Democrats call for bipartisanship, Republicans threaten bipartisanship.
As today unfolds, it looks like the Republican Senate will try to pass a mini skinny repeal of the ACA, and leave it to a conference with the House of Representatives to come up with an actual bill with actual policy on healthcare. Because they can't get 50 votes on anything real and they are too cowardly to actually work with Democrats on a bill. That is where 30 years of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News has brought the Republican Party.
Chris Murphy asked some very simple questions today on the floor of the house. Like us, he knows the answers already:
SEN CHRIS MURPHY: There are rumors now that at the end of this process, we are going to vote on what has been described as a stripped-down gutted version of the original Republican healthcare bill. It might have one or two provisions in it. Maybe the elimination of the individual mandate, maybe the elimination of one or two taxes. It would include The intent would be to essentially punt the more comprehensive debate about what our healthcare system would look like to a conference committee.
Why do my colleagues choose to run for the United States Senate if they are prepared to surrender the biggest policy decision that they will likely face, to the House of Representatives? Why go to the trouble of running, of raising all the money, of getting all the votes, to become a US Senator, if you aren't prepared to actually render an opinion and pass a bill, on the biggest priority issue facing this country right now, the future of the American healthcare system? Republicans have been unable to come up with a bill that will get 50 votes. Why? Because you refuse to engage with Democrats. And so now the solution is to punt by passing a stripped down version of the bill, handing all power to the House of Representatives, surrendering to the House of Representatives. What's the point of being a US Senator, if aren't actually going to make policy? If you are just going to hand over policy making power to the House of Representatives?
