The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has issued their report on the Republican’s tax cut for the rich disguised as a health care plan, and it’s not pretty.
House Republicans were so anxious to repeal Obamacare and pass their joke of a replacement that they didn’t wait for the report on their plans impact. As it turns out, it may leave over 23 million Americans without health insurance. So quite naturally Republicans don’t want to talk about it.
One Republican who is real testy about it is Greg Gianforte. Gianforte is a candidate for Montana’s lone Congressional seat that should be a walk in the park for the GOP. Montana is a red state and when Trump put their congressman in his cabinet along with all the other white guys, the party just assumed it was their seat to keep. Wrong.
With Trump in the White House Americans, even in red-meat eating red states, are realizing the guy is a disaster. With Republicans stealing everyone’s health care to make sure millionaires and billionaires become richer, those seats are getting harder to hang onto. Democrat Rob Quist supports the Second Amendment and he wears a cowboy hat. He has a slim chance of winning the Montana Congressional Seat, especially now that Gianforte is beating up reporters.
Gianforte was giving an interview to a local station when Ben Jacobs, a journalist with The Guardian, interrupted to ask questions about the CBO report, which Gianforte has been ducking. Gianforte’s response, according to several witnesses (some with Fox News even) grabbed Jacobs and body-slammed him against a wall, and broke his glasses. It was also captured on a recording.
The candidate has been charged with a misdemeanor assault. The big question this raises is will it affect the outcome of the election, which is tomorrow (Thursday). The two largest newspapers in Montana, the Missoulian and the Billings Gazette, both retracted their endorsements of Gianforte.
Gianforte’s campaign issued a statement blaming Jacobs for being aggressive and described him as a “liberal journalist.” I suppose assault is bad to Republicans unless you’re assaulting a liberal journalist. After all, Donald Trump has described the press as “enemies of the American people.”
I don’t know if this will change anything. Voters didn’t seem to care that Donald Trump was a bully and encouraged violence and assaults at his rallies. Maybe Montanians will like the idea of a congressman who beats up journalists.
What’s next? Gianforte broke Jacob’s glasses (nerd!). Maybe Republicans will start shoving reporters into lockers and giving them swirlies and wedgies.
Creative note: I was more of a Mad Magazine fan when I was a kid and didn’t read comic books much. The only two I did get into for a while was Spiderman and The Hulk. I think every political cartoonist enjoys drawing Hulk.
I was getting a later start than I had planned last night. I was halfway through my first cartoon when this idea hit me. It was all over the news, especially MSNBC. I bounced it off a friend and former FLS colleague and she thought I should go with it. Around midnight I started all over again.
Clay smash first idea. Clay start over. Clay tired. Clay drink too much coffee.
Clay Jones can be reached at [email protected]