Mitch caught in a vice
by digby
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| An example of the headlines Republicans are facing back home |
If you’re still at work madly refreshing your twitter feed for the latest on Don Jr’s shocking admission, take a minute to call your Senators and Representatives’ offices and register your complaint about the health care bill. The pressure is on since they all got an earful from constituents over the break. But don’t let up. They have 15 days before they break again and if hey don’t get it done during that time, it may be over.
This article in Vox lays out the state of play in detail. It’s not pretty for McConnell. He’s got about a dozen Senators balking. (It an ugly indictment of the Republican Party that there aren’t more. Every last one of these horrible people should be held to account for their failure to step up. ) Here’s the conclusion:
It adds up to what seems like an impossible task for McConnell. A critical mass of senators in the middle and on the right oppose the bill, and they are trying to pull the plan in dramatically different directions.
His best hope, it seems, is cosmetic changes to give any converts cover and the threat of failure if Republicans don’t undo Obamacare as they promised to do for seven years.
The Senate leader remarked last week that if Republicans fail to pass their own legislation, they would have to work with Democrats on a smaller bill to shore up the health care law.
It sounded like both a threat — and an admission that Republicans really might fall short.
I’ve said from the beginning that the smart move was to pass a fix for the exchanges, leave the rest of it alone (try to) rename it Trumpcare and go home. It sounds like that’s McConnell’s fallback. Whether his zombie caucus would go for it is unknown. And whether the orange weirdo would sign it is too. But it’s the best play and the best solution.
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