Public
Facing the prospect of leaving Washington for a month-long recess without any substantial legislative achievements, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Tuesday announced he is delaying the start of the traditional August recess this year by two weeks.
View 38 previous comments
+James Fleming 2018 will depend a lot on how much the republican majority has "inspired" the democratic voters, and how long their memory is, and largely what legislation, if any, is passed between now and November. Right now the
republicans have the budget timeline to worry about, so passing a healthcare bill quickly is imperative which is really why McConell doesnt want to take a break until they get a vote on healthcare. Thats why I think they will do pretty much the same as the house did and concede on a few points for both sides and take a vote. They still have 200 billion to play with to convince enough holdouts to vote the party line. They are desperate to show some progress on their hardline repeal and replace, I dont see them backing down.6d
+jl sc If they make a few changes to the bill that they have already crafted, they may pass it but, the likelihood that they can significantly change the negative effects of the bill is not good. I suspect that they have hamstrung themselves because they have a right flank whose positions make it difficult for them to craft anything that isn't going to omit lots of people from access to healthcare. The CBO will review it again and, I believe that there will still be millions of people cut from the access.6d- +James Fleming Absolutely, it will be as disasterous as the house bill, there is no doubt. But, it still has to go back to the house, as does the blame for the results. The senate only has to pass a bill and their responsibility for it ends there from their perspective. The senators only have to blame the house for the final results, and they are clean as far as the voters go.6d
- +jl sc Yes, the bill still goes back to the house where there is likely to be armed warfare. However, that is not necessarily going to absolve the senate. The independents, democrats and, the curious who deserted the progressives to vote republican, don't necessarily separate senators from representatives. All they see is that the republicans are in the majority in every level of government and, that they expected the a decidedly better outcomes from republicans in general. If the republicans can't get their act together, their party will lose some amount of their dominance in both houses.5d
- jl sc+1+James Fleming I certainly hope you are correct. I expect a lot of finger pointing either way between the republican house and senate during the election battles. Mostly at democrats as they have been for not "helping with making a good healthcare bill", but between members as well depending on whether or not they pass this bill in its current form.5d
- Still does not matter what lib think Republicans control house and senate and will eventually do what they want done. And stop what they try to do. So basicly it's a done deal for a few years! Sorry but life goes on.5d
