Senate Republicans to make another attempt at Obamacare repeal
Source: Politico
Some congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump arent giving up on their effort to roll back the health care law and are trying to write legislation that could get 50 Republican votes, according to multiple administration and Capitol Hill sources.
Trump met with three Republican senators on Friday about a proposal from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). to block grant federal health care funding to the states and keep much of Obamacares tax regime. White House officials also met with House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), according to two sources familiar with the meeting.
Trump seemed optimistic about moving forward on the bill on Friday after the shocking setback this week appeared to cripple his legislative agenda, according to a White House official. Yet several senior Republican Senate aides and allies of GOP leaders cautioned against any feelings of momentum coming from the White House on Saturday, particularly after Trump again instructed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to change the Senate rules to a simple majority and gut the legislative filibuster.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/29/senate-republicans-obamacare-repeal-241128
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result..."
Mr.Bill
(24,317 posts)They figure they only have to bribe one Senator.
Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)work.
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)Thew
(162 posts)They may be betting that McCain may need to resign to deal with his health.
And, we can be sure, the replacement nominated by what's-her-name in Arizona will be hard hard right.
**it's what's-*his*-name now. Forgot Arizona has a differeng gov now. Was thinking of finger-shaking Jan Brewer
a Brownback-Walker wannabe. He takes his orders from ALEC - he even vetoed a bill passed by the right wing AZ Legislature because ALEC said so.
He's another former CEO - started Cold Stone Creamery - who doesn't know how to govern.
on edit: fixed a stray apostrophe
Chrysanthemum
(188 posts)Didn't McCain say that Ducey urged him to vote no?
Why then would Ducey pick a replacement for McCain who would go ahead and vote yes?
(Don't get me wrong; Ducey is a jerk!)
DesertRat
(27,995 posts)who would vote no. The other Senatorial candidates are far more conservative than McCain (and Flake).
alp227
(32,047 posts)It's not a her, it's Gov. Doug Doouchey (forgive the misspelling).
lunasun
(21,646 posts)still_one
(92,366 posts)standard radiation and chemo treatment, but I believe that he will be given the opportunity to be treated with the newer immuno therapies as Jimmy Carter was. Keytruda and Opdivo
I sure wouldn't be writing Senator McCain off, but more than that, they cannot do a simple majority now based on the way Senator McCain handled the situation:
They are not going to be able to do it through a bill because the Senate can only consider one
budget reconciliation bill per topic per year, and they blew it with this last fiasco:
"I'm not sure if it's really being appreciated just how comprehensively the Republicans were just fucked over.
See, the Republicans have been trying to pass these godawful healthcare bills through a process called budget reconciliation, which, among other things, protects the bill from being filibustered in the Senate and only requires a simple majority of 50 votes (rather than 60, which the Republicans don't have).
The thing is, the Senate can only consider one budget reconciliation bill per topic per year. Of course, if the bill dies in committee and never comes to an official vote, it doesn't count- which is why they've been able to keep hammering away at the issue.
This bill, though, was allowed to come to the Senate floor, because the Republicans thought they'd secured the votes. Collins, Murkowski and the Democrats would vote no, everyone else would vote yes, and Pence would break the tie. And then McCain completely fucked them. And it was almost certainly a calculated move; he voted to allow the bill to come to the floor. Had McCain allowed it to die in committee, McConnell could have come back with yet another repeal bill; but he let it come to a vote, and now they can't consider another budget reconciliation bill for the rest of the fiscal year. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass any kind of healthcare reform now.
So now they're caught between a rock and a hard place. Either they concede defeat on the issue and try again later (causing a big, unpopular stink that could damage elections if they try it before the midterms, or risking losing the slim majority they already have if they wait) or they actually sit down with the democrats like adults and write a halfway decent healthcare bill.
This is amazing.
"
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9387508
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)and called it the Trump Make Healthcare Great Act, he'd be 100% behind it. All that matters to Trump is getting a bill passed he can take credit for.
msongs
(67,433 posts)yardwork
(61,698 posts)Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)The GOP want healthcare gone...and they know this is their last chance to kill it.
harun
(11,348 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)videohead5
(2,181 posts)Does not really cut Medicaid.it keeps all of the taxes on the rich and block grants it to the states.no way Rand Paul or the freedom caucus will vote for this.
Jim__
(14,083 posts)From reddit:
The thing is, the Senate can only consider one budget reconciliation bill per topic per year. Of course, if the bill dies in committee and never comes to an official vote, it doesn't count- which is why they've been able to keep hammering away at the issue.
SJMULE
(193 posts)to God's party. Just ask the crazy televangelists
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Only option would be to amend a bill with Majority Vote.
stopbush
(24,396 posts)As the skinny bill didn't pass, they can bring up as many health care bills under reconciliation as they want until one passes. And even with that, they can always pass a second budget resolution that allows them to pass another bill via reconciliation.
Jim__
(14,083 posts)They say it can consider only 1 bill per topic per year. From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
Under Senate interpretations of the Congressional Budget Act, the Senate can consider the three basic subjects of reconciliation spending, revenues, and debt limit in a single bill or multiple bills, but it can consider each of these three in only one bill per year (unless Congress passes a second budget resolution). Consequently, in the Senate there can be a maximum of three reconciliation bills in a year, one for each of the basic subjects of reconciliation.
This rule is most significant if the first reconciliation bill that the Senate takes up affects both spending and revenues. Even if that bill is overwhelmingly devoted to only one of those subjects, no subsequent reconciliation bill can affect either revenues or spending because the first bill already addressed them.
tclambert
(11,087 posts)Donald supposedly wants to do tax cuts as his next big priority. But if they have to go through a process Democrats can filibuster, well, they won't be able to arrange 60 votes to invoke cloture. So . . . might as well go golfing.
Jim__
(14,083 posts)From reddit:
Emphasis mine. Budget reconciliation wasn't actually meant to be used for healthcare bills, it's meant to be used for, well, budgetary concerns. They're forcing a square peg in a round hole by arguing that the funding and tax portions of the ACA fall under "budget legislation", so that makes things a bit weird. The ACA repeal bill would, I believe, affect the "spending" and "revenues" subjects; so they've now basically blown their chance at passing anything else through reconciliation this fiscal year.
That is qualified with an I believe. I believe the US fiscal year ends Sept 30. We should find out pretty quickly.
moonscape
(4,673 posts)In response to a tweet that said: "Read it was an amendment to the house bill that was voted down. McConnell pulled the bill. No final vote. Reconciliation still available."
Link to tweet
Jim__
(14,083 posts)That article said it did come to a vote; but the author did acknowledge that he could be wrong.
tblue37
(65,483 posts)They were attempting a slick 2-reconciliation maneuver, and they NEEDED big Medicaid
cuts in the healthcare bill to provide wiggle room for permanent cuts in their tax bill.
Since they didn't pass a budget last year, this reconciliation counted as last year's. They get one more for the next fiscal year, which starts on Oct. 1.
Therefore, they can use the budgetary reconciliation process once more and will try to use it for the tax cuts they want. The reason Mitch tried that slick 2-reconciliations maneuver was because they needed to cut some spending by way of the ostensible health care bill in order to provide revenue neutral wiggle room for their tax "reform," because they hope to make those tax cuts permanent. If they are not revenue neutral, they will expire in 10 years.
Trump couldn't understand why they insisted on doing healthcare first, but that is why--to use the reconciliation trick twice to avoid the filibuster. But since the new fiscal year would prevent them from using the second one, they needed to get healthcare done before Oct. 1.
And THAT is why Mitch was in such a desperate rush on the healthcare bill--and why they needed to cut Medicaid.
Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)Rollo
(2,559 posts)And I doubt that McCain, Collins, and Murkowski would vote for this back door method of pushing through another health care fiasco. McCain says he values tradition, after all. And Collins/Murkowski will see right through this ruse.
Plus, come 2020, the lack of the filibuster option might bite the GOP in the ass, bigly.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)The sink holes in the rumpublican party should be enough to engulf mira lago. If not, we will be there when needed.
bagelsforbreakfast
(1,427 posts)Republicans will still be talking about retooling a one-party "Obamacare" repeal plan for a Senate vote?
7 years from now?
If D's retake the house in 2018, that would make it interesting to see what they'd say then...
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,590 posts)It's like the zombie apocalypse -- the attempts to repeal just keep coming...
The GOP is so desperate for a win they'll turn back flips through a ring of fire to get something Donnie Two Scoops can scribble his name on and hold it up to the camera and say, "Look, I can sign my name on whatever is put in front of me!"
Blue Idaho
(5,054 posts)Is passing some fucked up ill considered mess just to say they passed "something." I really think that right now it's a game of hot potato. The trick is to have the bill die in the other guys side of congress so the blame goes to that part of this dysfunctional government.
"Don't blame me, we passed a bill. It's those other guys you should be mad at."
VMA131Marine
(4,145 posts)Trump needs to get his white whale
Loki Liesmith
(4,602 posts)McCain wants regular order. He'll get it now.
barbtries
(28,810 posts)they can't think of a better way to spend their time? it's weird - when Obama was president i thought they were just being obstructionist. now it appears they cannot get out of their own way. keystone congress
LW1977
(1,236 posts)DallasNE
(7,403 posts)So, could Meadows hold his nose on this and vote for it without repeal and without the tax cuts? Sounds like too much of a sell-out to me. And again, it bypasses regular order making it a Republican only measure. Need to see more of the details and the CBO score. Don't see how this gets Collins vote. Where might Murkowski stand on this - that will be the key. McCain has already left town and won't be back until after Labor Day.
regnaD kciN
(26,045 posts)...whereupon the House Teapublicans will rewrite it in accordance with Ryan's original extra-draconian bill. Then they'll take it back to the Senate and try to stampede it through, on the grounds that "this is our one shot -- take it or leave it."
logosoco
(3,208 posts)to make sure that the American people get so little.
I really, really think the Democrats should step up now for Medicare for all or single payer or whatever. Something that actually gives citizens something for what they are paying for. It could really boost the party and give real folks real help.
BumRushDaShow
(129,361 posts)or the scheduling or the vote process. They can craft and announce all sorts of things (as they have done in the past) and ALL of it will die in the committees that are all controlled by the GOP.
The only thing they can do is "go on the road" and try to sell their proposals -maybe something like a provision to require the government to negotiate prescription drug prices, which could be done via an ugly compromise to give them something to get something (although the teabaggers would never go for any of our "somethings" anyway so that path is probably moot). And if that were to take place, because it would have to be a soul-selling compromise, DU would go ballistic.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)logosoco
(3,208 posts)I guess sometimes I get lost in the moment of putting politics aside and just making the world a better place! I forget about the repubs and the teabaggers.
As much as I enjoy politics, sometimes I really hate it!!
Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)the ACA right now...if your bring up single payer, you play into their hands.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Until next year? So he'd need 60 to try again?
I'm worried he'll try and push it through while Hirono and McCain are in chemo- he's that shitty.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)so that only 50 votes would be needed.
McConnell doesn't want to change the rules, because then they're stuck with that, when the Senate goes under Democratic Party control. Trump doesn't care about that, of course.
Pluvious
(4,315 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)will never get single payer at that time and thousands will die if we lose the ACA including some on this site ...we will need a super majority even to get the ACA back...this is our shot, our only shot, for quite a while.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)They all made strong promises. Any bill will do, just so they can have an ad that says "I fulfilled my promise & repealed Obamacare."
regnaD kciN
(26,045 posts)Remember how we thought repeal was dead when the House pulled their bill months ago?
turbinetree
(24,710 posts)if he gets this "block grant" BS health care measure to the states, do these ass**** senators and congressmen and woman get to share in the fun of having this money divvied up for them also, because after all, they are from the said state, so they can now join in on the fun and get the bend over just like everyone else, because after all they are a citizen of that state and they should be counted in, to get only 53% health care and pay up over 42% in there own overhead costs, like they are trying to do to everyone else.
And by the way he should have to forfeit his VA benefits just so that he can't double dip.
Vinca
(50,302 posts)(We'll change it back later.)
bucolic_frolic
(43,257 posts)They have no good choices here. This is delightful.
Egnever
(21,506 posts)Something does need to be passed. I am grateful for Obamacare but it does need some tweaking.
If these clowns could actually stop acting like idiots and actually try to get together and fix it they would be doing the country a favor.
Sadly it isn't about the country anymore it's about team wins and that is just heart breaking.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,209 posts)Because it would still be the ACA. They want to destroy it and replace it with something they can be "proud" of.
Egnever
(21,506 posts)If they hadn't named it themselves they would not be faced with having to repeal Obamacare.
This is entirely a situation created by the gop and their unhinged talking points. They have screwed themselves and us in the process.
An adult party would take the lumps and get to work on making Obamacare better.
These clowns are just going to keep self flagellating apparently.
2naSalit
(86,765 posts)never learn.
Nitram
(22,853 posts)head, they just get back up and keep coming.
Doug the Dem
(1,297 posts)DarthDem
(5,256 posts)n/t
Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)Until Sarah Connor tricks them into an industrial metal smasher and throws the switch on them.
SHRED
(28,136 posts)It'll fail with the rabid right.
still_one
(92,366 posts)budget reconciliation bill per topic per year, and they blew it with this last fiasco:
"I'm not sure if it's really being appreciated just how comprehensively the Republicans were just fucked over.
See, the Republicans have been trying to pass these godawful healthcare bills through a process called budget reconciliation, which, among other things, protects the bill from being filibustered in the Senate and only requires a simple majority of 50 votes (rather than 60, which the Republicans don't have).
The thing is, the Senate can only consider one budget reconciliation bill per topic per year. Of course, if the bill dies in committee and never comes to an official vote, it doesn't count- which is why they've been able to keep hammering away at the issue.
This bill, though, was allowed to come to the Senate floor, because the Republicans thought they'd secured the votes. Collins, Murkowski and the Democrats would vote no, everyone else would vote yes, and Pence would break the tie. And then McCain completely fucked them. And it was almost certainly a calculated move; he voted to allow the bill to come to the floor. Had McCain allowed it to die in committee, McConnell could have come back with yet another repeal bill; but he let it come to a vote, and now they can't consider another budget reconciliation bill for the rest of the fiscal year. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass any kind of healthcare reform now.
So now they're caught between a rock and a hard place. Either they concede defeat on the issue and try again later (causing a big, unpopular stink that could damage elections if they try it before the midterms, or risking losing the slim majority they already have if they wait) or they actually sit down with the democrats like adults and write a halfway decent healthcare bill.
This is amazing.
"
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9387508
Now perhaps the POS that occupies the WH may try to something without Congress, but that will go through the courts it won't be up to trump
Bengus81
(6,932 posts)No wonder he was all over Twitter on Sat wanting "that arcane" 60 vote majority tossed out.
Hugin
(33,189 posts)This is sheer hatefulness.
And, should be administratively put to an end... Along with this hateful and evil Teapublican movement.