July 3, 2025

Rep Steve Scalise claimed millions of people being kicked off Medicaid because of the Ugly Bill are healthy 35-year-olds, sitting home, playing video games because they knew they had healthcare coverage through Medicaid.

This is the stupidest thing I've heard.

Medicaid dollars do not go to the individuals, but to the doctors and hospitals that treat them

Is Scalise saying 35 year-olds are intentionally having car accidents, falling downstairs, and jumping out windows just so those medical bills will be paid for?

How do they eat and pay rent? Let alone buy video games.

GRETA: in light of the fact that the debt ceiling is going to be raised by this, which gives of course the government more opportunity to spend, which is something that the Freedom Caucus has been very upset about for a number of years.

SCALISE: Yeah, and you know, this was brought up in the House because we also had that provision in the original House version, just not at the same level.

But one of the things a lot of our members wanted to do is not let Chuck Schumer be able to extract leverage on a debt ceiling negotiation.

Because Greta, if this bill was not in this one big beautiful bill in reconciliation, it would be a standalone bill that would require Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats to be a part of that negotiation.

They would require hundreds of billions in new spending in Washington in order to deal with the debt ceiling.

We're actually cutting spending in this bill, getting rid of a lot of waste, fraud and abuse, including work requirements, for example, in a program like Medicaid, so that the truly disabled and needy will be able to get better access to Medicaid, because those able-bodied adults who are turning down work, the 35-year-old who's sitting at his mom's basement playing video games, is going to have to go get a job again.

Those are going to be a good thing for the economy, but it's also something that helps reduce waste, fraud and abuse and saves hundreds of billions of dollars in those programs.

Republicans never tell you or show you proof that there are billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid, because their real scam is giving tax cuts to the wealthy.

The new con is that Republicans are actually lowering the deficit because, in this bill, they can stop Chuck Schumer from using the debt ceiling against Trump, even though Republicans control the Senate.

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