Today might be April Fools’ Day, but Republicans’ agenda is no joke. Republican lawmakers have made it crystal clear that if they take control of Washington, they plan to raise taxes on half of Americans, make health care more expensive, gut protections for preexisting conditions, and do absolutely nothing to cut prescription drug costs for hardworking families. 

HIGHER DRUG PRICES: Yesterday, the overwhelming majority of House Republicans voted against capping the cost of insulin at $35 per month, further confirming Senator Chuck Grassley’s assertion that Republican majorities would do nothing to lower the cost of prescription drugs. 

The Independent: “Most House Republicans vote against lowering the price of insulin”

NBC News: “But the overwhelming majority of House Republicans opposed the bill, underscoring the steep climb it faces when it arrives in the Senate, where it will need support from at least 10 GOP senators to pass if all Democratic-voting senators back it.”

MSNBC: “Grassley was effectively admitting what many have long understood: If his party controls even one chamber of Congress after this year’s midterm elections, legislation to address the cost of medications almost certainly won’t pass. Policymakers have to act quickly, the longtime GOP senator seemed to concede, before his own party makes governing on the issue effectively impossible.”

HIGHER HEALTH CARE COSTS: Senator Ron Johnson has made clear that repealing the Affordable Care Act, making health care more expensive and undermining protections for preexisting conditions, is a key plank of the Republican agenda. 

Washington Post: “Sen. Ron Johnson says Obamacare should be repealed if GOP wins power back”

Axios: “Johnson told the Breitbart News Daily podcast on Monday that Republicans need to ‘get our act together’ for the 2024 election so they can ‘make good on what we’ve established as our priorities.’”

HIGHER TAXES: Republicans have lined up to support the plan Senator Rick Scott – the head of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm – literally put in writing that could raise taxes on half of Americans and sunset Social Security and Medicare in five years. 

Washington Examiner: “Rick Scott denies his plan calls for tax hikes on low-income earners”

New York Times: “But most adults who pay no income tax do work, and the plan makes no distinctions. ‘All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax,’ it states.”

New York Times: “And for all of Mr. Scott’s evasions, the criticism is not coming just from the ‘militant left’ that he denounced. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated that ensuring all households pay at least $100 in income taxes would leave families making about $54,000 or less with more than 80 percent of the tax increase. Those making less than about $100,000 would shoulder 97 percent of the cost.”

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