Nervous GOP senators rooting for Ryan to fail

[flamingdem]

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/324220-nervous-gop-senators-rooting-for-ryan-to-fail

A growing number of GOP senators are hoping the House fails to pass its bill to repeal and replace ­ObamaCare so they won’t be blamed for killing it in the upper chamber.

Support for the House legislation has “disintegrated” in the Senate, according one Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss internal conference politics.

It will require substantial revisions to win the support of moderate Republicans in the upper chamber — something that will likely make it unacceptable to conservatives.

Given what looks like an unbridgeable divide in the Senate GOP conference, some are saying that it would be better if the bill dies in the House.

“I’ve heard that maybe the best thing is that this doesn’t get out of the House so we’re not the ones who ditch it,” said a Republican senator who has publicly voiced concern about the bill but requested anonymity. “Right now this is disintegrating in the Senate, with everyone off on their own about what they don’t like about the bill.”

The lawmaker said that voting for the House measure could come back to haunt Republicans again and again, just as votes for ­ObamaCare in 2009 and 2010 came back to hurt Democrats in the 2010, 2014 and 2016 elections.

“It’s tough to vote for policy that hurts people,” the senator added.

An analysis released by the Congressional Budget Office Monday found that the House plan, known as the American Health Care Act, would increase the number of uninsured by 24 million compared to current law over a decade.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who is emerging as a leading voice in the Senate healthcare debate, called the projection “eye-popping” and “awful.”

Several of his colleagues have had similar reactions, though they are holding back on slamming the House bill out of courtesy to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and their own leadership.

Another Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss the House bill candidly said, “There are no good options.”

The lawmaker acknowledged that not fulfilling the party’s campaign promise to repeal and replace ­ObamaCare would be politically painful in the short-term but worried that voting for bad policy could have negative reverberations for the GOP over the next decade.

“The best thing may be to kill it early so it doesn’t come over here,” the GOP senator said.

[yardwork]

1. Cowards and hypocrites. I loathe the Republicans.

Seven years of asinine complaints about Obamacare and they don't have a single idea how to improve it. Not one. They all deserve to be fired.

[flamingdem]

2. Their "replacement" proves they can't even handle the basics

How well did they think these numbers would go over?

7 Most Important Numbers From The CBO Report On The Republican Health Plan


So here are the numbers you need to know about the Republican health bill:

1. 24 million

Under the Republican plan, 24 million people will lose their health insurance by 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office report.

2. 14 million

The Congressional Budget Office also found that at least 14 million people will lose their health insurance almost immediately.

3. 14 million (Again)

The number 14 million shows up again in the CBO report, this time in the section analyzing the number damage to people on Medicaid. The CBO found that 14 million fewer Medicaid enrollees by 2026,” compared to if Obamacare stays in place. The Republican plan achieves this by spending $880 billion less on Medicaid over the next 10 years.

4. 18.6 Percent

The Congressional Budget Office analysis found that the uninsured rate in America would sky rocket to 18.6% of Americans. For reference, under Obamacare the uninsured rate went from about 16% down to 10% today. Here is a fancy chart from the good folks at Vox who used the CBO numbers. You can find more fancy graphs that tell the same story here.

Uninsured rate under republican plan versus Obamcare


5. $275 billion

That’s the amount of wealth being transferred from low-income and middle-class Americans to the top 2% in the Republican plan.

6. $14,600

This is how much a 64 year old woman making $20,000 a year would pay for health insurance under the Republican plan, according to the CBO analysis. Now I know what you are thinking, $14,600 seems like a heck of a lot of money for anyone let alone a person making $20,000 a year. Yeah, here’s the thing about that – the good folks who put together Obamacare already thought about that which is why that same 64-year-old woman only pays $1,700 with the Affordable Care Act.

Bonus number: that is a 758 percent increase!
7. $1 trillion

The CBO report found that the Republican plan transfers $1 trillion away from programs targeting poor and middle-class families, much of which goes to the rich in the form of tax cuts.

[2naSalit]

5. For me,

it's more evidence of a stolen election all the way down the ballot.

[yardwork]

7. Thank you for posting those facts.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. We need to make sure to call it TrumpCare...all the damn time.

It worked for the Republicans to call it ObamaCare.
We certainly do not want to discriminate against Trump by not using his name on an important health plan.

[calimary]

15. That's a good one.

Ryancare isn't bad, but he's small-time. trump is better. That's of course singling out individuals. We could smear 'em all with "Republicare" or "GOPcare." Maybe mix it up? Equal-opportunity targeting.

Whatever destroys the maximum number of enemy reelection prospects works for me.

Basically, whatever works out badly for them works out beneficially for our side.

[Scarsdale]

22. Suggestion for those afraid

of Ryan. Why not do what you were elected to do - REPRESENT the constituents? Neglect them, and they will elect someone with a SPINE. Of course, that would not be a republican, they are spineless. All they can do is follow whatever assclown bought and paid for by big pharma tells them to do. They all stand to lose their cushy "jobs" during the next two elections.

[tblue37]

12. Yes--with real fire! nt

[Ezior]

3. LOL! "Its tough to vote for policy that hurts people, the senator added."

As a republican senator, it's your job to vote for policy that hurts people. (Of course, usually they are LGBT people, drug users, black people, etc, so you probably don't care.. now it hits a little closer to home.. the victims are now lots of WHITE REPUBLICAN VOTERS!)

Also, it's your job to vote against policy that helps people. You and your colleagues have demonstrated that ever since Obama took office.

So STFU.

[flamingdem]

4. Watch for Trump to blame it all on Ryan

He's admitting it would hurt his voters and he has delusions of winning in 2020

[Scarsdale]

23. Gerrymandered districts

in Wisconsin have been declared nconstitutional by the judges in Wis. I would LOVE to see Jug Haid Ryan voted out of office.

[calimary]

16. And THAT is IT.

Last edited Sat Mar 18, 2017, 11:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Let's remember this one. It's an acknowledgment that they know their policies will HURT PEOPLE.

This has been true for a long time, and seems to me we oughta say it out loud, and often. Preferably, whenever possible: THEY DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU.

I wrote about it elsewhere here, in a post to mcar. It should be a meme.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8796870

And if they try to turn that blame toward Democrats in ANY way, the important thing to remember - AND TO REPEAT - "We're not the ones in power."

And if there's time to elaborate: "...which is why WE can't do anything about it. If you something done, then we're gonna need YOU to help us do something about it."

AND THEN YOU ADD: "... because they aren't going to help you. They DON'T WANT TO help you. They don't believe in it. THEY DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU. AND THEY DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD HAVE TO!"

"THEY DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU."

We ought to start educating people about the real bottom line of the GOP, which is, THEY DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU. Period. How did Shep Smith put it? "Full stop." THEY DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU. Because they truly and honestly do not believe they should have to. It's this "small government" bullshit of theirs that they've been pushing for a few decades now. No government! Government BAD! Cut back the government! We don't need government! Every man for himself! You do for yourself! You're on yer own! Personal responsibility! Boot yourself up by your own boot straps!"

ronald reagan started it with his "get the government off your back" and "the most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'." (Yeah, um, good luck to all those poor saps whose homes were wiped off the map by the last hurricane across several state lines.) He started this whole "gospel of cut-back-the-government" along with that anti-tax nutcase Grover Norquist, the one famous for saying we should shrink the government down so small that we can drown it in the bathtub." (Yeah, um, good luck to the next tornado victims, the next Flint Michigans, the next round of through-no-fault-of-their-own Ebola patients, or the next FDNYs and other first responders and their families after a widespread calamity or terrorist attack.) That tax money funds jobs. And helps people. People do that stuff, professionally. And that helps people. YES, in the government. Which helps people. You may not like "government" but dammit, it keeps things running. It helps people. We need it. It serves. It funds project and agencies and programs that HELP PEOPLE. When a problem or issue is bigger than individuals' ability to deal with it, and a much larger over-arching entity is needed, THAT'S what government is for.

All that cut-back-the-government shit and "because it costs too much" shit and "I don't want to help pay for you" shit leads to total anarchy. When you cut it all back to "every man for himself," you get chaos. And fucking anarchy.

So this is the Anarchy Crowd. They hate the government and they don't want anybody to tell them what to do. And they DON'T want to help you. They don't want to help anybody but themselves. So they've conveniently developed this cockamamie philosophy about the wonders of small government that they want to keep in a minimized, anemic state so it CAN'T respond to public needs. They want all that handled in the private sector, where one can make a buck off of it. But sometimes the need is so great that the private sector can't handle the job, especially if it only responds to people's ability to pay whatever the private sector says the going rate is. That's why you need government. The private sector is there to make a profit. Government is there to serve. TO HELP PEOPLE. Making a profit isn't even part of it.

So the small government GOP DOESN'T want to help you. THEY DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU. They don't think they should have to. It goes against their small-government beliefs. Small government can only deal with small problems. Which are NOT the kind of problems you have in a country that spans multiple timezones and counts its population in the hundreds of millions.

[bullwinkle428]

6. "Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan" -

one of the best examples of an "oldie but goodie"!

[irisblue]

9. a few thoughts

Republican US Senators want to put a shiv in Ryan,the idea is good w/ me. Actions are necessary.

[bronxiteforever]

10. 7 years and not one idea except to hurt fellow citizens. The GOP isn't

A political party, its a daycare for assho@@s

[Volaris]

13. Lol. My sisters hypothesis is that God exists mostly to help stupid people.

Because smart people don't generally need gods help with anything. If these Republicans had to go get a job that required competent results on a daily basis, they would be fired, broke, and homeless in about a months time. It follows therefore, that God has provided them a position in life that requires none of these things, and not the rest of us because we're OK on our own.

God takes care of Republicans, because Democrats don't need his help.

[The Sand Reckoner]

11. "Moderate Republicans"? There is no such thing

There are only cowardly Republicans who are more afraid of losing their seat than others.

[Cha]

14. In House.. wow.. wouldn't that be something?!

[flamingdem]

18. Ryan will armtwist but with the Senate looking (fingers crossed) like a no

the house just might slip away.

[Owens]

17. They've had 7 Years

They've had 7 years to create an option to ACA. What have they been doing all these years? And to top it off, they created this horrible bill in a basement!? Sad!

[flamingdem]

19. Bizarre isn't it? Did they think no one would notice

that their bill is pure crap?

[mzteaze]

20. Yep

That's what I've never understood. It's not like they didn't have YEARS to drop an alternate plan.

But, this polished turd represents the best idea they could come up with in seven years?. Really a bit ironic when you consider that "Obamacare" was really an expanded and updated version of a GOP product known as Romneycare.

[The Sand Reckoner]

21. Of course, they haven't been working on it for 7 years

Probably not even 7 weeks.