Rand Paul Blocked By Armed Guards From New Obamacare Bill

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the Republican Senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, has tweeted out that he is currently being blocked by armed guards from viewing new, and the secretly kept Obamacare bill.

It was hours earlier that Paul tweeted that he heard that the Obamacare bill, being touted as Obamacare-lite by critics, is ” under lock & key, in a secure location, & not available for me or the public to view.”

I have been told that the House Obamacare bill is under lock & key, in a secure location, & not available for me or the public to view.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 2, 2017

The liberty minded Senator did not take kindly to this information and made his intention to share the bill with the public clear in another tweet.

I am heading to the secure location where they are keeping the House obamacare bill. I will demand a copy for the American people.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 2, 2017

Upon his arrival at a House hideaway in the Capitol, Paul claimed he was told he could not remove the bill and make it public. The Senator then held an impromptu press conference for media complaining about House Republicans’ lack of transparency, reports Politico.

WATCH:

.@RandPaul outside the "secret office for the secret bill." pic.twitter.com/fY8BAVqwvd

— Eli Yokley (@eyokley) March 2, 2017

Reports also came in that Paul brought a copy machine with him, presumably to make copies of the bill to share with anyone who’d listen.

.@randpaul wasn't allowed to see the House GOP's Obamacare bill. Brought his own copy machine, just in case. pic.twitter.com/KpAXhfltsV

— Eli Yokley (@eyokley) March 2, 2017

Politico reports that Paul had an exchange with a staffer as he tried to make off with the draft bill, which could be voted on later this month.

“I said I liked to get a copy and they said no go. She wouldn’t tell us anything really,” Paul said in an interview afterward. “Even if I were allowed to look at it, which it didn’t look like I was, how is that democracy?”

Republican aides said they believed the room on the first floor of the Capitol is being used for Energy and Commerce members to read the bill. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), a committee member, said he was also not able to read the bill and was told it was not available, explains Politico.

“It’s literally illegal in my state to do that,” Paul said in the interview. “You can understand for national security why we do it. But for goodness sakes for a healthcare bill? It’s crazy.”

The battle for transparency is likely a case that will leave those who want honest repeal of Obamacare completed, either an entire replacement of the legislation or a complete scrapping of it, not a watered down Obamacare-lite version which would keep key provisions of the old bill.

The plans for blowing up the Death Star were less closely guarded than the Republican replace and repeal bill. https://t.co/jwPQMyF0y8

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) March 2, 2017