Dean Hellers Reward for Caving to Trump on Health Care? $1 Million From Mitch McConnell.

[TomCADem]

At the end of the day, the GOP is all about looking for programs to gut to fund tax cuts for the rich.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/08/04/dean_heller_caved_on_health_care_vote_gets_million_plus_from_mcconnell.html

Republican Nevada Sen. Dean Heller was the first "moderate" GOP senator to announce his opposition to his caucus' Affordable Care Act repeal-and-replace plan. His opposition made sense: He represents a purple state (Hillary Clinton won it in 2016) which expanded its Medicaid program via the ACA in 2014. Many of Heller's constituents would have lost coverage under the repeal bills favored by most GOP legislators. And he has to run for reelection in 2018.

But then ol' Heller (get it? Like Old Yeller? Whatever, it's Friday) changed his mind! After being seated next to/heckled by Donald Trump at a high-profile White House lunch (see above), Heller went on to vote "yes" on the "skinny repeal" bill that Senate leaders were trying to to push through. While that bill wouldn't have cut Medicaid per se, it eliminated Planned Parenthood funding and would've likely triggered large premium increases; passing it also would've put Senate Republicans over a barrel in "conference committee" negotiations with House Republicans who strongly favored Medicaid cuts.

The skinny repeal bill, of course, failed. So now Heller is on the record having voted for a damaging bill backed by an unpopular president, which will hurt him with independent voters and whatever Democrats were considering crossing the aisle for him. But he also went on the record opposing the bill early in its existence, which likely annoyed loyal Republicans. It's a lose-lose, and Heller's updated approval ratings reflect as much.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Said this before,

here in Nevada we knew Heller would collapse and take the money. So that gives him something like 4.5 million in his war chest.

Well,we Nevada Dems are kicking off our Voter Registration Tomorrow. Going to be fun burying this sucker.

[dchill]

2. $1 Million From Mitch McConnell....

has gotta have Putin's DNA all over it.