What a joke:
Mere hours before the Senate prepared to vote on a “skinny repeal” health care bill that would get rid of Obamacare’s individual mandate, among other provisions, Senate Republicans finally released the bill they plan to vote on.
The Health Care Freedom Act would repeal the individual mandate, which requires people to buy insurance or pay a fine; the law’s employer mandate, which requires employers to provide coverage to their employees; and its medical device tax (temporarily). States would also have the ability to waive some Obamacare requirements for health plans.
True to its name, the “skinny repeal” bill is a mere eight pages long.
Several Senate Republicans, like Lindsey Graham and John McCain, say they don’t want this bill to become law, but of course they’re probably going to vote for it anyway. These phonies claim they’re satisfied by assurances that House Speaker Paul Ryan has given them that he’ll convene a so-called “conference” with the Senate.
But that’s meaningless, because this conference almost certainly won’t produce some kind of compromise bill that both chambers can agree on. So when the conference fails, Ryan can simply move forward with a vote on this “skinny repeal.” Then it can go to Trump’s desk for his signature—dude doesn’t care what he signs—and this burning heap of trash will indeed become law of the land. Of course, McCain and Graham could have prevented all this, which shows just how hollow their objections are.
Anyhow, before we get to the inevitable skulduggery in the House, the Senate has to pass this radioactive eight-page nightmare. And when’s that vote going to take place? In the dead of night. If only Senate Republicans had any sort of problem with that.
