Sen. John McCain announced his intention of voting against the latest Obamacare repeal and replacement bill – the Graham-Cassidy Bill. This announcement may have sunk the last effort to repeal Obamacare before the 2018 elections re-shuffle Republican’s power in Congress.
McCain decided against the bill, ultimately, because he believed not enough democrats were involved in it’s creation. “I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried.”
In a statement posted to his Twitter, McCain announced and defended his decision;
“As I have repeatedly stressed, health care reform legislation ought to be the product of regular order in the Senate. Committees of jurisdiction should markup legislation with input from all committee members, and send their bill to the floor for debate and amendment. That is the only way we might achieve bipartisan consensus on lasting reform, without which a policy that affects one-fifth of our economy and every single American family will be subject to reversal with every change of administration and congressional majority,” the tweet read.
He also added, “Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will affect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it. Without a full CBO score, which won’t be available by the end of the month, we won’t have reliable answers to any of those questions.”
In a separate statement, McCain doubled down on his assertion that more democrats need to be involved with the healthcare legislation, “Senators Alexander and Murray have been negotiating in good faith to fix some of the problems with Obamacare. But I fear that the prospect of one last attempt at a strictly Republican bill has left the impression that their efforts cannot succeed. I hope they will resume their work should this last attempt at a partisan solution fail.”
In a backhanded compliment to his frequent collaborator, and friend Lindsay Graham, McCain said, “I take no pleasure in announcing my opposition. Far from 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 continued.
In response to McCain’s announcement, Trump tweeted, “Democrats are laughingly saying that McCain had a ‘moment of courage,’ ” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Tell that to the people of Arizona who were deceived. 116% increase!”
