Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Republicans in a Bind on Health Care

This was a stunning defeat for McConnell. Not only did his big tax cut bill itself go down, but Moran, for one, made it clear that he wouldn't even vote to begin debate on the newest dead fish. That's not disagreement. That's outright insurrection.

[...]

[The GOP health care bill], it should be noted, is a fish that died sometime in 2015. The Republicans passed it knowing that then-President Barack Obama would veto it, and they also knew the votes weren't there to override him. So it was a safe, base-stroking vote for Republicans like Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Subsequent to the vote, however, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the 2015 bill would have stripped health insurance away from 33 million Americans. Now, people like Murkowski have to decide if they want to vote to do this for real. Missouri's Roy Blunt already has said that a full repeal that kicks the really monstrous effects down the road past the 2018 midterms wouldn't get 50 votes in the Senate. But, make no mistake, the basic mindset of the Republican majorities is that healthcare is neither a human right nor a responsibility of the people acting together through their government. That has not changed.

  Charles P Pierce
Indeed, it never will.

Maybe the bill will be a better deal after lunch, eh?

(And, Jesus, where have his defenders on Twitter gone?)

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