Progressive slams Medicaid work rules as slavery, calling cuts a death sentence

The bloodless bureaucrats of Washington have struck again, and this time, their ledger-book cruelty could cost lives.

In a brazen act of legislative butchery, House Republicans—led by New Jersey’s own Congressman Tom Kean Jr.—advanced a bill this week that would gut Medicaid, strip health insurance from millions, and impose draconian work requirements on the poorest Americans, all to bankroll another round of tax giveaways for billionaires and corporate titans. 

The move has sparked fury among advocates, with progressive firebrand Lisa McCormick branding the GOP’s work mandates "slavery" and accusing Kean of signing a "death sentence" for vulnerable constituents.

The numbers don’t lie: the Congressional Budget Office estimates the Republican plan would kick at least 7.6 million people off Medicaid by 2034, including 73,000 in Kean’s own district. Hospitals—already reeling from pandemic strains—would face devastating funding cuts, with New Jersey’s Overlook Medical Center alone staring down a $3 million loss. 

And while the GOP peddles the fiction that these cuts target "waste, fraud, and abuse," the truth is far uglier: 92% of Medicaid recipients already work, care for loved ones, or are too sick to labor. The rest? They’re about to be tossed into the abyss.

"This isn’t reform—it’s a death warrant," McCormick seethed in an exclusive interview. "Tom Kean Jr. just voted to let people die so his billionaire donors can buy another yacht. These work requirements? They’re slavery by another name—forcing the poor to jump through hoops for basic survival while the rich pocket their tax breaks."

The scenes outside the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing were Dickensian. Dozens of disability advocates in wheelchairs lined the halls, pleading with Kean as he strode past them, silent. 

Inside, California Democrat Nanette Barragán introduced Sasha Kirilenko, a 23-year-old Kean constituent and a student at Raritan Valley Community College with cerebral palsy whose independence hinges on Medicaid. 

"Who here is standing up for Sasha?" Barragán demanded. 

Kean’s response? A vote to slash the very program that keeps her alive.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Citizen Action also blasted Kean’s betrayal, warning the bill would:

• Kick 1.8 million New Jerseyans off Medicaid via Kafkaesque paperwork traps.
• Endanger 1 in 3 NJ children and 60% of nursing home residents.
• Spike premiums for 500,000 ACA enrollees.
• Ban gender-affirming care for trans youth and target Planned Parenthood.

"Kean chose billionaires over babies," fumed NJCA’s Laura Waddell.

Even Governor Phil Murphy—normally measured—unloaded on Kean’s "callous" vote, citing terrified parents "rationing insulin" and seniors "losing cancer treatments." Former State Senate President Steve Sweeney was more plain-spoken: "The pre-MAGA Tom Kean would’ve vomited at this. Now? He’s just another Trump toady."

But the GOP’s cruelty extends beyond Medicaid. Their government funding bill, which Kean also backed, slashes $13 billion from food stamps, housing, and mental health programs to fund a $6 billion Pentagon boost—effectively stealing bread from the poor to feed the war machine.

McCormick, who nearly toppled Senator Bob Menendez in 2018, is now rallying opposition with a Medicare-for-All push and a Huey Long-inspired "Share Our Wealth" plan to tax the rich and save Social Security. 

"Power belongs to the people," she declared. "It’s time to take it back from these vampire elites."

As for Kean? His fate may be sealed. 

Local media have skewered him for dodging constituents, and with 2026 looming, McCormick predicts his career will be "dead and buried"—just like the lives he’s gambling with today. She warns, however, that voters must be careful not to nominate a 'do-nothing drone Democrat' who will join the raucous, but ineffectual, political establishment in serving the same billionaires who finance Republicans like Kean.

Ultrarich Democrats are dangling money to members of Congress who say the right things, and withholding money from those who do not.

The Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court in 2010 unleashed torrents of cash into American politics, handing vast influence to a small group of partisan billionaires.

For all their riches and ambitions, McCormick said Democratic contributors and their big-money advisers have created a sense of powerlessness that has led some voters to conclude that their vote is fairly useless, but the incendiary reformer says her campaign against Menendez proves that ballots are the only thing that matters.

"Republicans are banking on Americans not reading the details. But the math doesn’t lie: this is a direct transfer of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich. It’s being paid for by taking food off tables, stripping health care, and leaving communities more vulnerable to climate disasters," said McCormick. "The people must nominate Democrats with a plan to grow the economy—instead of a blueprint for deepening inequality." 

McCormick is calling for serious reforms: limiting personal wealth to $50 million, eliminating the Social Security tax cap so wealthy Americans pay the same tax rate as everyone else, and ending tax loopholes that benefit only billionaires and corporations.

One thing’s certain: in the GOP’s America, the poor must work for slave wages to deserve healthcare. 

But the idle rich always get their bailouts.