“So, in 19 days, the government funding runs out, which means if there is not an agreement between Democrats and Republicans on a spending bill, the government will shut down. Now, maybe that’s what the Republicans want. They’re withholding in violation of law, rescinding funds, also in an unlawful way, that is money we’ve agreed upon, they’re just unilaterally cutting. Maybe they just want to shut the whole thing down. But if they don’t want to shut down the government, they need to come to the table, negotiate with Democrats,” Schiff began, gearing up to use a possible looming government shutdownto crank up his violent rhetoric.

“Now let me tell you a little bit about what is at stake right now, because these negotiations are not happening at all, really, right now, but when they do take place, if they do take place, it’s not in a vacuum. They’re taking place at a time when millions of Americans are poised to lose access to healthcare. This is from a number of causes. We’re going to lose health care because of massive cuts Republicans are making to the VA and its staff, cuts they’re making at the National Institute of Health, NIH and a lot of the research it’s doing, cuts it’s making by getting rid of top expertise at the CDC and making it more difficult for people to get vaccines,” Schiff said.

“But most significantly, in their big ugly bill, they made trillion dollars of cuts to Medicaid and they eliminated tax credits people need to get health care under the Affordable Care Act. So, as a result, in particular, of those changes, millions of people are going to lose access to healthcare completely, and millions more are gonna have the most extraordinary increase in their health care costs that we’ve ever seen. By some estimates, those Americans who buy their health insurance on the exchanges are going to see their premiums go up by 75%. 75%. Already we’re seeing, as a result of that big ugly bill, hospitals closing down,” he claimed.

Schiff then cranked up the violent rhetoric.

“So that’s what’s at stake in this fight. It takes place at a time when our country is headed down a dangerous road to dictatorship, when we are seeing things in this country we never would have imagined. When we’re seeing the administration use its coercive power to cripple universities or to go after law firms who represent unpopular clients, or to silence the media, or extort payments from the media in exchange for mergers,” Schiff declared.

“We’re seeing the requirement that companies pay tariffs or get penalized or that they give a share of their profits to the federal government or can’t export their products. This is unprecedented. We’re seeing abuses at the Justice Department unlike anything in American history, where the weight of that department is used to go after the president’s enemies,” he claimed.

“This is the road to dictatorship. So, we cannot approach this funding debate like it is a normal debate at a normal time with a normal administration. You want my vote for a funding bill? You’re gonna have to agree to restore health care for people that are going to be losing it by millions. You’re going to have to agree to reduce the cost of healthcare instead of having 75% health care costs imposed on the American people. And you’re gonna have to agree to end the use of federal government money for lawless, corrupt purposes. To me, that’s what’s at stake in this funding debate,” he concluded.

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