'Corporate Greed Kills': Rashida Tlaib Says GOP Paying For Billionaire Tax Cuts By Gutting Medicaid

yesterday

At Wednesday's "Save Our Healthcare" rally in Washington, D.C., Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) accused Republicans of wanting to slash healthcare spending to pay for tax cuts.

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Transcript

00:00Hello, everyone. So I'm the proud founder of the Congressional Mamas Caucus. And I know

00:11with Medicaid, it means life or death for mothers giving birth. We know that for many,

00:17many of our children, from the prenatal care to the post birth care is incredibly important.

00:24But here we are right here, where Republicans want to ram through not millions, but $4.5

00:31trillion in tax cuts for billionaires and powerful corporations. You know, corporate

00:40greed kills. It is a disease in our country. It is obvious to me that they prefer to, again,

00:46put profits before people. And in order to pay for these tax breaks, giving away our

00:53money, they want to rip health care away from millions of our families. It is shameful.

01:01You know, I have colleagues throwing up and saying, well, this budget proposal doesn't

01:05have the word Medicaid in it. Yeah, OK, we ain't stupid. We understand what nearly a

01:11trillion dollars out of Energy and Commerce Committee really means. Stop lying to the

01:16American people. Some of you have over 50, even some, over 60 percent of folks that depend

01:23on Medicaid. So when we say fund care, not billionaires, we mean it. You know, I know

01:31nearly 80 million people around the country depend on Medicaid and CHIP for health services.

01:36I know so many of our families have been working so hard to combat black maternal health, infant

01:42mortality in our community. I mean, it's like we get a foot in and they pull back.

01:50For those that rely on Medicaid, you all know it's not just a service or coverage. It is

01:55a difference between life and death. But right now, we all know the future of our Medicaid

02:00system is under threat. You know that under the Republican budget, more than 250,000 people

02:08alone in my district would be risking that health care coverage they need. You know,

02:13they act like we plan to get sick. Really, they act like we're just sitting around here

02:18and we're like, SpongeBob, what are you talking about? Who likes to go to the doctor? You

02:23know what I mean? Like, and we have sick care in our country, not health care. They don't

02:27have the courage to take on big pharma and the health care industry that literally feeds

02:31on profit and greed. But here we are, here we are, here we are, them treating us like

02:38we're just numbers. These folks are our neighbors, they're our friends, they're our families.

02:44Have you ever talked to a father that lost the mother of his children giving birth? Have

02:50you ever talked to a person that continues to say, even the Medicaid system now isn't

02:55even covering my prescription drugs? And they want to just take the bare minimum that they're

03:00even giving to my residents. It is shameful. Now, this is where I get emotional. You know,

03:08I'm the eldest of 14, Mashallah. I'm the eldest of 14, and I've been taking care of people

03:14all my life. And when I think of the babies, the children, and it's unbelievable that we

03:21would literally sit here and think that giving this $4.5 trillion to these corporations while

03:29leaving our children out there, some of them again unhoused, so vulnerable. You know, they

03:35act like it's so easy to get health care in our country. It is worse than hard. It is

03:43unbelievably immoral and inhumane, our system here. And here they are trying to fund billionaires,

03:51who do not care. Now, I want you guys to make no mistake. This is an American issue. I can tell you every

04:02corner, every congressional district has folks, has folks right now that are on Medicaid that

04:09will be hurt. Even a minor cut, do you understand? Even a minor change is going to get a matter

04:16of life and death. I've already seen it where folks can't afford their prescription drugs. Rationing,

04:23a mother coming before our committee, twins rationing the diet, literally the insulin,

04:29losing one of her children at six years old. How does a mother live after that? But they

04:36do their best. You know this. Many, many tell me I'm doing my best. And here they are again

04:42choosing the billionaires and the corporations before the people that they're supposed to

04:46represent. We must continue to raise our voices. I remind people, you know, I come from the

04:52most beautiful, blackest city in the country, the city of Detroit. Every corner, every corner,

04:58I kid you not, every corner. If you feel down, come to my city. You'll leave wanting to just

05:03come out, just come up here with so much strength. Every corner of my district is a reminder

05:07of this. That institution, it doesn't move until you make us move. That White House,

05:16that president, you think they wake up? Oh, you know what? The Civil Rights Act was a,

05:21that's a really good idea. People marched. They demanded that change. You think the right

05:27to organize unions came from the White House or Congress? No. It's when people without

05:33their labor, it's when we demanded that change and that protection. People were dying and

05:39they still do at work. They wanted human dignity and it was the people that organized in the

05:44streets. We showed up with our bullhorns, with our voices, with our real lived experiences

05:52and we held them accountable. We didn't disappear. We didn't shy down. We were unapologetically

05:57speaking truth to power. There's a reason that a lot of my colleagues don't want to

06:02have live telephone, a live, uh, what do they call it? Uh, town halls. Yeah, I know.

06:07I know. And, uh, you know, thing is, they all have offices that can take meetings. They

06:15all have hospitals, clinics, centers. So many of them have seasoned residents in their community.

06:22They need to raise their voices and speak up about what this really will mean to their

06:27community. It is devastating that some people are thinking, you know what? Just let it happen

06:34and see what happens. I said, no, I don't want anybody to die. So we're going to fight

06:39to save lives. We're going to fight against the corporations. We're going to fight against

06:45corporate greed because guess what? They are underestimating the people here. They're underestimating

06:52how much we love our communities and love our neighbors because hell, if they won't

06:58do it, we'll take care of the sick. We'll take care of our children. And you know how?

07:02Because we're going to make that institution move. Because I want you to repeat after me,

07:07fun care, not fun care, not fun care, fun care. Let's go save some lives. Thank you.

'Corporate Greed Kills': Rashida Tlaib Says GOP Paying For Billionaire Tax Cuts By Gutting Medicaid

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