The GOP Health Plan -or-If You're Not Wealthy You're Screwed

[Guinevere]

Heller caved (I'm sure there will be lots of goodies under his Christmas tree, paid for by the American people, some of them, with their lives). Pence broke the tie.

Shame on you, John McCain, coming back from your sick bed to strip health care from average Americans, knowing full well yours is secure. You're no hero. #heroessavelives (and yes, I know this was the procedural vote, only, doesn't matter, one more vote would have stopped it all).

And to the Republicans. Never, ever, ever, will I vote for, speak well of, or support any one of you, at any level. Ever. And before someone says "well you wouldn't have anyway," that's entirely incorrect. #allinwithrube

[Lord Jim]

Shame on you, John McCain, coming back from your sick bed to strip health care from average Americans, knowing full well yours is secure. You're no hero.

I think that assessment may be a little premature...

John McCain just delivered a whale of a speech...

The finest I've heard delivered by a major political figure of either party in a long time...

[Guinevere]

McCain has a long and distinguished history of taking bows prematurely, saying the right words, but never actually doing the right thing. I don't believe one bit of what he said means anything to him. And it's easy to stand up and take those bows, when your own healthcare is guaranteed.

[Big RR]

I'm pretty disgusted with him as well; there was no reason for him to travel to DC and vote to advance this bill. He's proven himself to be a Trump lackey (one would think he'd have better sense after the crap Trump dished out to him, but I guess he doesn't).

As for republicans, I will say I respect the stance of Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski; it couldn't have been easy to resist the push/puill of their colleagues and the threats of the white house, but I do applaud them voting their consciences instead of jumping on the bandwagon.

[BoSoxGal]

I had hoped his impending death would awaken a conscience in him with regard to this issue, but clearly not. I don't really care anymore how quickly his glioblastoma kills him, he's sentencing hundreds of thousands of people to an unnecessary early death by his support for repealing ACA.

Bastard.

[Joe Guy]

I only heard parts of his speech but unless I misheard it, he said that although he voted to advance this bill, he wouldn't support it in its current form.

I don't see any reason to dislike McCain for that.

[Lord Jim]

Here's his entire speech:



I really think the level of vitriol I've seen expressed by some against McCain in the last few posts is way over the top...

[BoSoxGal]

It's just words; actions matter more.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.theroot. ... 233267/amp

[Joe Guy]

I don't see how anyone could watch that speech and have something negative to say about McCain.

Wishing an early death to McCain is completely inappropriate and BSG should be ashamed of herself.

[Lord Jim]

Look, for a number of reasons, I would have preferred that the MTP had failed today, but I think a little perspective is in order on just what did and didn't happen with this vote:

First, nothing at all has been passed by the Senate regarding the ACA, medicaid expansion, or anything else related to healthcare. At the moment, technically what the Senate has agreed to do is debate the original House Bill, which doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of passing.

The next thing thing that will be taken up is an amendment to replace that bill with a full repeal with no replace, that also doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of passing...

After you get past that, you've the exact same dynamics involved between the moderates and right-wingers that you've had all along that makes final passage of anything extremely problematic...

What this vote did do was provide cover to GOP Senators on both sides to be able to say, "look, I voted to be able to debate the issue"....

Who can then turn right around and vote against any particular bill that's proposed...

It strikes me as a pretty extreme mischaracterization to call what passed today (even though I was opposed to it) a vote for an "early death for hundreds of thousands of people"...

[BoSoxGal]

I don't see how anyone could watch that speech and have something negative to say about McCain.

Wishing an early death to McCain is completely inappropriate and BSG should be ashamed of herself.

Reading comprehension problems much? I didn't wish him an early death, I said I didn't care how long it takes for his terminal cancer to kill him because he's willing to support a process that will end up in hundreds of thousands of PREVENTABLE deaths. That's fucking sick. His cancer is incurable and I didn't give it to him. So fuck you, JG.

[Long Run]

Yes, mere hyperbole has become the new mainstream. I seem to recall many who bitterly complain about this procedural vote to allow a debate complaining just as bitterly when something they wanted on the floor was not allowed a debate.

[Lord Jim]

he's willing to support a process that will end up in hundreds of thousands of PREVENTABLE deaths.

I'm sorry BSG, but at the moment I see absolutely nothing to support that contention.

Did you watch the video of McCain's speech? (I hate to sound like wes, but this really is an example of where seeing everything he had to say is important.)

[Econoline]

Full text of McCain's speech.
Okay...I will give him the benefit of the doubt for just a little while longer.

• I voted for the motion to proceed to allow debate to continue and amendments to be offered. I . WILL . NOT . VOTE . for the bill as it is today.

• “Why don’t we try the old way of legislating in the Senate, the way our rules and customs encourage us to act. If this process ends in failure, which seems likely, then let’s return to regular order.”
  
  “Let the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee under Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray hold hearings, try to report a bill out of committee with contributions from both sides. Then bring it to the floor for amendment and debate, and see if we can pass something that will be imperfect, full of compromises, and not very pleasing to implacable partisans on either side, but that might provide workable solutions to problems Americans are struggling with today.”

[Joe Guy]

I had hoped his impending death would awaken a conscience in him with regard to this issue, but clearly not. I don't really care anymore how quickly his glioblastoma kills him, he's sentencing hundreds of thousands of people to an unnecessary early death by his support for repealing ACA.

I don't see how anyone could watch that speech and have something negative to say about McCain.

Wishing an early death to McCain is completely inappropriate and BSG should be ashamed of herself.

Reading comprehension problems much? I didn't wish him an early death, I said I didn't care how long it takes for his terminal cancer to kill him because he's willing to support a process that will end up in hundreds of thousands of PREVENTABLE deaths. That's fucking sick. His cancer is incurable and I didn't give it to him. So fuck you, JG.

Did you watch the speech, BS? Could you show me where McCain said he is willing to support a process that will kill people? Did you not understand what he meant by "I will not vote for this bill as it is today"?

I'm not going to argue with you over the meaning of what you wrote when you said you don't care how long it takes for him to die. Others can make up their own minds.

[BoSoxGal]

Show me where he's ever supported expanding healthcare coverage. Oh, you can't - with the exception of drug importation, he's voted against ACA, against reauthorization and expansion of CHIP, and for repeal of ACA when his party couldn't get it passed because they didn't have a stooge in the White House.

If you think I give two shits what you think of me, you're delusional. I have every right to focus my prayers on people who deserve my compassion, and to not care about people who don't care about me or millions of other Americans, including millions of CHILDREN, who would suffer terribly without ACA or some significantly improved system.

If the bastard McCain grows a conscience and spends his final months advocating for universal coverage like the lion Ted Kennedy did, then I'll spare him a prayer. Not before.

eta: If you honestly think my not caring when one terminally ill man dies makes me a terrible person where his years of voting history not caring about millions of his constituents and more millions of Americans makes him a hero, you're the one with seriously fucked up values - not me.

[Joe Guy]

In that speech, McCain is supporting a compromise between Democrats and Republicans in order work to achieve everyone's goal of improving our health care system. I'll wait until a bill is created and details released and whether or not he supports it to decide whether it's okay for you to wish him dead.

If you think I give two shits what you think of me, you're delusional.

That's a good thing...

If you honestly think my not caring when one terminally ill man dies makes me a terrible person where his years of voting history not caring about millions of his constituents and more millions of Americans makes him a hero, you're the one with seriously fucked up values - not me.

I don't understand the 'hero' part of your sentence but I think you're judging me based on some kind of twisted logic because I said you should be ashamed of yourself.

I think now is the time for you to say you're putting me on ignore...

[BoSoxGal]

John McCain just proved he is the Senate’s biggest fraud.McCain, that rascally maverick, flew into the upper chamber to vote on a motion to allow debate on his party’s health care nightmare, despite being diagnosed with brain cancer only a few days ago. He then had the gall to crown this reckless, horrible move—one that upends years of precedent in the Senate—with some Sorkin-esque pablum condemning the Senate for turning its back on the democratic process and calling for a return to regular order. And that is all it takes to impress some members of the political press.



[Can't copy the image on this one, but another tweet reads:] "With the nation closely watching, this McCain speech is an incredible admonishment of McConnell."

It is no admonishment at all. His vote, in fact, was a gesture of complicity. McCain has performed this gross two-step throughout his recent career, taking the high road in his rhetoric while going along with his party on whatever depraved route they take. He is not a maverick; he is a conventional Republican through and through. He criticizes Donald Trump but does nothing substantive to resist Trump’s agenda. He takes to the Senate floor to bemoan the death of bipartisanship and the failure of his beloved institutions, but sanctions a legislative process that willfully violated regular order at every possible turn and in the most flagrant way possible.

The Senate’s lack of order reflects a broader social breakdown. There will be no return to “regular order” for the Americans who will suffer and die if health insurance is taken away from them. “Regular order” is blown apart, and the sick irony, which McCain fails to grasp, is that he helped light the fuse.

“Both sides have let this happen,” he complained today, and in a way he is correct. For proof, see the Democrats who hugged him after he cast his vote and applauded his return to the chamber. “Let’s trust each other,” McCain implored. “Let’s return to regular order. We’ve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle.” But is it really possible to forge bipartisan comity with a man who, like the rest of his party, is running basic democratic practices into the ground? Democrats will have to make a stark choice between being the GOP’s allies or its obstacles. Lives depend on the choice they make.

[Big RR]

[quoteWhat this vote did do was provide cover to GOP Senators on both sides to be able to say, "look, I voted to be able to debate the issue"....

Who can then turn right around and vote against any particular bill that's proposed...][/quote]

Perhaps, but then if they didn't have that cover they might have been forced to sit down with the democrats to try and hammer out a bipartisan bill--you know, what McCain was railing about. But rather than push them toward compromi0se, he dragged himself into to give them the cover they needed not to have the discussions, and kissed Trump's ass to boot.

Pretty stupid IMHO.

[Lord Jim]

and kissed Trump's ass to boot.

Again, I refer you to McCain's speech...

There's a lot of very obvious non-Trump ass kissing...

ETA:

A couple of examples from the text of McCain's speech:

...Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the Internet. To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood....


...“We are an important check on the powers of the Executive. Our consent is necessary for the President to appoint jurists and powerful government officials and in many respects to conduct foreign policy. Whether or not we are of the same party, we are not the President’s subordinates. We are his equal!...