From an article posted this evening in New York magazine comes possible news of a victory for the good guys.
Something big is happening in the Senate right now: The Republican plan, affirmed again today by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is facing dire peril from Republican defections.
We’ve read posts before about the developing opposition among GOP senators to the plan to repeal the ACA with nothing to take its place. Now comes news that Rand Paul, one of the leaders of the Republican opposition, is claiming support for his position from Donald Trump.
Paul has announced that he spoke with Trump and secured his agreement on this.
More important, as the article is telling us, is the news that that
Even more ominously for the Republican leadership, four other Republicans have joined (Senator) Corker to sponsor a bill delaying the bill that would repeal Obamacare for a month
The ostensible purpose of this bill is to allow Republican leadership time to craft an Obamacare replacement, which doesn’t seem any more likely to happen in the next month than in the past 7 years. The Corker bill appears to allow Senators who are unwilling to go public with their opposition a way to kick the can down the road.
It now appears that at least 7 GOP senators are unwilling to vote for any kind of “repeal it now and replace it later” proposal. This means that McConnell doesn’t have the votes necessary for repeal, even with reconciliation. And a replacement would take a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority, which isn’t going to happen.
If the New York article is correct in its reporting and analysis, this means that Mitch McConnell will be exposed as being unable to control his caucus, and the rubes who voted GOP will see a party that is not only unfit, but unable, to govern.
Even more importantly, it would mean that, even before the presidential inauguration, congressional Republicans are so busy kicking their own asses that our job will be that much easier.
And most importantly, it would mean that Obamacare, which with all its flaws is America’s greatest healthcare advance in decades, may be safe, at least for now.
Now on to saving Medicaid and expanding Social Security!