President Obama expressed that it was ‘aggravating’ to see Republicans again try to kill Obamacare, telling an audience Wednesday that they could inflict ‘real human suffering’ on Americans with their latest bill.
The ex-Democratic president, speaking in New York at a conference for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said he knew that the Affordable Care Act wasn’t perfect.
‘But it was better,’ he argued.
President Obama unleashed on President Trump and Republicans’ efforts to once again kill his signature piece of legislation, Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act
At a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation event in New York City, the ex-Democratic president warned that Republicans could inflict ‘real human suffering’ with their latest bill
President Obama said he found it aggravating to have to dispatch his supporters every couple weeks to defend Obamacare, when in reality it just needs some fixes
This week Republicans are running toward trying to pass another health care measure that would repackage Obamacare funding into block grants for the states.
They have until the end of the month to get it done under reconciliation rules, needing just 51 votes, instead of the typical Senate super-majority needed to bypass the legislative filibuster.
The effort has been named after the two bill authors, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Bill Cassidy, R-La.
Obama acknowledged that this was just the latest effort to scar his legacy.
‘And so when I see people trying to undo that hard-won progress for the 50th or 60th time, with bills that would raise costs or reduce coverage, or roll back protections for older Americans or people with pre-existing conditions – the cancer survivor, the expecting mom or the child with autism, or asthma, for whom coverage once again would be almost unattainable – it is aggravating,’ the former president fumed.
‘And all of this being done without any demonstrable economic or actuarial or plain common-sense rationale, it frustrates,’ he added.
President Trump (left) went after one of his own today, whacking Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (right), for saying he will vote against a new Republican health care reform bill
President Trump whacked Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Wednesday morning, as he’s currently the only ‘no’ vote on a new Republican-led measure to replace Obamacare
While President Trump was tweeting about the repeal bill Wednesday, he’s been engaged behind the scenes, with the White House trying to get the full GOP caucus on board
The Congressional Budget Office won’t be able to fully score the bill by the time it’s expected to hit the Senate floor next week.
‘And it’s certainly frustrating to have to mobilize every couple of months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents,’ Obama said.
Obama’s remarks – which taken, at whole, were actually upbeat – came on the heels of President Trump more vocally pushing the latest health care reform plan.
Trump used his favorite medium – Twitter – to give the one definitive ‘nay’ vote from his own party a tongue-lashing.
‘Rand Paul is a friend of mine but he is such a negative force when it comes to fixing healthcare,’ Trump wrote Wednesday morning. ‘Graham-Cassidy Bill is GREAT! Ends Ocare!’ he added.
He followed that up with another message to get his follow Republicans on board.
‘I hope Republican Senators will vote for Graham-Cassidy and fulfill their promise to Repeal & Replace ObamaCare. Money direct to States!’ Trump wrote.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had outlined his proposal back in July, and it had quietly been gaining steam since then, with President Trump now fully engaged this week
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. (right), is the other bill author and he and other Republicans are trying to get it passed while they can still use reconciliation, meaning they only need 51 votes
With Republicans holding a 52 seat majority in the Senate, and Vice President Mike Pence available to cast a tie-breaking vote, the White House can only afford to lose two GOP senators, with at least three more wavering on the measure.
The bill was brought forth by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., in July and has quietly picked up steam.
Yesterday it officially thwarted more bipartisan plans, as the leaders of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., announced that their negotiations to find a short-term Obamacare fix had collapsed.
Murray, the Democrat, sounded more hopeful that they could return to the negotiating table at a later date and get something passed.
‘I am disappointed that Republican leaders have decided to freeze this bipartisan approach and are trying to jam through a partisan Trumpcare bill, but I am confident that we can reach a deal if we keep working together – and I am committed to getting that done,’ she said in a statement late Tuesday.
But right now Republicans are focused on finally getting some points on the board as the Trump administration and GOP Congress has yet to have one major legislative victory since the beginning of the year.
Party leaders are working on a number of GOP lawmakers who could cause them to fall short.
Beyond Paul, there’s the threat that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., could again thwart the measure by being a no vote.
In recent days, McCain had said he’d need his governor, Doug Ducey, to green light the plan.
Ducey did so Monday afternoon.
McCain said he’d also like to see the Senate return to regular order.
As a way to appease this demand Republicans will hold a committee hearing next week titled, ‘Block Grants: How States Can Reduce Health Care Costs,’ in front of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The committee is chaired by a Graham-Cassidy co-sponsor, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and typically doesn’t dabble in health care matters.
During a Tuesday press conference, Graham didn’t hide the fact that this was being done to give McCain cover.
‘My friends on the other side love process when it advantages them,’ he told reporters. ‘So there will be a public hearing, what John has been asking for.’
Shortly after, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., whose caucus looks like it will vote against the bill en masse, called the Republicans out for this.
‘One hearing, on one day, without a CBO score with two witnesses against the bill,’ he began. ‘That’s a hearing, that a full airing of the bill? Come on!’
‘They are ashamed of this bill, they are afraid to find out what it actually does and so we get another bill in the dark of night,’ Schumer charged.
The CBO has said it will release a preliminary review of the bill early next week, but that won’t include coverage, premium and deficit estimates right away.
In the past, Democrats have hammered Republicans over the number of Americans who would become uninsured under the GOP plans versus with the country sticking with Obamacare, which mandates people buy health insurance or face a penalty under the law.
While Trump is tweeting about health care today, Pence made is clear yesterday that there was a good amount of arm-twisting going on behind the scenes courtesy of the White House.
Pence, according to a Tuesday pool report, had even reached out to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., in the hopes to attract some moderate Democratic support for the bill.
Manchin is one of a number of Democrats who will be fending off challengers next year from Trump-voting states.
Republicans are also looking at Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., as an endangered Democrat – she’s facing an uphill election battle next year – who might be willing to support Graham-Cassidy too.
Among the Republican holds-outs – Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Lisa Murkowsky, R-Ala. – who had together with McCain tanked the Republicans last bill. Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., have simply said they’re looking at it.
Collins has said she has misgivings, especially since a complete CBO score won’t yet be released.
Murkowski has cover to buck her party again and vote against the bill, as her state’s governor, Bill Walker, a Republican-turned-independent, has warned of the ‘drastic cuts’ coming down the pipeline for his state’s Medicaid recipients if it goes through.