On heath care, John McCain gives the finger to Trump and the Republicans again
This time, he didn’t even wait until after midnight. Senator John McCain issued a statement this afternoon confirming his opposition to the “Graham-Cassidy” bill, which would repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with an abomination which would leave millions of Americans for dead. McCain’s “no” vote doesn’t mean the bill is finished – but it’s close. This time around, McCain’s defiance may be all the more remarkable.
After John McCain voted down the previous Republican attempt at destroying health care last month,the big-money special interests took a novel approach. They tapped McCain’s best friend, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, to introduce yet another piece of repugnant legislation. It was one thing for McCain to vote against Donald Trump, whom he despises. And we’ve all seen McCain vote against his own Republican Party before. But McCain voting against a piece of legislation co-sponsored by Graham? Now there would be a sight to see.
Then it happened. McCain announced that he couldn’t support the bill because his own party has provided too little information on it. So much for the Republican scheme to pass the bill before the Congressional Budget Office could even so much as score it. Graham, seemingly defeated, tweeted “My friendship with @SenJohnMcCain is not based on how he votes but respect for how he’s lived his life and the person he is.” But the battle on Graham-Cassidy isn’t quite over yet.
Republican Senator Rand Paul (phone number 202-224-4343), the demented libertarian devil worshipper, says he’ll vote “no” but only because he doesn’t think the bill takes health care away from enough Americans. That means he can’t be trusted, as his stance could easily morph into “Graham-Cassidy is a good start.” Meanwhile Republican Senators Susan Collins (phone number 202-224-2523) and Lisa Murkowski (phone number 202-224-6665), who didn’t get enough credit for helping vote down the previous abomination, are merely leaning “no” this time around. McCain and two other Republicans must vote “no” for the bill to die.
