CNN to host town hall debate Monday with Graham, Cassidy, Sanders and Klobuchar

[still_one]

CNN will host a town hall with Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, who will be debating health care with Sens. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar on Monday, September 25 at 9 p.m. ET.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper and chief political correspondent Dana Bash will moderate the 90-minute live event from Washington.

Graham and Cassidy are the namesake sponsors of a last-ditch effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act ahead of an end-of-the-month deadline, while Sanders introduced a new "Medicare for all" health care bill with a third of the Senate Democratic caucus by his side.

According to the chamber's parliamentarian, senators only have until the end of the month to pass a bill with just 51 votes under the procedure known as reconciliation, and the Senate's latest push isn't all that different than the one that ultimately resulted in a health care bill being passed in the House.

As of Thursday, it's not clear whether there are enough Republican votes to advance the Graham-Cassidy proposal, a health care bill that was released a week ago and would repeal the individual and employer mandates and turn the federal funding for Medicaid expansion and the subsidies into a block grant program.

..........


The town hall debate will air on CNN, CNN en Español and CNN International as well as stream live for subscribers on CNNgo and the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android. The town hall debate will also air on CNN's SiriusXM Channel 116. The town hall debate will also be available September 26 on demand via cable or satellite systems, CNNgo platforms and CNN mobile apps.



http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/21/politics/graham-cassidy-town-hall-sanders-kobuchar/index.html


 

[Chasstev365]

1. Go for the jugular!

[SHRED]

2. Go get em Bernie!

[MuseRider]

5. :-)

He and Amy Klobucher will be great! This will be a can't miss.

[drray23]

3. not going to be productive

To have a good debate, you need people to agree on facts and debate on policies that they propose to reach desired outcomes.
One can disagree on the desired outcomes or how to get there but one should at least agree on the facts.
Over the past decades, the GOP has fallen into that fact free way of thinking because they found out they can get elected that way.
Cassidy was interviewed on MSNBC recently and all he did was shouting at the host without answering the questions. Basically, spouting bald faced lies.

[LuckyCharms]

4. "Hello, Senators...

My question is as follows:

Would you be willing to commit, right now in front of a national audience, that you would be willing to convert to private insurance should this bill pass? I'm talking about private insurance that would set premiums based on any pre-existing conditions that you may have, and would also cap lifetime payouts? I am assuming that your answer will be an unequivocal yes, considering that this is what you are proposing for the people you represent"

[drray23]

6. unfortunately , most of them are wealthy enough that they could go on without insurance and be fine

unlike the vast majority of americans.

[LuckyCharms]

8. Cassidy is worth a hair over $2 million, with the average member of congress

being worth slightly under $2 million.

Considering that they have families that need to be covered also, this is no where near enough to cover many illnesses over the course of a lifetime.

Also, I'm sure that much of their worth is tied up in non-liquid assets.

[JI7]

25. No. Most of them aren't that wealthy to withstand something unexpected

Especially if they are the main earners with family to support.

Yes. They would be in a better place than most Americans who make far less.

Butt it would mean giving things up with their lifestyle.

[SHRED]

7. Good question.

[LuckyCharms]

9. Thanks, SHRED. n/t

[WinkyDink]

13. Since a lie would be easy, why bother asking? It's not like they'd be held to it.

[ollie10]

18. the Rs will simply obfuscate, lie, and double speak

it will be their word against the Ds.

The Ds won't be able to really say much since this monstrosity has not been scored. Convenient....

[BigmanPigman]

10. I can't watch for health reasons...

I am on the edge as is. This would harm my fragile state of mind more than help it.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. A last minute debate is no substitute for considered deliberation on public policy

I don't see the usefulness of this, except to publicize Trumpcare extremists

[WinkyDink]

15. Maybe some people will grasp the truth? And we're not getting anything else, so....

[still_one]

16. If the focus ISN'T on how the Cassidy/Graham bill will hurt a lot of people, and instead chooses to

talk about a bill that doesn't have the votes to pass in the next four years, it could unintentionally cause the Cassidy/Graham bill to pass, and end up putting healthcare progress behind for decades

[WinkyDink]

17. Bernie will be there. What do YOU think will be the focus?

[Demsrule86]

21. it better not be single payer that is what Graham is hoping for...it needs to be against the GOP

and include fixes for the ACA

[riderinthestorm]

31. I'm dead certain Schumer, Pelosi etc are deeply involved in planning this, and selecting who'd debat

This isn't happening without the leadership on both sides deciding to do it and, certainly for the Democrats, Sanders and Klobuchar were hand selected for this.

[bettyellen]

33. I hope you're right. Remember when Sanders wanted to debate Trump? That was weird AF

[WinkyDink]

12. Gotta use VERBATIM language! And pin them down on "assurances" and "guarantees" without penalty for

having none.

[still_one]

19. I am pretty sure cassidy and graham are going to push the argument to states rights, that states

will determine how their healthcare dollars should be allocated.

Our response of course should be that there is no "assurance" or "guarantees" that the states will insure adequate cover. They should also bring up that the bill will also allow states to allow insurance companies higher premiums for those with pre-existing conditions, which would effectively make it unaffordable for many. Less people will be uninsured, and rather than help people, it hurts them.

Essentially what you are saying

[ButSeeYa]

14. Will Jimmy Kimmel be in the audience?

[LongTomH]

20. This will be worth some debate watch parties!

[tom_kelly]

22. I could see a schedule conflict excuse in the future

future. It's hard for me to believe Graham will go through with this.

[JI7]

24. Why is it hard to believe ?

[Weekend Warrior]

28. There is little political gain in it for him. Nt

[JI7]

30. He is from south Carolina

[Weekend Warrior]

32. You are correct. He is. Nt

[NBachers]

23. You know what? I have spent a lot of time on here Naderizing Bernie -

But I think he'll be the exact right person to have on our side in this debate.

[still_one]

29. Depends where the focus is NB

[Weekend Warrior]

27. I like this but there is a difficult aspect to overcome when debating people who easily lie.

Correct them and you aren't getting your point across. Let it stand and it's consumed as the truth.