The health care bill passed by the House Republicans on Thursday would rip away insurance from an estimated 24 million Americans -- while also delivering a massive tax cut for America's wealthiest families.
While Republicans would never publicly admit that they are harming the poor and sick to help out the rich, a new poll shows that Republicans actually believe that rich people deserve everything they have -- and they also believe the poor simply need to work harder.
A new Pew survey finds that fully 66% of Republicans believe that rich people got that way by working harder, while only 21% believe that they're typically rich due to luck or favorable circumstances.
Conversely, 56% of Republicans said that being poor is more likely to come from a "lack of effort" on poor people's parts, while just 32% said people are poor due to circumstances beyond their control.
Among all voters, just 34% blame poor people for their own lack of success, while 53% think poverty comes from circumstances beyond people's control.
Throughout the health care debate, some Republican congressmen have made statements that align with this view of what makes people successful.
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), for example, said that people who take care of themselves and "lead good lives" deserve to pay less for their health insurance than people with preexisting conditions. And Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) said that poor people would have health insurance under the Republicans' plan if they simply made smarter decisions and didn't spend money on "that new iPhone."
