Dems sharpen knives to 'punish' GOP for 'making the same mistake' they made 8 years ago

With House Republicans planning to fund their tax cuts by taking an ax to Medicaid, Democratic strategists tell Politico they're getting ready to make the GOP pay a massive political price.

As Politico puts it, Democrats "are preparing to punish [Republicans] again" as they did eight years ago when the GOP tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which the Congressional Budget Office estimated at the time would cut off tens of millions Americans from their health insurance.

The current plans to slash Medicaid could be particularly painful for Republicans, these Democratic strategists added, because they're being used to offset the cost of big tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans.

Democratic pollster Brian Stryker tells Politico that this policy is essentially like leaving a hanging curveball right over the plate for Democrats to hit out of the park.

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“It’s the first thing that will be such an obvious big deal to voters,” he said. “It’s a really big deal to voters, and the story isn’t complicated. They want to cut health care. There isn’t a complicated story on fiscal policy or process here.”

Democratic operative Dan Sena, meanwhile, said the GOP were in danger of putting themselves in the same dire political position they were in back in 2018 when they lost 41 seats in the House of Representatives.

“In 2017, the Republicans’ inability to effectively manage health care was detrimental to them, and they’re making the same mistake again,” he said. “This is an enormous pocketbook motivator for people to get out and vote against them months from now.”