Saving ObamaCare
He once told us that repealing ObamaCare was the “dumbest” idea he’d ever heard. It looks like our very own Richard Burr thinks voting to spend BILLIONS on subsidies for big insurance companies to keep ObamaCare afloat is pretty freakin’ smart:
Two key senators on Thursday announced that the bipartisan proposal they’ve crafted to fix Obamacare’s cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments has a total of 24 original co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, reached an agreement with his ranking member, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, and it’s backed by 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans.
The short-term deal would extend CSR payments for the next two years and would eliminate the question about whether paying them is legal. The agreement would permanently amend Obamacare to give new flexibility for states to create insurance policies that have a larger variety and lower costs and it also would continue CSRs during 2018 and 2019.
[…]
Here are the co-sponsors:
- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee
- Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota
- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina
- Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona
- Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine
- Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska
- Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina
- Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee
- Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana
- Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa
- Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia
- Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington
- Sen. Angus King, I-Maine
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire
- Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota
- Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware
- Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri
- Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota
- Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota
- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia
- Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin
- Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire
Trump opposes this deal, so — of course — it makes *perfect sense* for our very own Tricky Dick (and his special friend Lindsey Graham-nesty) to sign on to it. This comes on the heels of Trump’s executive order to scrap ObamaCare subsidies and open the door to interstate insurance sales.
I just can’t believe Thom isn’t right there with him!
Tillis is next up for re-election, so he might be gradually transitioning back to his fifth year conservative image. After all, he has quite a climb out of that 29% approval well that he’s fallen into.
One also has to remember that Congress, under GOP control, rejected these subsidies when Obama was in office, and that Obama then decreed an executive order to pay them, which a federal judge has ruled is illegal. Trump reversed the Obama executive order, citing the court ruling. These big government Republicans are now trying to save Obama’s legacy and do something Congress refused Obama previously. One wonder what goes through their minds. Certainly not consistency.
The more things like this that go on, and the push for amnesty for those illegal aliens that Obama called “Dreamers”, the more one wonders how they expect to excite or motivate the GOP base to turn out to vote in 2018.
There will be a great opportunity during the 2018 elections to take out some of these dirty dealing Republicans, actually Democrats.
It is crying shame that neither Tillis or Burr are running. We can certainly work on their buddies. in other states.
It is my understanding that several senators were flip flopping their votes once they saw how the vote was going. They are spinless, selfish, elites beholden to big pharma and big insurance.
They have done it again. Both Tillis and Burr have voted AGAINST repealing Obamacare. They are Obama Republican fakes and need to be thrown out of office.
http://www.beaufortobserver.net/Articles-NEWS-and-COMMENTARY-c-2017-10-20-296145.114136-Tillis-and-Burr-vote-to-save-ObamaCare.html
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) offered a budget amendment to repeal Title 1 of Obamacare, which contains the regulations which drive up our premiums. Both Tillis and Burr, along with 18 other phony Republicans voted against the Lee amendment. This should be a target list for Steve Bannon to take out in the primaries.