McConnell Delays Senate Healthcare Vote Until McCain Returns
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I guess we are going to have to wait a bit longer to see whether the Republicans will pass their ‘Better Care Act’ or not. John McCain just had a blood clot removed from above his left eye, so McConnell is deferring a vote on the matter until he returns. Fortunately, McCain will recover just fine, but he is at home recovering and indisposed. The vote was going to be iffy any way you slice it. Susan Collins and Rand Paul have both said they will not vote for the Republican’s version of Obamacare. Paul says it is not a true repeal and therefore he won’t go for it. Mike Lee was waiting to decide whether he would vote yes or no depending on tweaks to the legislation. Ted Cruz will vote for it as an amendment he put forth to allow states to offer more varied health insurance choices has been included. After all that, even if McCain were there and voted yes, it would probably be a 50-50 vote.
This means that even should McCain return and vote for the legislation, there’s a good chance it won’t go through. It’s just that tight. It shouldn’t be. This time I agree with Paul, it should have been a full repeal. I understand what Ted Cruz is doing here and it is certainly better than nothing. But it doesn’t resolve the monstrosity that is Obamacare. Of course, insurance companies are claiming that Cruz’s amendment will cause premiums to spike… I highly doubt that. Regardless, without a full repeal, this healthcare initiative will fail and it will hurt Americans as it does so. We should have a full repeal and NO replacement. Let the free market fix this as it should.
From Red State:
The Senate will be waiting a bit longer to take up consideration of a GOP-led health care reform effort following a medical procedure to one of the GOP’s members.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted out a statement on Saturday night, saying consideration would be deferred to a later date while Senator John McCain recovers from have a blood clot removed above his eye.
My statement on @SenJohnMcCain pic.twitter.com/WSqc9axgzm
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) July 16, 2017
McConnell is already pressed for votes as two Republicans, Susan Collins and Rand Paul, have said they will not vote for the bill, and Mike Lee has yet to decided if he will support it or not. The best case scenario for the Majority Leader, if McCain were there, is a 50-50 vote. Without McCain, he cannot get the bill passed.
Then again, McCain has expressed his own reservations concerning the bill. “The revised Senate health care bill released today does not include the measures I have been advocating for on behalf of the people of Arizona,” he said in a statement on Thursday. McCain said that he would file amendments that would address concerns of leaders from his state about how the bill would affect Medicaid. I don’t know the details of that, but knowing McCain, those are progressive concerns. The bill does not satisfy constitutional conservatives on the right and it is not leftist enough for RINOs such as Susan Collins. Maybe Trump is right… doing healthcare is harder than getting peace in the Middle East.
McCain’s medical condition was discovered during a routine exam. Good thing because something like that can certainly kill you. He had the procedure done at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. And I’ll bet that he paid for the very best care out there. Just sayin’. We have no idea when McCain will actually return, so healthcare is on hold for the moment. Considering the vote tally, that’s probably a good thing. “Thanks to @MayoClinic for its excellent care — I appreciate your support & look forward to getting back to work!” McCain tweeted today.
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