You can tell U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R. TN) is feeling the heat on how the Senate GOP is handling health care:
“It’s a very awkward process, at best,” he told reporters. “There are no experts. There’s no actuarials. … Typically, in a hearing, you’d have people coming in and you’d also have the media opining about if a hearing took place, and X came in and made comments.”
Corker’s frustrations come as Republicans continue to struggle with how, exactly, to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The House barely passed its bill, which is going nowhere, earlier this month. Senate leaders delegated the task of drawing up a bill in that chamber to a group of 13 Republicans who have been quietly meeting. Corker said he went to one of their meetings to offer input because he’s worried they’re going to unveil a final bill that hasn’t been shaped by public hearings or media analyses.
“Those are all informative, right?” Corker asked. “This process, not being that manner, can create a lot of blind spots. To me, I’d rather have the input as we move along than a bill be produced and all of a sudden it’s the product and then everybody opines.”
It’s funny watching Corker run away from the GOP on health care but also on Trump as I noted in the past:
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) issued a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump’s administration Monday evening, telling reporters the White House must find a way to reverse its “downward spiral.”
Corker, a Trump ally who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the criticism following reports that the president revealed “highly classified” information during a meeting with Russian officials last week.
“The White House has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and in order. It’s got to happen,” Corker said on Capitol Hill.
“Obviously, they’re in a downward spiral right now, and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips [with] all that’s happening,” he added.
Top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, disputed the reports, saying that the president did not “discuss sources, methods or military operations” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Reports in The Washington Post and other media outlets, however, did not say the president discussed “sources, methods, or military operations” with Russian officials, but did reveal intelligence from a secret source.
Of course War Veteran and Military Attorney, James Mackler (D. TN), hasn’t been shy about pointing how eager Corker was to join the Trump Administration:
Mackler stopped for a visit in traditionally Republican Williamson County on Thursday night, where he shared his pitch to run against his entrenched U.S. Senate incumbent. His first stop of the day was in Chattanooga before making his appearance in Franklin, an area where Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton by a 63-29 margin in November.
"I think at this point we heard that we are in a downward spiral, and it's important to note he said 'they,'" Mackler said in an interview with the USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE. Earlier this week, Corker acknowledged he felt the White House needed to regain control in the wake of reports that Trump revealed classified information to Russian officials.
"Sen. Corker tried very hard to become a part of this administration, and now he's trying to distance himself from it. But we need more than timid words of hollow disapproval," Mackler said.
Well said. Let’s pull off a big upset victory next year. Click here to donate and get involved with Mackler’s campaign.