While you were sleeping…

From the House Democratic Leader's Press Office

In the dead of night, Senate Republicans voted to begin the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act. For tens of millions of Americans who will lose health coverage, including seniors who will pay more for everything from prescriptions to preventative care, this is the stuff of nightmares.

New York Magazine: In the Middle of the Night, the Senate Voted Against Keeping Health-Care Coverage for Contraceptives (http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/01/the-senate-just-voted-to-roll-back-womens-healthcare.html)

Think Progress: In the middle of the night, Republicans took a big step toward repealing Obamacare (https://thinkprogress.org/republicans-step-repealing-obamacare-b9df2516f213#.b7ofm03uu)

Esquire: 30 Million People Lost Their Healthcare in the Dead of Night (http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a52234/senate-obamacare-vote/)

Health groups warned of the impacts of the Republican Senate's vote on the millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions:

As bleary-eyed Senators were still exiting the Capitol, the non-partisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation released a study claiming that some 52 million Americans below the age of 65 have pre-existing conditions that would rid them uninsurable if a repeal resulted in a return to a pre-Obamacare insurance market.

"This is a conservative estimate," the study added, noting that current surveys do not include "sufficient" detail on conditions such as HIV and hepatitis C. (New York Daily News)

And, as CNBC puts it, repealing the law is "just what the doctor ordered for wealthy investors":

The race to repeal Obamacare by President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Congress will have one immediate side effect beyond any doctor's office: a large tax cut for the wealthiest Americans.

Urged on by Trump, the Senate overnight adopted a budget resolution that clears a path for eliminating the tax-and-spending provisions of the Affordable Care Act by simple majority vote -- no Democratic cooperation required. That means repeal of two provisions targeted at high-income households: a 0.9 percent hospital insurance tax on earnings above $250,000 for couples and a 3.8 percent tax on capital gains, dividends and other nonlabor income above that same threshold. (CNBC)

Read more: Huffington Post: Obamacare Repeal Would Give 400 Super-Rich U.S. Households A Giant Tax Cut (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obamacare-repeal-tax-cut-400-richest-american-householdsus5876e523e4b05b7a465dd4ee)

Senate Democrats didn't go quietly last night. They stood their ground as Republicans voted against every Democratic amendment to protect Americans' health coverage.

The vote to advance didn't happen without a fight. Democrats, who might not be able to stop Republicans but sought to make it as uncomfortable as possible, took advantage of an arcane Senate tradition known as a "vote-a-rama," forcing Republicans to take votes on some of the more popular provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Every Democratic amendment, including provisions that some Republicans favor, such as allowing children to remain on their parents' health care plans, failed. (McClatchy DC)

Senate Republicans attempted to gavel them into silence:

Dan Diamond ?@ddiamond (https://twitter.com/ddiamond)

Kind of extraordinary. Democrat after Democrat is coming up to argue against Obamacare repeal, being drowned out by gavel.

Dan Diamond ?@ddiamond (https://twitter.com/ddiamond)

Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren among the parade of Democrats drowned out when defending Obamacare.

(https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/819429472935890944)

Republicans falsely claim they have a mandate to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If that were really the case, why would the Senate GOP cowardly vote to dismantle the health and economic security of hard-working Americans under the cloak of darkness?

Democrats will fight every day and every night to protect care and coverage for the American people. We will not stand by and allow Republicans to Make America Sick Again.