Brett Guthrie’s “Victory” is Rural Kentucky’s Loss

Brett Guthrie is out here celebrating like he just handed every working family in Kentucky a golden ticket. He calls the new Republican-backed bill a “victory” and claims it “protects the most vulnerable” while “cutting waste.” But let’s be honest: this isn’t a victory. It’s a betrayal. A betrayal wrapped in talking points and tied up with a flag pin.

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Medicaid Reform? More Like Medicaid Gutting

Guthrie says the bill “secures Medicaid for those who need it most,” but let’s read between the lines. What he really means is: cut off Medicaid for people who are poor, working-class, or too sick to meet some arbitrary definition of ‘deserving.’

He’s parroting the tired lie that Medicaid is overrun with “able-bodied adults who choose not to work.” In reality?

• Many of those adults are working in jobs that don’t offer insurance

• Others are in school, caregiving, or living with untreated mental illness

• And let’s not forget rural Kentuckians who can’t drive 30 miles to the nearest job or clinic

When Guthrie talks about “commonsense policies,” what he means is kicking people off healthcare to make a budget line look prettier. And who benefits? Not mothers and children,  but corporate donors and federal contractors.

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"Historic Tax Cut" For Whom?

Guthrie cheers a “historic tax cut” for American families. But let’s be honest: if you’re not a hedge fund manager or running a fossil fuel lobby, you probably won’t even notice it. The real winners here are:

• Billionaires and multinational corporations

• Private insurers and hospital conglomerates

• The same people who bankroll Guthrie’s campaigns

Meanwhile, rural clinics close, schools scrape for funding, and your neighbor with diabetes gets told to skip meds or get a second job.

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“Unleashing Innovation”? Try Deregulation in Disguise

Guthrie praises “unleashing American energy” and reauthorizing spectrum auctions. Fancy words that mean deregulation and privatization of public resources. This isn’t about helping Kentucky innovators. It’s about letting big telecom gobble up spectrum licenses and letting oil and gas companies drill without oversight.

And while he’s bragging about broadband auctions, there are still places in his district that can’t stream a Zoom call, let alone access telehealth.

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“Fiscal Responsibility” is a Lie When You’re Punching Down

Brett Guthrie says he’s eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse.” But here’s what that actually looks like:

• Cutting food assistance

• Slashing Medicaid rolls

• Undermining Social Security disability support

• Privatizing veterans’ services

Meanwhile, no clawbacks for Pentagon contractors, Wall Street bailouts, or pharma monopolies. Real fiscal responsibility would be taxing the rich and investing in people. Guthrie’s version is just cruelty in a suit.

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“Delivering on Promises” But Not to You

Guthrie loves to say this bill delivers on the GOP’s promises. And it does, to billionaires, insurers, and anti-welfare ideologues. But to the rest of us? He’s breaking promises every day:

• To rural hospitals, already on life support

• To working families living paycheck to paycheck

• To veterans and seniors trying to stretch their prescriptions

• To young people stuck between bad jobs and no healthcare

This isn’t conservative stewardship. It’s political theater meant to distract from a long-term plan to hollow out the safety net and hand it over to the private market.

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Call It What It Is

Brett Guthrie wants a pat on the back for passing a bill that hurts more Kentuckians than it helps. He talks about protecting “the vulnerable”, then guts the very programs that keep them alive. He talks about “unleashing innovation”, while leaving rural infrastructure decades behind. He claims “historic” progress, while small towns lose access to care, food, and dignity.

This isn’t leadership. It’s managed decline, on purpose.

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Final Thought

To Rep. Guthrie: You don’t get to brag about protecting mothers and seniors after voting to rip away the programs that protect them. Your “victory” is our crisis. And we’re not buying the spin.