word for it,” he said defensively. “It’s the Republican senators you're facing right now who have that problem, led by Senator Dean Heller of Nevada [and Susan Collins].”
Conway again tried to explain why they were incorrect about there being cuts, but Stephanopoulos continued to interrupt her to tell her she was wrong:
Kellyanne, hold on a second. There's no way you can say a 15-year-old on Medicaid today is not going to be affected by the cuts in the future. You said everybody on Medicaid now is grandfathered in and is not going to face any cuts. That simply is not factual if you have more than $800 billion in cuts. It’s also—
It was Conway's turn to interrupt. “But you keep calling them cuts. We don't see them as cuts. It’s slowing the rate of growth in the future and getting Medicaid back to where it was,” she accurately told Stephanopoulos. “ObamaCare expanded the pool of Medicaid recipients beyond its original intentions.”
And she’s right. The Senate bill doesn’t cut Medicaid, it only slows down the rate of spending growth by the federal government. In fact, the bill pegs spending growth to inflation so it’s almost guaranteed to go up every year.
But, of course, in Washington D.C. anything that’s not an increase in spending is considered a cut. President Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney had expertly mocked D.C.’s definition of a budget cut during a press briefing back in May. “There are no Medicaid cuts in the terms of what ordinary human beings would refer to as a cut. We are not spending less money one year than we spent before,” Mulvaney joked as he talked about a proposed budget at the time.
But to Stephanopoulos, the facts be damned. “Again, it's the Republican senators calling this cuts. It’s the experts calling this cuts. You can't say that $800 billion in savings are not cuts,” he exclaimed before turning the subject to funding for fighting opioid addiction. He also falsely claimed that Trump was gutting that too.
Shameless Stephanopoulos never addressed if there were actual cut to Medicaid. He had no problem with going along with false assertions of cuts because it helped the liberal smears against the GOP bill.
Transcript below:
ABC
This Week
June 25, 2017
9:05:05 AM EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you laid out the problems with Obamacare. A lot of senators have questions about the Senate bill. Particularly those cuts in Medicaid. More than $800 billion. I want to show the President's first speech when he announced for president.
DONALD TRUMP: Save Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The President right there said no cuts in Medicaid, had several tweets on that same subject. This bill has, even more, Medicaid cuts than the House bill. Why is the President going back on his promise?
KELLYANNW CONWAY: These are not cuts to Medicaid, George. This slows the rate for the future and it allows governors more flexibility with Medicaid dollars, because they're closest to the people in need. Medicaid's imperative, its founding was meant to help the poor, the sick, the needy, the disabled, children, some elderly, women, particularly pregnant women. We are trying to get Medicaid back to its original moorings. And--
STEPHANOPOULOS [Interrupting Conway]: Kellyanne, I don’t see how you can say the more $800 billion in savings is not cuts. And don’t—You don’t have to take my word for it. It’s the Republican senators you're facing right now who have that problem, led by Senator Dean Heller of Nevada. He said he's voting no. Also Senator Susan Collins.
(…)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Kellyanne, hold on a second. There's no way you can say a 15-year-old on Medicaid today is not going to be affected by the cuts in the future. You said everybody on Medicaid now is grandfathered in and is not going to face any cuts. That simply is not factual if you have more than $800 billion in cuts. It’s also—
CONWAY: But you keep calling them cuts. We don't see them as cuts. It’s slowing the rate of growth in the future and getting Medicaid back to where it was. ObamaCare expanded the pool of Medicaid recipients beyond its original intentions. And George, you have to look at the whole health care bill, 142 pages in total here in order to have a full conversation.
(…)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Again, it's the Republican senators calling this cuts. It’s the experts calling this cuts. You can't say that $800 billion in savings are not cuts.
