McConnell, GOP prepare a showdown over secret health care bill
McConnell, GOP prepare a showdown over secret health care bill
By Steve Benen
As things stand, they're actually doing this.
Senate GOP leaders have set a timeline to vote next week on legislation to repeal large chunks of the Affordable Care Act, even though they don’t yet appear to have secured enough support to pass it. [...]
GOP aides and others familiar with the negotiations said they anticipate the Senate bill’s text will be released later this week. The CBO is expected to release its estimate of the Senate bill’s impact on the federal budget and insurance coverage early next week, and a vote could potentially be held next Thursday, before lawmakers scatter.
As the Wall Street Journal report makes clear, the Republicans' legislation -- the life-or-death bill that will be voted on next week -- does not yet exist. What's more, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not yet secured the 51 votes he'll need to advance the measure.
But he and the GOP leadership are moving forward anyway. Politico had a related piece noting that McConnell and his cohorts are going through with this, "potentially leaving rank-and-file lawmakers with no more than a week to review legislation that would affect millions of Americans and one-sixth of the U.S. economy."
"Review" is itself a generous term under the circumstances. It might be better to say "speed-read."
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, will likely have even less time with the proposal, since Senate Republicans don't intend to unveil their secret bill until after it's presented to the Congressional Budget Office. It creates the very real possibility that nearly half of the nation's elected senators, representing more than half of the American people, will only have a day or two to scrutinize legislation that would overhaul the nation's health care system.
McConnell swore he'd never try to govern this way. His assurances, we now know, were a lie.
READ MORE: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mc...
By Steve Benen
As things stand, they're actually doing this.
Senate GOP leaders have set a timeline to vote next week on legislation to repeal large chunks of the Affordable Care Act, even though they don’t yet appear to have secured enough support to pass it. [...]
GOP aides and others familiar with the negotiations said they anticipate the Senate bill’s text will be released later this week. The CBO is expected to release its estimate of the Senate bill’s impact on the federal budget and insurance coverage early next week, and a vote could potentially be held next Thursday, before lawmakers scatter.
As the Wall Street Journal report makes clear, the Republicans' legislation -- the life-or-death bill that will be voted on next week -- does not yet exist. What's more, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not yet secured the 51 votes he'll need to advance the measure.
But he and the GOP leadership are moving forward anyway. Politico had a related piece noting that McConnell and his cohorts are going through with this, "potentially leaving rank-and-file lawmakers with no more than a week to review legislation that would affect millions of Americans and one-sixth of the U.S. economy."
"Review" is itself a generous term under the circumstances. It might be better to say "speed-read."
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, will likely have even less time with the proposal, since Senate Republicans don't intend to unveil their secret bill until after it's presented to the Congressional Budget Office. It creates the very real possibility that nearly half of the nation's elected senators, representing more than half of the American people, will only have a day or two to scrutinize legislation that would overhaul the nation's health care system.
McConnell swore he'd never try to govern this way. His assurances, we now know, were a lie.
READ MORE: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mc...
