title:  Bought And Paid For: Paul Ryan Met With Insurance Lobbyists Before Presenting Trumpcare Plan
text: I m not sure why, after nearly a decade of Republicans gleefully sh*tting on the American people, I would suddenly expect that House Speaker Paul Ryan and his cohorts to realize they work for the us, not for the highest bidder. But alas, Ryan, with his gawdawful healthcare bill, that s guaranteed to give 10 million people the boot, while enriching the already rich, proved once again who his real constituents are, and it s not us. If you need proof, Ryan attended a fundraiser with health insurance lobbyists just two hours before rolling out the bill.The two things were related. The Thursday morning breakfast fundraiser he attended was hosted by a lobbying firm working to unwind the Affordable Care Act on behalf of health insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the big winners of Ryan s proposed legislation.The breakfast, according to an invitation, was sponsored by McGuireWoods PAC, the political action committee for the lobbying firm McGuireWoods. Blue Cross Blue Shield pays McGuireWoods $120,000 a year to lobby on changes to health reform, records show. Attendees of the event paid were asked to pitch in as much as $10,000.Source: The InterceptIt seems it was money well spent for the insurance company. The bill would allow insurance executives to make a lot more money. Companies can currently only deduct up to $1 million in salaries, per executive, from their taxes. The bill would remove that cap.It would also allow insurance companies to add a 30 percent surcharge if someone faces hard times and they let their insurance lapse. In other words, poor people will have to pay a lot more   a lot more. It would also put a real burden on the young, who might forgo insurance for now, thinking the 30 percent surcharge might not be a big deal in a few years.There is nothing about this bill that benefits the people of the United States, but Ryan is dressing it up and entering it into what he calls a beauty contest. This beauty contestant, though, is ugly both on the outside and the inside. In fact, what is that smell?Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images