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发帖数: 22479 | 1 Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Friday announced that he will vote against the
latest proposal to repeal ObamaCare, potentially dooming the legislation
and, with it, the GOP's last shot at passing a health-care overhaul this
year.
“I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal. I
believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and
have not yet really tried," he said in a statement, referring to the
legislation spearheaded by GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C) and Bill Cassidy (
La.).
Republicans have been racing toward a vote on health care next week, ahead
of a Sept. 30 deadline for approving the bill on a majority vote.
They had been hopeful that McCain's close friendship with Graham and the
support for the bill from Arizona's governor would be enough to win him over.
McCain suggested the decision had weighed on him, adding that he takes "no
pleasure" in it.
“The bill’s authors are my dear friends, and I think the world of them. I
know they are acting consistently with their beliefs and sense of what is
best for the country. So am I," he said.
Graham quickly weighed on McCain's decision, saying he disagrees but their
friendship will survive.
"My friendship with John McCain is not based on how he votes but respect for
how he’s lived his life and the person he is," he said on Twitter.
Graham added that "I respectfully disagree " with McCain and "intend to push
forward for state-centric health care vs Washington-knows-best health care."
Supporters of Graham-Cassidy, which is also co-sponsored by Republican Sens.
Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Dean Heller (Nev.), argue that it's the GOP's last
chance to keep their promise to roll back former President Obama's signature
law.
Though McCain's opposition doesn't formally kill the legislation, it leaves
leadership with a daunting task: Winning over every other member of a caucus
that includes both moderates and firebrand conservatives.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has already said he opposes the bill because it doesn
't go far enough in repealing ObamaCare.
Other senators fear the bill's impact on state budgets and insurance
coverage. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Friday said she is "leaning
against" the bill, and several other key senators — including GOP Sen. Lisa
Murkowski (Alaska) — remain on the fence.
Three "no" votes would be enough to kill the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) earlier this week said he
intends to hold a vote on Graham-Cassidy next week, but McCain's
announcement throws those plans in doubt.
McCain, who has brain cancer, cast the decisive vote that halted the GOP's
first ObamaCare repeal effort over the summer. With a dramatic thumbs down
on the Senate floor, he stopped that legislation in its tracks.
Murkowski and Collins also voted against that "skinny" repeal bill.
McCain at the time complained the legislation had been rushed to the floor
without going through the normal committee process, and he leveled that same
complaint against Graham-Cassidy.
“I would consider supporting legislation similar to that offered by my
friends Senators Graham and Cassidy were it the product of extensive
hearings, debate and amendment. But that has not been the case. Instead, the
specter of [the] September 30th budget reconciliation deadline has hung
over this entire process," he said on Friday.
McCain also said he couldn't back the bill without seeing a full analysis
from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Without a CBO score, McCain said, lawmakers have no "reliable answers" to
questions about how much the bill will cost, how many people will be covered
and how it will affect insurance premiums.
The CBO has said its analysis won't be ready until next month.
McCain urged his colleagues to try to craft a bipartisan healthcare bill
using "regular order."
"We should not be content to pass health care legislation on a party-line
basis, as Democrats did when they rammed Obamacare through Congress in 2009.
If we do so, our success could be as short-lived as theirs," he said.
Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) had been leading
bipartisan talks to try to get a deal on a bill that would stabilize the
individual insurance market.
But those talks were put on hold earlier this week after the White House and
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) warned they would not support a bill stabilizing
ObamaCare.
McCain said Alexander and Murray had been "negotiating in good faith" and
urged them to resume their talks if a third GOP senator comes out against
the ObamaCare repeal bill.
"I fear that the prospect of one last attempt at a strictly Republican bill
has left the impression that their efforts cannot succeed," he said. "I hope
they will resume their work should this last attempt at a partisan solution
fail."
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) expressed a similar hope.
“John McCain shows the same courage in Congress that he showed when he was
a naval aviator," Schumer said. "I have assured Senator McCain that as soon
as repeal is off the table, we Democrats are intent on resuming the
bipartisan process.”
Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who has been waging a crusade against the
Graham-Cassidy bill, hailed McCain as a hero. |
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