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[Vanillalite]

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/338345-senators-wrestle-with-demand-for-open-process-on-healthcare

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is mounting his own protest over the lack of transparency on the legislation by calling an “emergency health care hearing” set for Monday.

“It’s a small group of Republicans, meeting in secret [and] none of us on the Democratic side have a clue as to what they’re doing,” Blumenthal told the Hartford Current.

“How do we vote in the next few weeks on a bill that has not been…reduced to writing, that has been done in secret without any kind of public hearing?” he continued. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) has promised that the Senate will repeal and replace ObamaCare no later than “the end of July.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) asking for an all-senators meeting to discuss the legislation on Friday, saying that Republicans and Democrats "need to come together to find solutions to America's challenges."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Sunday was cautiously optimistic that more voices will eventually be heard on healthcare.

“The first step in this may be crafted among a small group of people, but then everyone's going to get to weigh in,” he told CBS’ John Dickerson on “Face the Nation.”

"You know, it's going to take days and weeks to work through that in the Senate,” he added.

The Florida senator warned against rushing the bill to the Senate floor, something else Republicans criticized Democrats for doing during the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

“So I have no problem with a group of people meeting to conduct a proposal. But ultimately that proposal cannot be rushed to the floor,” Rubio said. “And I don't think the Senate rules would permit it. So it's fine if they're working on the starting point. But ultimately we're all going to see what's in it.”

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said she is unhappy with the secrecy surrounding the deliberations.

"I think that we do better as a body when we respect the process. And the process allows for committee involvement, debate and discussion," Murkowski told the Alaska Dispatch News.

"If I'm not going to see a bill before we have a vote on it, that's just not a good way to handle something that is as significant and important as health care,” she said.

McConnell has implied he wants to aim for a healthcare vote

Reports surfaced Saturday in CNN and Politico that Democrats planned to hold the Senate floor until at least midnight on Monday in response to the lack of committee hearings being held by Senate Republicans.

“I think that the Democrats in the Congress should do everything possible to defeat that legislation, which is, again, to my mind, unspeakable,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” on Sunday.

“I don’t know about shutting the Senate down. But I think you’re going to see some effort to highlight that this has never been done before,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told Politico.

 

[Vanillalite]

CNN

(CNN)Senate Democrats are weighing whether to bring the chamber's business to a halt next week in an effort to voice their objections to the GOP health care push, according to sources familiar with the effort.

The Democratic leadership and rank-and-file members are planning to prevent the chamber from conducting routine business, including allowing committees to meet for extended hearings when the Senate is in session. And they will demand an open process to consider health care when the Senate reconvenes Monday.
Democrats might use parliamentary maneuvers to prevent committees from meeting for longer than two hours.

 

[Bigboss242]

People won'tfight against this until there are literally people dying in the streets.

 

[Boke1879]

FUCK RUBIO

 

[Lord Frieza]

FUCK RUBIO

Huh? What he's saying here is good, though?

 

[TheSchwab_7]

Good, Democrats need to stall this out as long as possible. I was listening to Pod Save America and they were talking about a rule where you can add a shit ton of amendments to the bill up to the point where they'd constantly delay the bill. Or something like that, I don't know the exact strategy.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Good, Democrats need to stall this out as long as possible. I was listening to Pod Save America and they were talking about a rule where you can add a shit ton of amendments to the bill up to the point where they'd constantly delay the bill. Or something like that, I don't know the exact strategy.

Yeah they can do that, but there's another rule that McConnell is expected to use to circumvent that possibility.

 

[kirblar]

Huh? What he's saying here is good, though?

ACA took nearly a year to push through.

"Days and Weeks" is saying "we're ramming it."

 

[Steeped in a Sea of Games]

People won'tfight against this until there are literally people dying in the streets.

We had people dying before. America tends to embrace the hunger games mentality. It gets rationalized away as these things only happening to the poor or the irresponsible and they turn away. Others who actually do care have too much to lose to fight hard against the tide.

Maybe I'm completey wrong, but don't underestimate the US's ability to screw itself over while applauding its own 'exceptionalism' the whole time.

 

[WiiredShawn]

Huh? What he's saying here is good, though?

It's good that he thinks it shouldn't be rushed. It's a little more bullshit for Republicans to act like the ACA was "rushed through" when that was a very protracted and public process.

That said, when Mitch pulls the bill out of his turtle ass and says "we're voting on this TOMORROW," I don't expect Rubio to stand by his current statements. We'll see.

 

[Lord Frieza]

It's good that he thinks it shouldn't be rushed. It's a little more bullshit for Republicans to act like the ACA was "rushed through" when that was a very protracted and public process.

That said, when Mitch pulls the bill out of his turtle ass and says "we're voting on this TOMORROW," I don't expect Rubio to stand by his current statements. We'll see.

Yeah, that's what I was talking about. But yeah, I agree, he won't stick by anything

 

[CrocMother]

Even if Senate passes their bill, it still has to go back to the House, right?

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

Hold the floor until they call the Sargent at arms to remove them. Fuck decorum

 

[Lord Frieza]

Even if Senate passes their bill, it still has to go back to the House, right?

Yeah, unless they just pass the House Bill straight out. Which would be... something

 

[Beartruck]

It's good that he thinks it shouldn't be rushed. It's a little more bullshit for Republicans to act like the ACA was "rushed through" when that was a very protracted and public process.

That said, when Mitch pulls the bill out of his turtle ass and says "we're voting on this TOMORROW," I don't expect Rubio to stand by his current statements. We'll see.

Can he even do that though? I thought it was a requirement that in order to pass through the senate on reconciliation it has to be CBO scored.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Can he even do that though? I thought it was a requirement that in order to pass through the senate on reconciliation it has to be CBO scored.

This is the question I have, no one seems to have a solid answer

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

Single Payer with cost controls.

Promote it as getting the middle man out of the situation. Both Insurance companies and providers are looking for a profit off you. Cut one side of it and you already save tons.

They wouldn't ever do it though because even the left has big time insurance connections. See last years race.

 

[Chumly]

Can he even do that though? I thought it was a requirement that in order to pass through the senate on reconciliation it has to be CBO scored.

Honestly I don't think republicans give a fuck about what they can or can't do. They will just change the senate rules

 

[Dierce]

It can't be stressed enough that the only reason these evil shits are doing this is to pass tax cuts for the rich, that is their number one goal and we must never forget it. Offsetting money from those who need healthcare to give to the wealthy.

So all those idiots who say that repealing the ACA will lead to single payer must remember that those tax cuts are much harder to roll back.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Can he even do that though? I thought it was a requirement that in order to pass through the senate on reconciliation it has to be CBO scored.

Yes, it has to be scored first

 

[Lord Frieza]

Honestly I don't think republicans give a fuck about what they can or can't do. They will just change the senate rules

I don't think they can just change the CBO and reconciliation without legislation. Everything they've done in the House and Senate is within established rules.

 

[WiiredShawn]

This is the question I have, no one seems to have a solid answer

Actually, it does seem like they have to have a CBO score for reconciliation, according to someone who worked at the CBO:

Right. The CBO’s job is budget, and the budget stuff is clear. When it goes over to the Senate, I’ll expect modifications, and CBO will have to score it again, otherwise they can’t get reconciliation protection and they can’t roll it out with 51 votes.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/cbo-interview-ahca-effects/525420/

That said, Congress is free to pass legislation regardless of what the CBO score says, but it does have to accompany the legislation, at least.

 

[Kthulhu]

People won'tfight against this until there are literally people dying in the streets.

People are already protesting this though. Including some Republicans.

 

[Lord Frieza]

People are already protesting this though. Including some Republicans.

Protesting isn't going to matter. This shit has like a 17% approval rating. They are determined to pass this, any consequences be dammed.

 

[Furyous]

Democrats won't do shit because they're soft. It's more important to uphold the spirit of the principle than actually stop Republicans from fucking over 22+ million people. Dems wouldn't be this bad if they let me run the ship. Imagine a moderate Democratic Party mantra with a smidge of that dreaded "libryulism".

I flamed the ever loving shit out of Tom Perez in an email over this. I gave him that Back 2 Back over you Democrats allowing these individuals to just fuck over honest hard working Americans. This bill, allegedly assuming this contains the tax cuts in the prior bill, has adverse economic effect on me because rich people job creators need tax relief.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Democrats won't do shit because they're soft. It's more important to uphold the spirit of the principle than actually stop Republicans from fucking over 22+ million people. Dems wouldn't be this bad if they let me run the ship. Imagine a moderate Democratic Party mantra with a smidge of that dreaded "libryulism".

I flamed the ever loving shit out of Tom Perez in an email over this. I gave him that Back 2 Back over you Democrats allowing these individuals to just fuck over honest hard working Americans. This bill, allegedly assuming this contains the tax cuts in the prior bill, has adverse economic effect on me because rich people job creators need tax relief.

Did you even read the article?

 

[Angelus Errare]

People are already protesting this though. Including some Republicans.

Protesting isn't going to do shit.

 

[Beartruck]

Regardless of CBO, I still can't believe they're trying to ram this through. All of their lobbyists are against it, it is historically unpopular, and people are literally shooting legislators because of their actions on this. How much more evidence do they need that this is a bad idea?

 

[Lord Frieza]

Regardless of CBO, I still can't believe they're trying to ram this through. All of their lobbyists are against it, it is historically unpopular, and people are literally shooting legislators because of their actions on this. How much more evidence do they need that this is a bad idea?

Tax cuts, baby

 

[Kthulhu]

Protesting isn't going to do shit.

Well, the election isn't till next year. There's not much more you can reasonably expect people to do.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Well, the election isn't till next year. There's not much more you can reasonably expect people to do.

Yeah, unfortunately this is true.

 

[WiiredShawn]

Tax cuts, baby

Right, but I wonder how Republicans actually plan to spin this. Lots of people will be angry, and it may very well lead to them being booted from their majority through 2018 and 2020. Are they just going to hope that Democrats push for a different healthcare system and then be like "THEY'RE TRYING TO RAISE YOUR TAXES, WHICH WE SO GENEROUSLY CUT WHEN WE GOT RID OF THAT NASTY OBAMACARE!!"?

... it's going to be exactly that stupid, isn't it?

 

[Chumly]

Regardless of CBO, I still can't believe they're trying to ram this through. All of their lobbyists are against it, it is historically unpopular, and people are literally shooting legislators because of their actions on this. How much more evidence do they need that this is a bad idea?

Honestly I think their main concern is to get rid of the tax over 250k in income. That's going to be a huge windfall for some of the biggest GOP donors. I haven't seen any insurance lobbyists or companies come out in favor of this. Only vague it's in the right direction but more changes need to be made

 

[Lord Frieza]

Right, but I wonder how Republicans actually plan to spin this. Lots of people will be angry, and it may very well lead to them being booted from their majority through 2018 and 2020. Are they just going to hope that Democrats push for a different healthcare system and then be like "THEY'RE TRYING TO RAISE YOUR TAXES, WHICH WE SO GENEROUSLY CUT WHEN WE GOT RID OF THAT NASTY OBAMACARE!!"?

... it's going to be exactly that stupid, isn't it?

They are either just going full Kamikaze to preserve their own fortunes or they think the Senate map is good enough they can just take the hit in 2018. The Senate map leans heavily for the GOP in 2018.

 

[Saint Gregory]

ACA took nearly a year to push through.

"Days and Weeks" is saying "we're ramming it."

Republicans live in the alternate Fox reality though where God Emperor Obama signed the bill into law without a vote while naming it after himself.

 

[KernelPanic]

Protesting isn't going to matter. This shit has like a 17% approval rating. They are determined to pass this, any consequences be dammed.

John Birch Society will be ecstatic. I guess that's all that matters.