McConnell is forced to delay vote on Senate GOP health-care bill until after July 4 Senate Republicans will delay a vote on their Obamacare replacement plan until after July 4. Enough Republicans senators to block the bill voiced opposition to it. Jacob Pramuk | Updated Moments AgoCNBC.com Senate Republicans will delay a vote on their Obamacare replacement bill until after July 4 as they face opposition from enough GOP members to block the measure, according to NBC News and other reports. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had pushed to approve the bill this week, before senators leave for a holiday recess. He was set to speak to reporters on Tuesday. As of Tuesday afternoon, five Republican senators — enough to block a procedural motion to proceed with the bill — said they would oppose the motion barring changes to the plan. A Congressional Budget Office score on Monday said that the proposal would lead to 22 million more uninsured Americans by 2026, only complicating matters for moderate GOP senators on the fence. President Donald Trump invited all senators to a White House meeting at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, according to NBC News and Politico. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Republicans face difficulties in winning over skeptical senators, as tweaks to appease conservatives could alienate moderates, or vice versa. The hurdles threaten to delay a key plank of the sweeping agenda Republicans hoped to pass when Trump won the White House and the GOP held both chambers of Congress. GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a swing vote, said Monday night she would vote "no" on the motion to proceed, tweeting that the Senate bill does not "fix the flaws" of Obamacare. She joined Sen. Dean Heller, a vulnerable Nevada Republican who previously said he would vote against advancing the bill as written due to its rollback of Medicaid expansion. On the conservative side, Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also said they would not back a motion to proceed this week for the bill as written. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah will also oppose the procedural move barring tweaks to the bill, according to the AP. They argue that the plan does not go far enough to repeal Obamacare. After meeting with Trump at the White House earlier Tuesday, Paul said the president is "open to making the bill better." He asked, "Is Senate leadership?" The GOP could still win skeptical senators over with amendments. House Republicans did the same to gather more votes before the chamber narrowly passed its own Obamacare replacement last month. The House GOP initially had to pull its health-care bill from the floor in March when it became apparent that it would not get enough votes. http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/27/senate-will-delay-vote-on-health-care-bill-until-after-july-4.html
They're all back on the bus to see if trump can convince them that the repeal effort is worth the effort, that it's not important that constituents are going to die if they succeed, what's important is that trump can claim a victory.
I hope this experience has the opposite effect of making millions of people demand single payer health care in this country. Clearly the Dems are ham-stringed by the obstructionist, special interest catering, toadies in the GOP and the GOP are well, obstructionist, special interest, toadies to begin with. The people need to demand universal health care NOW. It is the only solution better than the ACA.
"Pocahontas" sees an opportunity: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday that opposing the Republican health-care bill wasn’t enough and the Democratic Party should start running on a new national single-payer plan. "'President Obama tried to move us forward with health-care coverage by using a conservative model that came from one of the conservative think tanks that had been advanced by a Republican governor in Massachusetts,' she told The Wall Street Journal. 'Now it’s time for the next step. And the next step is single payer.' "Polling has shown government-provided health care to be a very popular notion among Americans. Depending on whether it’s described as a public option, Medicare for all, or federally funded universal health care, proposals are supported by 57 to 61 percent of Americans, compared with only 19 to 24 percent opposed." No wonder the Republican death cult hates her.
From a strictly practical political point of view, what was he thinking? Even I could have told him that trying to rush this thing through would backfire. Didn't he learn anything from what happened in the House? I don't think he's an idiot but I look in vain for another explanation.
