“Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.” (Otto von Bismarck). Or not made…two conservative Republican Senators kill TrumpCare….for now
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was handed devastating news Monday evening just hours after the Senate was gaveled back into session: Two more defections on his health care bill.
The dramatic and simultaneous announcement from Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Lee of Utah means McConnell officially does not have the votes to even begin debate on his legislation to overhaul the Affordable Care Act — and that the Republican Party’s years-long quest to kill former President Barack Obama’s legacy accomplishment is, for the time being, halted without a path forward….
“We should not put our stamp of approval on bad policy. Furthermore, if we leave the federal government in control of everyday healthcare decisions, it is more likely that our healthcare system will devolve into a single-payer system, which would require a massive federal spending increase,” Moran said in a statement.” (A)
Senate minority leader New York Sen. Charles Schumer said in a statement that the “second failure of Trumpcare is proof positive” that the bill is “unworkable.”
“Rather than repeating the same failed, partisan process yet again, Republicans should start from scratch and work with Democrats on a bill that lowers premiums, provides long term stability to the markets and improves our health care system,” Schumer said. (B)
“With four solid votes against the bill, Republican leaders were faced with two options: go back and try to rewrite the bill in a way that could secure 50 Republican votes, a seeming impossibility at this point, or do as Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, had promised and team with Democrats to draft a narrower, bipartisan measure to fix the flaws in the Affordable Care Act that both parties acknowledge.”(C)
(A) Latest health care bill collapses following Moran, Lee defections, by MJ Lee, Phil Mattingly and Ted Barrett, http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/politics/health-care-motion-to-proceed-jerry-moran-mike-lee/index.html
(B) More GOP Senators Say No, Killing Chances For Republican Health Care Bill, by Scott Neuman, http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/17/537803874/gop-senators-come-out-against-republican-healthcare-bill-ensuring-it-cant-pass
(C) Health Care Overhaul Collapses as Two More Republican Senators Defect, by Thomas Kaplan and Robert Pear, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/us/politics/health-care-overhaul-collapses-as-two-republican-senators-defect.html