What happens to CHIP if the Tax Reform package passes?

It’s been 2 months since CHIP expired, leaving 9 million children at risk of losing their health insurance.

Pennsylvania is struggling with their budget and Republican legislature that is reluctant to approve the state’s share of this program.

But what’s going to happen after the passage of the Tax Reform package when $1.5 trillion dollars gets yanked out of the federal treasury because corporations have to have their cuts so that they can indulge in rewarding their wealthiest investors and a frenzy of stock buybacks?

Oh, yeah, they’re not going to invest in jobs or raising salaries if there is no incentive in the package to MAKE them do that. Do you think they’re stupid? No. Do they think YOU’RE stupid? Yes. Absolutely.

So, about 172,000 Pennsylvania children are going to be losing their insurance soon. Very soon. It’s an emergency. Speaking of emergencies, how would you like to be a working class parent barely able to afford CHIP who now has to pay out of pocket for an emergency room visit? Well, for those of us who can imagine what that’s like, we are horrified by the prospect.

So, what’s going to happen if the Tax Reform package passes before CHIP is reauthorized? Will there be any chance that it will be reauthorized?

Or will Republicans point to the budget and scream “We can’t afford it!!!”

I’m betting the cynical handwringing will commence in earnest.

We should judge our moral authority as a country by the way we treat our children. By that measure, we are deadbeats and other nations should avoid us.