Republicans make new push to repeal Obamacare...this is really awful.

[Demsrule86]

People kicked off of Medicaid and millions left with nothing in the coming years...Why are we even talking about single payer? If we lose the ACA...we will never achieve universal health care. Thousands will die...in light of this new repeal effort which may succeed, we have to ask ourselves was now the best time to introduce single payer?

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/two-gop-senators-have-new-plan-to-repeal-obamacare-as-clock-ticks.html

[guillaumeb]

1. How have the previous efforts fared?

[leftofcool]

3. They have some enticements this time.

[Demsrule86]

4. We won by one vote...and McCain say he will vote for his pal Linsey's bill...Many warned that now

was not the time to introduce single payer but to double down on the ACA...now we lose the ACA and never have a chance for single payer.

[leftofcool]

2. I hear they have the votes this time too.

[Demsrule86]

5. I am hearing the same thing...and they have screwed blue states...all those folks who said this

repeal would hurt red states...not anymore.

[haveahart]

69. Cutting the money from blue states to pay for red states. Punishing any state that

expanded Medicaid. People should take to the streets on this one. and I mean streets int he red states. Is there anyway blue states can hold onto their tax dollars by filing suit against the government until they make the benefits more equal. There is plenty of data out there to show how much the blue states contribute to the government revenue, how much they get in return compared to what the red states put in and get in return. They lost the Civil War and the blue states have been paying them for it ever since.

[Demsrule86]

77. I am agreeing with you ...we need to fight this...Medicaid gone too.

[MyNameIsKhan]

6. there is 8 senate days and 4 house days left in month of calendar, bill need to be scored

McConnell needs to atleast give this one day (sarcasm) of floor time... then need to go back to house and voted verbatim or they need to call a conference ...

[Demsrule86]

8. There will be no conference...it will be scored and the parlimentarian will rule...but

it will be pushed through, and it looks like they have the votes. Medicaid expansion ended...money take from blue states and sent to say WVA...yep...while we put all out time and energy into a bill that had no chance to pass...the GOP made a move that will kill thousands...we should have fought for the ACA...this is a tragedy...and means there will be no single payer either.

[MyNameIsKhan]

10. I doubt a bill can be passed without changes in Senate and House (especially)... maybe wishful

thinking but all looks very difficult

[Demsrule86]

11. They said on MSNBC that Senators are being bribed with blue state Medicaid money.

The Chris Hayes show...also said McCain was on board. I think this may pass...the other one almost did.

[MyNameIsKhan]

12. OK I hope you are wrong ...

[Demsrule86]

14. Me too...but McCain has said he is on board...and the others are getting bribed...we will have to

fight but I don't know if it will be enough.

[renate]

7. what the HELL

This constant uncertainty is wreaking havoc on people's lives, but it can't be good for businesses either, and business is all the GOP cares about.

Why can't they just take no for an answer? They're like annoying little toddlers.

[Demsrule86]

9. Why was a single payer bill introduced at this critical time? What was the point when it could not

pass? And these toddlers will kill people.

[LyndaG]

13. Exactly

[BigmanPigman]

16. This is what Nancy Pelosi said when she wasn't thrilled about pushing

single payer now. She wanted to focus all efforts on stopping this last effort by the GOP. Older people, poor people, children, self employed, those who are ill (or even pregnant...yes, that is a pre existing condition) will all suffer physically and financially. Also, your employer provided health insur will increase so if you do not get that raise you were promised this is one main reason why.

[Demsrule86]

23. I agreed with her completely. She is a wise one.

[ATL Ebony]

42. Agree 1000%. Simply put, a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

Our primary fight should be laser focused to keep what's already law. Obviously, repubs don't want a decent healthcare plan and could care less if people die as a result of their decisions. There's time after dems increase their congressional numbers in 2018 to fight for single-payer. It's borderline insane to try to fight for it now.

[Demsrule86]

46. Yes indeed. I cannot understand why Sen. Sander believed this was a good time to put this bill out

the same day the GOP put out their murder repeal bill.

[ATL Ebony]

75. Definitely not helpful

[Demsrule86]

76. No it wasn't.

Very foolish.

[ATL Ebony]

79. Amen. Sometimes I wonder . . . nevermind.

[Demsrule86]

85. I wonder the same thing...there are some who really believe there is a chance of single payer.

In my opinion, they are too trusting. It won't happen... the ACA was hard as hell to get...it was a big fucking deal...we won't get healthcare again anytime soon if at all.

[ATL Ebony]

101. And Amen, again. It took forever to get ACA, we're currently in the minortyso how in

the hell would medicare 4 all be passed and moreover, who's going to write something that the majority would agree with. Scratching my head on this one. Too bad we can't get on the same page for once.

[Demsrule86]

114. I agree. We need to be on the same page to stop the GOP...they got an opening with the single payer

thing and now have included destroying medicaid...not just the expansion but the entire program in the bill.

[ATL Ebony]

120. I know it's illogical and actually something that can't be blamed on Trump. We need to be smarter

and more cohesive -- that's worrisome. Everybody with varied ideas and looking really chaotic, as does republicans, but we need to pick up steam and can't by not showing a united front.

[Demsrule86]

125. We all have different viewpoints as you say. We need a realistic plan ...what can we get now?

The answer is maybe DACA some sort of influence on taxes...who knows...so hunker down and try to keep what you have. All the ideology in the world doesn't matter if you don't win...we hear all this talk about single payer, free tuition and a $15.00 minimum...all worthy topics, but at the moment not obtainable. The reality is not only are we not advancing our progressive agenda, but we may lose valuable pieces of it...as in the ACA and even Medicaid...you block grant medicaid what you are doing is sending it to the states in order to kill it. We better worry about protecting what we can and not about pie in the sky policy. Lets live in the real world and consider real world solutions...we can get what we want eventually...but not now.

[ATL Ebony]

126. Absolutely.

[pnwmom]

50. Yup. Why did Bernie Sanders choose to suck up all the oxygen in the healthcare room

with his single payer plan, when all he had to do was wait TWO WEEKS for us to get through this crisis with Cassidy/Graham?

Once the Sept. 30 deadline is passed the Rethugs will need 60 votes for Obamacare repeal and Medicaid destruction. Why did Sanders have to distract us from the critical business at hand -- saving Obamacare and Medicaid?

[Demsrule86]

54. I don't know...I feel like calling his office and asking if he supports the ACA ...I may do that.

[BigmanPigman]

15. I posted this in several different forums since Tues night after I was

on a conference call with Congresswoman Barbara Lee and I first learned that the announcement would be made public on Wed. I have been telling people that this time is different since the GOP has been "buying votes" and McCain and Collins are two who voted against it on July 25/26. The GOP needs a win and are desperate. They never got around to this bill (the Graham Cassidy Bill) in July when they voted against the Skinny Repeal. Please call Congress and tell everyone you know to do so.
[phone]
THANKS!

[kacekwl]

17. How is this bill different than the last ?

And how can McCain and the others who voted down that square voting for this ?

[Demsrule86]

22. Lindsey Graham helped write it..

[CousinIT]

18. I love the idea of Medicare for All. But as Pelosi said, Saving ACA MUST be Priority #1

CALL. YOUR. SENATORS.

EVERY

DAY.

[JCanete]

19. And Sanders is unifi with all the democrtats in opposing any effort to repeal obamacare. What's the

problem here?

Yes, there is nothing at all wrong with this timing. Nobody has made a good case as to what harm this does to the cause. If we push single payer and people want it, I very much doubt that they are going to be perfectly happy with the Repubs taking us the opposite direction.

[Demsrule86]

20. Talk is cheap. The single payer bill should never have been introduced...where is the bill that

saves the ACA? I have not heard him say a word about the ACA in quite a while. I have to say, if the ACA gloes down I will always believe the single payer bill played a role and at the least distracted from the GOP's plan...I don't think I could ever forgive those who participated in the single payer bill...we need a vote to save the ACA as opposed to hundreds of votes to pass single payer. Thousands may die. This is a big political miscalculation.

[JCanete]

41. but you don't have logic for that conclusion, or at least you aren't sharing it. I have no idea how

the one has to do with the other. If the ACA goes down its because the Republicans on their own were able to take it down -- they all very much want to -- without their representatives in the swing states putting up much of a fight, even though this may cost them their seats. It has nothing to do with anything else. The public is keenly aware that Republicans don't have a plan...one of the few political realities the public is keenly aware of. I am keenly aware that the GOP can't come up with a plan that will appease the burn it down people and the "this is going to fuck us come reelection" people, nor are they capable of coming up with a bill that damages the ACA even moderately that won't have those potential consequences anyway, since they have no means of offering an alternative that will even look like a polished turd. Anything they propose will be taking away, not giving the people anything. There will be no veneer that they can hide that under, or sell with any sincerity.

Sure, they may still do it. They control the executive and both legislative branches now, so they can do it without us being able to stop them...but if they do it it will be against the will of the people and may have serious political consequences.

I have no idea what a vote you are suggesting looks like, or how it has any relevance to whether or not the GOP might still take down the ACA. Pushing for a better plan...getting people excited about better health care as a FURTHER step does not diminish the ACA in the eyes of the public. Getting the people to want more government involvement does not get them to suddenly want to repeal the government involvement that the ACA introduced. I'd argue quite the opposite. Introducing Medicare for All does not get in the way of other Senators--those Senators who you will still find in high regard--introducing whatever kind of legislation you want them to introduce that won't come up for a vote any more than the Medicare-for-All bill will, so if nobody does that, I'm not sure who stopped them.

[Demsrule86]

45. If we lose the ACA...I doubt others will agree that it was good timing.

[JCanete]

63. but no actual argument for how this damages the ACA or prevents us from doing our best to protect it

[Demsrule86]

66. Every minute that is spent on single payer which won't happen is a minute that could have

been spend on saving the ACA....the CBO score is about demonizing the ACA and the GOP will say and have said that even Dems don't want the ACA...terrible timing. And the great irony is that if we lose the ACA , we lose any shot at single payer for decades probably and we lose Medicaid. This is truly terrible situation.

[kentuck]

21. Lindsey Graham wants to show the Republicans what a great leader he is.

He wants McConnell's job?

[Demsrule86]

24. I don't know , but if we lose the ACA, I believe we lose any chance of health care for at least a

decade. You would need a super majority and those are hard to come by.

[kentuck]

27. Look at this way.

The Republicans have to come up with a healthcare that people like or else they will try the Democratic Party version, which should be Medicare for All. The people of this country deserve healthcare.

[Demsrule86]

29. No they don't. They have a gerrymander which will probably hold...and there is new voter suppression

tactics in the works. They have the courts to enforce such provisions. The GOP can not come up with a bill that will pass the House and the Senate and don't want to...now let's say we took the house, the senate and the presidency in 20...well thousands would still die between now and 2020. And unless we won a super majority which has happened only once in 40 years or so...we still can't pass a health care bill. We had a shot at taking the GOP down using health care. Because we muddied the water and gave the GOP ammunition to attack us by putting forth a single payer bill that had no chance of passing for years, we lost that opportunity. If the ACA goes down, we will get nothing. We could have gotten a pubic option...and lowered the medicaid age, but not if we lose the ACA. Some simply were determined to advance a single payer bill and in my opinion this was a big mistake. Playing politics with people's lives is never a good idea.

[kentuck]

33. I agree with most of your post.

But, I think the Democrats have to keep pushing. The ACA was never perfect. However, it gave a lot of people health care coverage for the first time in their lives. Democrats have to continue to put the pressure on Republicans to come up with a fair replacement if they do away with it. If they cannot do it, Democrats should propose a public option or Medicare for All-type program to benefit our people. They could put it in the Democratic Platform.

[Kentonio]

25. If the ACA did fall, that would be the perfect time to talk single payer

Millions of people would be furious about losing something they rely on, and the kickback would be monumental.

[Pope George Ringo II]

28. I agree with this more than I agree with the argument that killing the ACA dooms single-payer

The ACA isn't perfect but it's a step in the right direction and single-payer clearly represents the next step. But if the ACA goes away then we're going to get a real mess and lives lost will put single-payer front-and-center.

A humanitarian disaster leading to a desired political outcome is a pretty stupid way to go about things, but I think that's the scenario Republicans are handing us.

[Demsrule86]

32. No that is not what is happening... The GOP are betting that with the gerrymander and

voter suppression, we will not be able to replace the ACA with anything if it goes...and they are probably right.

[Pope George Ringo II]

35. If a coup is the real problem

Then the ACA is the least of our worries.

[Demsrule86]

38. Wrong...saving the ACA is a priority as real people will die...and this bill also destroys medicaid.

[Pope George Ringo II]

52. Suffice it to say I haven't been optimistic about the ACA since last November.

The only reason it still exists in any form is because the GOP doesn't have two brain cells between them.

[Demsrule86]

55. Suffice it to say...that if the ACA goes down...putting out single payer and sucking all the

healthcare oxygen out of the room will be part of the reason...millions will die and we lose Medicaid as well.

[Motownman78]

86. Stop with the Bernie hate

As was said above, Republicans were going to try this law weather or not single-payer was introduced.

[Demsrule86]

89. No doubt they will keep trying but putting out this bill which indicates that the ACA just

isn't good enough even for Democrats at a critical time in our fight to keep healthcare is a bad move. If we can get to 18, they will have a more difficult time with repeal because it is an election year...and if we win the House...we keep healthcare...the single payer bill hurts our chances both of keeping healthcare and winning the house in my opinion. It just does...the timing was awful. And I have respected TOS and made no inflammatory remarks about any Democrat or person who is an ally of Democrats. I am discussing saving the ACA...and lives. I am against the single payer bill at this time,because it cannot pass...and believe the best way to get universal coverage is adding a public option and lowering the medicaid age to 55...when we have the power to do so...we have no power at the moment.

[still_one]

36. Forget the philosophical argument about what "dooms" what. If the ACA is repealed, thinking that

Medicare for all will be the logical next step is naïve at best. The next four years are pretty much assured that won't happen.

The assumption that it would be political suicide if the republicans repeal it, may also not hold water. The most likely scenario if the republicans are able to repeal the ACA, would be for them to phase it out and replace it with something inferior

By the time the phase out occurs, the next election cycle will have taken place before many people realize what has happened.

[Pope George Ringo II]

49. Not to put too fine a point on it

But one of the reasons I worked through my freakout phase from about ten months ago until about eight months ago is that we knew last November that it was pretty much assured the ACA wouldn't survive the next four years. It's only through breathtaking Republican incompetence that it's survived this long.

Even if the plan is only, "Make the Republicans own this and then have a clear agenda to fix things once the adults are back in charge," it's better to have any kind of plan than just a continuous freakout.

[Demsrule86]

57. Right...the single payer bill is meaningless ...I don't agree and there will be hell to pay if the

ACA goes down and we will never get single payer...in my lifetime. It was the only means of doing so.

[Demsrule86]

30. Hahaha...yeah more talk while people die. The GOP are determined to kill healthcare period.

They will never consider a single payer bill...nope this unwise gambit could cost us health care for years.

[Trust Buster]

26. If the ACA fails, healthcare reform will be lost for a generation.

[Demsrule86]

31. The last time was in the 90's. It breaks my heart to think we had it and let it slip away for

political reasons.

[still_one]

37. or longer

[Demsrule86]

44. It is true.

[dalton99a]

34. Kick

[Demsrule86]

39. Thanks.

[CrispyQ]

40. The repubs were going to try to repeal before end of month, regardless of the single payer vote.

Personally, I don't think the single payer bill was a bad move, if the dems would use it - but they won't. The message is, "The Democratic Party would like to work with the Republicans to improve the ACA, but they have locked us out of that process, so that's why we are advancing a single payer bill. Democrats are trying to get health care for everyone, while Republicans are trying to take it away." But we won't hear that, because democrats don't do messaging.

Remember the summer of 2009 during the heat of the ACA debate? Remote Area Medical had a huge event in LA. People from all over the country went there to get free medical & dental treatment. Even the media covered it, it was so big. Where were the dems? They should have been all over that place, interviewing people. The commercials would have written themselves. They could have said - Single payer will be like this, but you don't have to travel to LA, you can choose your own doctor, & you don't have to stand in line. But no. They were like crickets, while the GOP was on national TV with their death squads & killing grandma bullshit.

The dems don't know how to fight, much less how to fight an opponent who fights dirty. That's why we are losing, not because Bernie introduced a single payer bill.

Call Congress, people! There's no reason why everyone's contact list doesn't include their senators & rep.

Senate directory: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

House directory: https://www.house.gov/representatives/

[Demsrule86]

43. None of what you said is on point...Single payer will go nowhere and i is a distraction

and a certain percentage of people are being fooled into thinking they will get single payer when and if the ACA falls...it is a lie. The Dems should have put out their own bill to fix the ACA...and this may have cost us any shot at health care for a decade or more...how many will die? It is disgraceful. They should have waited two weeks until this was over. I personally will never forgive those who did this if we lose the ACA.

[CrispyQ]

47. Your just spouting your opinion & my opinion's as valid as yours. -nt

[Demsrule86]

58. We shall see if this time with the ACA if they manage to repeal it...while our people were

working on a bill that can never be passed and ignored the danger...millions will die.

[CrispyQ]

68. Because people can't walk & chew gum at the same time.

[Demsrule86]

78. Apparently it doesn't work because I have not heard one word from Sen. Sander are even

those who co-sponsored the bill about the ACA...and it could b gone in two weeks and then we never get it or any healthcare back for decades.

[CrispyQ]

131. The HRC wing of the party will blame Bernie if the GOP repeals the ACA.

Read that sentence out loud & you hear how ridiculous it sounds. This is a veiled Bernie bashing thread, that's all. Have a nice day & don't forget to call your congress critters.

Call Congress, people! There's no reason why everyone's contact list doesn't include their senators & rep.

Senate directory: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

House directory: https://www.house.gov/representatives/

[pangaia]

102. So freakin obvious...eeeeiiii

Why should you even have to say it.

Wait.....

[Autumn]

70. Why haven't the Dems put out their own bill to fix or protect the ACA?

A man who "isn't a Democrat" putting up a bill Medicare for All that has no chance of passing shouldn't be that much of a distraction.

[Demsrule86]

80. Come on. Let's not kid a kidder...the Dem presidential hopefuls signed on too...rahrah

for single payer or else...I saw the threads going after those who didn't support it....well when we get nothing... I hope those who thought this was a good idea can live with themselves...this isn't a game or a primary...this is millions dead. The Graham bill block grants Medicaid and repeals the ACA.

[Autumn]

87. The Graham bill is on the GOP. They have been attempting to destroy the ACA since day one,

and when that fails they will ty something else. Trump has already said if they have to they will let it fall on it's own and they will use every trick they have to make sure it does. Blame the GOP, not a discussion highlighting the difference of what those horrible politicians are pushing compared to what our side is offering, any fool can see that what our side is offering is better.

I don't consider talking about something that our elected leaders are signing onto a distraction. Most of us aren't distracted that easily, we will still contact our Reps and Senators leading up to the vote. Blaming our elected leaders for what the GOP always does is just wrong.

[Demsrule86]

88. Oh, so if the ACA goes away why it would have happened anyway.

I don't buy that and many won't...I will bet you if the ACA is repealed those who introduced this bill will share the blame with the GOP...and none will be the presidential candidate in 20. This is a big deal...we are also losing Medicaid, and in my opinion, the single payer bill helped the GOP do it by giving cover. Our only shot a universal health care was through the ACA...it goes, we get nothing ...at least a decade.

[Autumn]

90. The GOP was working this bill of theirs before Medicare for All was announced,

getting this vote in before the window closed was always what they were going to do. Things always suck when the GOP controls the agenda, that's a fact. But our leadership has never run from this fight and I don't expect them to start now.

[Demsrule86]

94. That is correct...don't you think it would have been better to work on saving the only health carew

we have for God knows how many years rather then putting out a bill for single payer which has no chance.

[Autumn]

98. If it's at all possible the ACA will be saved. The GOP has been after it since day one and you

blame a bill for single payer just like Conyers bill he puts out every year instead of the GOP. It's obvious why.

[klook]

104. Yep, it's "Senator Sander."

[ucrdem]

106. We got the same arguments from the same quarter in 2015.

Baloney then, baloney now.

[pnwmom]

51. It is a TERRIBLE MOVE.The attention to Bernie's plan is a DISTRACTION from the GOP's stealth attack

on Obamacare and Medicaid.

We should be spending the next two weeks on an all out defense of Obamacare, and instead Bernie has distracted many of us with single payer.

[Autumn]

71. Are you so distracted that you won't remember to contact your Senators and Reps before the GOP

vote?

[pnwmom]

73. I have been calling. But I've talked to people here who claimed that single payer

was all they cared about anymore. They think the ACA is doomed and they're not lifting a finger.

[Autumn]

74. I haven't seen those posts but if I did I would tell them that they are very shortsighted.

[Demsrule86]

81. Too late...I fear. We put out nothing to stop them from repealing the ACA...not even talking points-

much less a bill. The Single payer bill sucked all the oxygen out of the room too...sure we will call but we won by one vote last time and McCain will vote for his BFF's bill...we should have been fighting this the entire time and skipped single payer...and to put it out the same day the Graham bill went out...so foolish. If we lose the ACA, we get nothing...we will also lose Medicaid..thousands and ultimately millions die...no single payer either for decades. The ACA was the only chance we had.

[CrispyQ]

72. Most of us can focus on more than one thing at a time.

Maybe, instead of posts like this, the OP should have provided contact info for Congress & encourage people to call - even if your rep/senator is GOP!

House directory: https://www.house.gov/representatives/

Senate directory: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

[Demsrule86]

82. Really I see no evidence of that in this situation.

[Autumn]

48. What we have to ask ourselves now is what bills can the Dems put up and pass to prevent this?

[Demsrule86]

59. A bill to fix the ACA and pull the god damn single payer bill for now.

Put it out in a few weeks.

[Autumn]

60. You think McConnell and Ryan will allow a bill to fix the ACA to be brought up for vote?

[Demsrule86]

62. Will they allow single payer to be brought up for a vote?...but we can talk about ...all the talk

has been about single payer and nothing about the ACA...we need to fight for the ACA or we will have nothing.

[Autumn]

64. If we can't do a bill to protect the ACA what's the harm in discussing Medicare for all?

Of course they won't allow a vote on single payer, just as they won't allow a vote on a bill to protect the ACA or to improve it. But people are liking the way it sounds.
We are pretty smart and well informed, we are all well aware of the bill the GOP is going to try to pass to destroy the ACA. We will all be calling our Reps and Senators, that's really the only fighting that we can do, we don't write bills, we don't get to vote on them. The rest is up to the Dem leadership. In the meantime we can always discuss different options.

[Demsrule86]

65. You could be talking about how to fix the ACA and the GOP will use it as evidence that the ACA

can't be saved.

[Autumn]

67. Are you really saying that the Dem leadership can't talk or put up a bill fixing the ACA

because the GOP will use it as evidence that the ACA can't be saved?


Demsrule86 (15,238 posts)
65. You could be talking about how to fix the ACA and the GOP will use it as evidence that the ACA

can't be saved.

[Demsrule86]

96. No...the single payer bill will used as evidence that that the ACA is unfixable...of course,

we can make improvements. The timing is dreadful...the single payer bill shouldn't have been put out at all but if you had to do it certainly not until the ACA had been saved.

[Autumn]

99. The GOP has said the ACA is unfixable since day fucking one, you are using a GOP

talking point as evidence. It's now clear to me what your problem with the Medicare for All bill really is. Have a lovely evening and good luck with all that.

[ucrdem]

109. It's the timing that's deadly. Why couldn't it wait 2 weeks?

We know why, but we can't say it. Good night.

[Autumn]

130. Of course

You want to blame anyone other than the GOP for whatever happens with the ACA. 2 weeks 6 weeks it doesn't matter.

[klook]

105. In what universe would the GOP of 2017 be on board with fixing the ACA?

A bill to fix, and therefore save, ACA, would be as DOA as Medicare For All.

[Demsrule86]

83. It gives the GOP a chance to say even Democrats don't like the ACA...come on.

[Autumn]

91. Oh no!! The GOP will lie about the ACA???

[TCJ70]

121. What does a "fix" even look like?

I haven't seen anyone really even articulate that? OP is just trolling at this point. Republicans repealing the ACA has nothing to do with Bernie.

[Autumn]

128. That's for sure. But whatever it is or it isn't it's Bernie's fault.

Medicare for All isn't the problem, the problem is who started the discussion. The truth is that there will be no fix for the ACA. The Republuicans would never allow a bill to be brought up to fix it, they skirt around that fact when that's mentioned and then run on to the right wing talking points.

[TCJ70]

129. "The probably is who started the discussion". Exactly.

Nothing is stopping anyone from putting forward a bill to fix the ACA. The question should be...why hasn't anyone?

I wonder what the reaction here would have been if the same person had put forth that non-existent bill? I have a feeling certain people's heads would explode from the cognitive dissonance.

[Eliot Rosewater]

53. How many times do I have to remind people , they will NEVER stop

until Obama has no legacy and most of us are dead or dying.

[Demsrule86]

61. Now those who put up a single payer bill instead of fixing the ACA will say the ACA never had a

chance anyway...but what they don't get is that they just lost any shot at single payer...if we could hold out until 18 an election year...we have a shot of taking back the house and saving the ACA...this single payer thing is a disaster.No matter how you feel about single payer. I like the German system better, the timing was really bad.

[FloridaBlues]

56. Republicans never give up.

Single payer at least this time has a zero chance of passing but at least it's being discussed.
It will be interesting to see how it's scored by CBO.

[Demsrule86]

84. It is completely unimportant except as the weapon it will become in the coming elections...as the

GOP turns it against us...thus the single payer bill helps kill the ACA, Medicaid and our chance in 18 to take the house...the trifecta of bad.

[riversedge]

92. as of right now, they only need one more vote. This is serious! Here's a link to a site to quickly

Here's a link to a site to quickly tweet senators to oppose #GrahamCassidy http://www.factpower.org/healthcare-tweetstorm.html …

[Demsrule86]

93. Thanks so much...let make this a post in and keep it going...we only have one shot.

[riversedge]

95. Make it a separate post. It is our last shoot.

[Demsrule86]

115. It is true.

[crosinski]

103. This hasn't been scored yet. That could be a killer.

It has a few other problems that might make it difficult to get through Congress. It's gonna be another close one though.

[Demsrule86]

116. They say the only need one vote and by stealing blue medicaid money...they can bribe this person.

And no one wants to be the last vote.

[kentuck]

97. If they repeal it without a replacement, there will be a political price to pay.

I would think that people will hold them accountable on this vote?

People will suffer if it is repealed.

ACA has to be the transition program to universal health care. Some have said it will take 4 years or longer to transition from the ACA.

Lindsey Graham may have enough votes to send it back to the House for a final vote?

Democrats cannot let the Republicans repeal the ACA without a replacement. Democrats should present an alternative to any Republican plan that is proposed, imo.

[Demsrule86]

117. I am not sure that will happen. They will work to convince people that there was no saving the ACA

and even the Dems wanted a different bill. There is a gerrymander in place...you keep what you have. This bill also destroys medicaid...not just the expansion but the program.

[Awsi Dooger]

100. It's always been when...not if

Nothing good is going to happen with this administration in office.

I don't care about details as opposed to big picture logic. They aren't going to ridicule Obamacare for years and then not get rid of it.

[Demsrule86]

118. You can say that...but those who started the single payer stuff will be held accountable.

And it just plain wrong to abandon the only insurance we have or may ever have because you will need a super majority...it could take decades...millions will die...and Medicaid is destroyed as well...not the expansion but the program. There is no shot at single payer if we lose the ACA...let me reiterate that. Those who think the destruction of the ACA will usher in 'single payer' are sadly mistaken. The only way forward was always to build on the ACA...we tried to get health care for 100 years and got it...people like it...but we are throwing it away for nothing.

[ucrdem]

107. This is 2016 all over again.

[oasis]

108. Big smile on Trump's face while signing Graham's ACA killer. nt

[Bad Thoughts]

110. Reminds me of when I tried to walk AND chew gum at the same time

Nothing happened.

[Demsrule86]

119. I don't think you put a bill and say it's the best thing since sliced bread while supporting a

completely different plan...it just doesn't work...not about chewing gum at the same time.

[Bad Thoughts]

127. No, it's about the talents of our representatives in Congress

If they can't work multiple angles of the same issue, they are absolutely worthless.

[andym]

111. Elsewhere, GOP strategists planning to run against single payer, so is ACA repeal less likely?

in one way, maybe the GOP Senators will "think" that Obamacare repeal is less necessary from a showmanship point of view, given something new they can attack, "single payer".
That may make the repeal less likely, since they may feel less pressure to do something. We will see...

Here is the source:
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/350935-gop-sees-fresh-opening-with-dems-single-payer-embrace
"GOP sees fresh opening with Dems’ single payer embrace"
BY JESSIE HELLMANN - 09/16/17 01:14 PM EDT
"Republicans are cheering on the Democrats' embrace of single-payer health care, believing the move to the left will be an albatross for candidates in next year's elections.

After playing defense on health care for months as they failed to fill a promise to repeal ObamaCare, Bernie Sanders’s increasingly popular ‘Medicare for all’ gives the GOP new momentum to blast Democrats. And they’ve got plenty of targets, with 16 Democratic senators backing Sanders’ effort and a similar House measure supported by half of the party’s caucus.

"We’re absolutely ecstatic that the Democratic party is embracing single payer, and I think there’s a stark contrast developing at a time when the Republican party is focusing on cutting taxes, the Democratic party is focused on adding trillions of dollars of spending and advocating for socialized medicine,” said Corry Bliss, executive director of the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), the House GOP-approved super PAC.

The CLF, which plans on spending $100 million during the 2018 election cycle to protect Republican seats in the House, plans to spend a portion of that on ads tying Democrats to single payer. That’s twice as much as they spent in 2016."

[Demsrule86]

122. No, they will destroy the ACA if they get the votes...one away...I hear.

And the GOP will run against single payer which has a soft public approval...and they will say we are socialist and will force people off of workplace insurance as they did in the 90's and more blah blah blah. This strategy could and probably will garner them a win in 18. It didn't have to be this way. Single Payer at the moment is unobtainable. We should have fought like hell for what we have.

[DonCoquixote]

112. now is the perfect time to talk abotu single player

Because aca WAS the compromise, and the House is showing it's hand that they do not even want to give people dog bones.

[Demsrule86]

123. Oh sure...the perfect time ...so we can lose the ACA and medicaid as well for something we can't

get and won't get for decades...you need a super majority...I would have preferred we defend what we have which was hard won and is not obtainable again if we lose it. And of course, how many will die?

[DonCoquixote]

132. we can and should do BOTH

However, some in the GOP know that some in the Democrats are happy to keep moving the center of this country rightward so that anything that is not a full loss is counted as a gain. Put pressure from all sides, center and left, play good cop bad cop, it is what they have done for years!

[R B Garr]

113. K&R

[Demsrule86]

124. Thanks!