Leave the ACA, Repeal & Replace the GOP!

From New York Magazine:

Late last week, Donald Trump revived “repeal and replace” — the GOP’s short-lived plan to kill Obamacare first, and draft a replacement second. GOP senators Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and Ben Sasse promptly endorsed this way out of their party’s health-care quagmire.

Most observers saw these developments as threatening Mitch McConnell’s fragile hopes of bridging his caucus’s divide on health-care policy. Politico declared, “Trump further disrupts Obamacare repeal efforts.”

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Doctoring the Facts

From THINK PROGRESS:

The Senate health care bill makes massive cuts to Medicaid. But you wouldn’t know that just from listening to Trump administration officials on the Sunday shows.

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A Future that’s Gloomy. Thanks, Senator Toomey

From Philadelphia:

Senate Republicans unveiled their version of a bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act today—and behind that legislation is Pennsylvania’s own Sen. Pat Toomey.

The bill includes cuts to Medicaid that are more severe than the health care legislation passed by House Republicans last month. Compared to the ACA, the House bill would leave 5 million more people who rely on Medicaid uninsured next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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Turtle Hacks

From PoliticusUSA:

It isn’t a surprise, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell kept his health care bill a secret because it is even worse than the House passed Trumpcare bill.

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13 Has Never Been a Lucky Number

From CNN:

Just hours after House Republicans managed to pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, the Senate is signaling it will write its own proposal — announcing a group of 13 Republican members who will be responsible for crafting the Senate’s plan.

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Name That Toomey

From USA TODAY:

Sen. Pat Toomey voted against the debt-limit compromise last week, partly because he didn’t think the budget-balancing recommendations of the bipartisan committee it created would stick.

A week later, Toomey finds himself serving on the committee he voted against.

The Pennsylvanian was one of six Republican members appointed Wednesday to Congress’ new 12-member “supercommittee.”

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It’s enough to drive you crazy, if you let it!

From TALKING POINTS MEMO:

The GOP continued its bloody walk into the Medicare buzzsaw Wednesday, when 40 out of 47 Senate Republicans voted in support of the House GOP budget, and its plan to phase out and privatize the popular entitlement program.

The test vote failed by a vote of 57-40. But the roll call illustrates that Medicare privatization — along with deep cuts to Medicaid and other social services — remains the consensus position of the GOP despite the growing political backlash against them.

Voting with all of the Democrats against debating the plan were Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) — both 2012 incumbents — along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against it because it wasn’t radical enough.

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Balancing Act

From TALKING POINTS MEMO:

For Speaker John Boehner, the announcement of a deal funding the government caps one of the most dangerous period of his tenure as leader of his party, a long negotiation that tested his control of his members and his reputation with a general public that has yet to form a clear opinion on his leadership.

While he avoided a potentially disastrous shutdown, only time will tell whether he kept his hold on his party. Already some conservative Republicans are expressing their dismay at the deal.

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