Trump will now try to destroy the American health care system.
3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
He will find fewer and fewer congressional allies in that fight.
I guess McCain decided that since he’ll be dead in a year he no longer cares.
Could also be an ice-cold serving of revenge for the way Trump denigrated him, eh? Wrapped in the mantle of heroic maverickness.
I just can’t muster enough respect for McCain to view it either way — I think the Republican’s just knew the bill was crap (that would bring them — not the constituents and obviously not anyone struggling with health care, but them, personally) and needed a fall guy to take them out of their misery, and why not the guy who’s got other concerns and won’t run again.
Honestly I can imagine the boy scouts thing bothering McCain more than Trump’s remarks about him on the stump last year. McCain’s an odd duck — an honorless man with an exaggerated, theatrical sense of his own honor — which I think this played into.
“that would bring them” a world of grief, I’m saying
Heh. I see that Booman in the next story agrees with me.
Heh.
It could be more decisive than Mr. Longman suggests. Democrats will be inspirited to fight Trump’s proposals more strongly than ever, as will the activist base, because they have on their side not only virtue but the prospect of successes. Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, will add demoralization to division, and they will presently discover that Trump so does not have their backs. Meantime, as Mr. Longman points out, most of the remaining work to be done will require Democratic support to start with, probably in the House and certainly in the Senate.
This vote is a turning point in the development of government social policy in the United States — and it may be far more than that. We have seen history made in the wee hours of the morning.
Agreed, especially since (as BooMan has pointed out more than once) the Republican legislative agenda is a cafeteria line that starts with repealing the ACA…if that tray slips off the rails, then the subsequent items (tax reform, etc.) get jammed up behind it — especially since they eventually lose the ability to work within the 50-vote requirements of budget reconciliation, which Trump is still baffled by (“Trump Still Doesn’t Understand the Filibuster,” as BooMan wrote recently; I’m too tired to put the hyperlink but you all read it).
Wishful thinking.
The House took 3 separate runs at HCR before they found a bill to pass.
They will be back. They got far closer than the owner of this blog thought they would.
This means they will probably succeed in getting other stuff done.
These confident predictions of GOP failure are just laughable at this point.
No Booman, you don’t know. Stop pretending you do.
see my comment below. I think McCain [and Graham] is up to something. things are way way off the rails, the Boy Scouts incident, and ppl seem to think Muller is closing in. very dangerous time.
Graham?
“I vas chust following orders…”
It would seem he either does Whatever Addison Asks or he is terrified of the huge Trumpite SC base—the heartland of the New Confederacy.
But he made an overt statement that Trump would be in serious trouble if he fired Mueller.
yes, what I had in mind. the TPM account of the vote last night is interesting. I’m not saying the fever is breaking for all the Rs, but some is enough. health care and incapacity to govern, , the military situation [policy by tweet which the brass then must ignore -?- [T as CIC] and the other craziness [Scaramucci, BSA].
here’s link,
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/inside-the-chamber-obamacare-senate-vote
Good be a lot of wishful thinking on my part, but Mark Sumner’s summary on DKos might support your speculation (and it’s a concise, enjoyable [because we win in the end!] bit of writing):
https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/28/1684812-Republicans-fail-to-repeal-Obamacare-as-Senate-d
rama-reaches-fever-pitch
broken link
Odd. Try this one: https://m.dailykos.com/stories/1684812
McCain got his revenge. the donald is back in that empty hole looking for dirt.
Go make your own blog then. Booman provides the best congressional analysis than anyone that I know, even when I think he’s wrong (debt ceiling and fiscal cliff).
I for one appreciate it and I’m sure many others do, too.
Since the nation’s multitudinous problems are all systemic, it is hard to see even a victorious skirmish as a likely turning point.
I don’t want to trivialize or sensationalize what just happened…but am I the only one thinking back to Trump’s “I like people who don’t get captured” remarks on McCain last year…and imaging a Scorsese-character-type smile on McCain’s face as he turns triumphantly to Trump after casting this vote?
You’re not alone. And I just read in one of the news stories that McCain was on the phone to Trump just before he went into the chamber to cast his vote.
McCain might not be threw. The Iran deal. The donald is weak and adrift. The congress took away the donald’s power to remove Russian sanctions and McCain can make sure he cannot get out of the Iran nuke deal as there is no reason to follow this president into war.
Booman writes:
It has already been destroyed, Booman. I say that both on personal experience and long-time observation. “American health care” is a joke. Big Pharma, Big Med, Big Insurance and Big Food…helped of course by Big Advertising and Big Media…have done such a number on the “health” of Americans that we are now the most obese country in the world. We are in the middle of a cancer nightmare; our children have largely lost the ability to move or think, and any advances in longevity have come via a helpless bed inside of a terminal care system that sucks money out of the misery of the only partially alive.
Trump is just putting the finishing touches on that destruction while he eats his chemburgers and makes his faces.
The U.S. ranks last among developed nations in healthcare.
Its overall healthcare rating lags behind cartel-ridden Colombia, broke Cyprus, equally broke Greece, chronically broke Portugal and The (fabulously wealthy supporter of Islamic terrorists) United Arab Emirates, just to name a few.
Trump didn’t do this.
He’s just trying to make a profit off of the misery.
The corporate-owned Deep State did this.
Good work, fellas.
You can report back to your controllers now.
AG
P.S. That aliens thing?
Just a joke.
I think…
One joke deserves another. Listen to those tubas!
He can’t do it just through tweets. His HHS Secretary will have to change some rules. Those rules must go through publication in the Federal Register, a comment period, collation and addressing of comments (unless those rules have been changed by Congress).
Failure to follow those procedures are open to lawsuit in the courts.
Insurance companies pleading uncertainty will be lying; they can create certainty by pulling the strings on their guys in Congress. But they won’t. It will be very clarifying if anyone is amplifying what is going on.
Or McConnell can succeed in browbeating his wayward Senators. Or Ryan can come up with a different all-GOP package to toss to the Senate.
Meanwhile the days to the end of the fiscal year tick on.
Absolute Democratic unity in making the Republicans own their own policies is essential, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Tester, Ms. Heitkamp, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Donnelly.
And if some GOP nitwit trolls Democrats with a vote on a single payer amendment either as Medicare-for-all or VA-for-all, vote solidly for it in principle but identify the GOP-created traps in it. Do not badmouth single payer or act like it is decades away just because the insurance companies in your state (Hartford, CIGNA, Anthem, among the “liberal” Senators listed) want your litmus test. In fact, the only viable solutions for the healthcare financial issue are either of the single-payer forms or a highly regulated all-payer solution such as exists in France, Germany, Switzerland, and other countries in which the insurance companies essentially function as disbursement clerks with not latitude in paying claims.
The game now is the maximal Democratic position that ensures no bill passes. What is the price for Democratic votes?
I predicted the McCain move to some friends when he came back for the vote – an excuse to rush back to DC despite his illness – then voted yes on motion to proceed, a way to buy time to talk with fellow senators. my guess, there’s more in the pipeline. I’d go w josh marshalls estimation – “it’s happening now”
imo the Boy Scouts incident was a turning point – extremely horrifying, overtones of the tomorrow belongs to us [? iirc] scene in the Holocaust miniseries and horrendously inappropriate “story” not to mention Scaramucci’s language. way way off the rails
That’s Cabaret but otherwise you’re dead on.
the song, but there’s a scene at a youth rally in a mountain retreat, the protagonists see.
and yes, I think it scared a lot of people, the BSA event
McCain surprised me after he voted to allow further debate. But it came out well. Thanks John, for doing the right thing this time around.
In other news I see Russia is retaliating on the Obama sanctions. Now that the congress has put them in a bill, Trump won’t be able to rescind them without congressional approval. Kinda puts an exclamation point on Trump-Putin dealing – and their expectations.
my theory is he did that to buy time to network, etc. and not tip his hand. and get their act together. there’s also the thing about making it difficult to fire Mueller as well as the R sanctions bill. how many Rs are now becoming alarmed at the T insanity? I would imagine everyone in the military after he “made military policy” w a couple early am tweets. since he’s backed into a corner, and N Korea is there for a distraction
Or a head fake that led Trump to crow about his expected win. Like Lucy snatching the football at the last second from an imaginary totally confident Charlie Brown.
we’ll see I guess. if the fever has broken much planning and networking – is required. T and R ppl shouldn’t have cancelled the recess.
I have, like so many others, spent the last eight months in despair and disbelief. Every day, more stupid tweets, more stupid legislation proposed, more threats to the American people.
I went to bed last night with a heavy heart, expecting to wake up this morning to bitter news of another blow to our health. I even sent one more message to Portman, just one more.
I woke up with a feeling of dread and resignation, and checked the iPad, and burst into tears. I know it is just a small victory, but it’s a victory nonetheless. We can ride it out and gear up for the next battle, but I’m going to hang onto this with both hands while I can. They didn’t beat us this time, they didn’t.
One wonders if McCain took the hit for Graham and/or others who couldn’t put up with this farce any longer, since in all likelihood McCain will never run for office again.
For the immediate future, Democrats will need to force the issue of maintaining the monthly insurer payments, either via affirmative legislation (debt limit negotiations, etc.) or by making progress in the appeal before the DC Circuit.
“as I said from the beginning…”
Simply pathological.
How strong is the 3 vote line? I suppose the senate “leader” could narrow the bill down to just repealing the medical device tax, haha. Would that be enough of a victory for the CEO of FailedNation, Inc?
One wonders what change could be sold as substantive enough to swing one of the “mavericks” votes, since Addison McC’s bill was already close to “symbolic” in that it basically simply ended the (supposedly hated) mandates. Of course, if one understands insurance, the mandates are an essential component of the entire regulatory scheme and their simpleminded repeal catastrophic—but actual health insurance policy is irrelevant, of course.
Looks like a long August for the Repub Team, with daily tweet-flogging by the Great Leader. Why doesn’t hee-ro McCain simply repair to AZ today and get his affairs in order? If he’s not in DC, he can’t rethink himself….leave the turncoat ladies to fend for themselves! I’m sure Profiles in Courage Graham (Bed-wetter, SC) will leap to their aid!
Has “what goes around comes around” ever been more apt?
Not having Ted Kennedy’s participation due to glioblastoma in the health care debate/legislation in 2009 made the task more difficult. The “just say no GOP Senate” took a hit in April 2009 when Specter bolted from the GOP. With Kennedy’s appointed replacement Kirk voting yea, the bill passed in December 2009 with needed 60 votes.
On the MA special election that sent Scott Brown (R) to DC:
As if McCain hadn’t long been a trooper for GOP “business as usual.”
Would like to think that McCain’s glioblastoma diagnosis caused him to reflect on himself, Ted Kennedy, and others, but even if it did, doubt it would be compelling enough for him to buck his political party. The chickenhawk had publicly and crudely dissed the warhawk and this was an opportunity for the warhawk to stick a poke in the eye of the chickenhawk. Surprising because it’s never been McCain’s style to let personal animosity between him and another Republican get in the way of his support for the GOP position.