Tag: Senate Republicans

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12 GOP Senators Vote For Resolution To Rebuke Trump’s ‘National Emergency’ Declaration

Donald Trump went on a pre-emptive Twitter rant in advance of a vote in the GOP-controlled Senate today on a Democratic resolution to block Trump's emergency declaration in order to get funds for his beloved border wall.
Donald Trump

UPDATE: Twelve Republican senators joined with Democrats to approve a resolution denouncing Donald Trump’s declaration of a ‘national emergency’ to gain funding for his long-sought border wall by a vote of 59-41.

The Trumpster made his next step perfectly clear immediately after the vote, tweeting “VETO!”

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Donald Trump went on a pre-emptive Twitter rant in advance of a vote in the GOP-controlled Senate today on a Democratic resolution to block Trump’s emergency declaration in order to get funds for his beloved border wall.

In his tweet, Trump threatens to veto the resolution which would be his first use of veto powers while in the White House.

So far, seven Republican senators have announced they will vote for the resolution – Sens. Mitt Romney, Mike Lee, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, Rand Paul, and Lamar Alexander.

The Hill suggests Sens. Marco Rubio, Ben Sasse, Ron Johnson and Jerry Moran could join the list of Republicans voting against the president.

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Republican Sen. Jeff Flake Announces He Won’t Seek Re-Election Due To Trump’s “Reckless, Outrageous, Undignified Behavior”

Sen. Jeff Flake, Republican senator from Arizona, just gave a breathtaking speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate announcing he will not seek re-election in 2018.

In doing so, he pointed to the “reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior” of Donald Trump as president.

Flake pretty much left it all out on the Senate floor as he called out the president as well as calling his fellow senators “complicit” in allowing Donald Trump to continue to debase the office of the presidency.

Read the full speech here, and watch excerpts below.

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Senate Republicans Making Another Attempt At Trumpcare 2.0

Senate Republicans are trying yet again to come up with legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Via the New York Times:

The measure, sponsored by Mr. Graham and Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, is a last-ditch effort by Republicans to fulfill their seven-year-old promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Supporters say it is gaining traction in the Senate, but it remains several votes shy of passage.

Under the bill, millions could lose coverage, Medicaid would see the same magnitude of cuts that earlier repeal bills extracted, and insurers in some states could charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions. The Senate Republican leadership has been taking the pulse of its caucus, trying to determine whether it can muster enough votes.

A clock is ticking. If the Senate does not vote by the end of next week, it will become nearly impossible to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The drive to kill the bill will lose the procedural protections that allow it to pass the Senate with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes that would otherwise be needed to overcome a filibuster.

As a cancer survivor, I’m personally concerned about the bill. I pay for my own health insurance and having my premiums jump even higher because of a disease I beat 8 years ago is clearly untenable.

According to political prognosticators, the Republicans don’t quite have the 50 votes they need to pass the bill.

 Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your senator’s office and let them know this is a bad deal for America.

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Lacking Votes, Senate Republican Healthcare Bill Put On Hold

Per the Associated Press, the Senate Republican healthcare bill, lacking votes, is on hold until after the July 4th recess.

At last count, at least five Republicans Senators (Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Susan Collins, Dean Heller, Ron Johnson) have publicly stated they can’t vote for the healthcare legislation put forward by a group of 13 GOP senators.

With a scant 52 member majority, the Republicans can only lose two votes and still pass their bill.

Years and years of grousing about Obamacare, promises of immediate “repeal and replace” thanks to the election of Donald Trump, and the Republican party controlling the House, Senate and White House – but these folks can’t get their act together to do anything.

#sad

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Congressional Budget Office: Senate Republican Healthcare Bill Would Increase Uninsured By 22 Million

The numbers are out from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office regarding the current Senate Republicans’ healthcare bill:

CBO and JCT estimate that enacting this legislation would reduce the cumulative federal deficit over the 2017-2026 period by $321 billion. That amount is $202 billion more than the estimated net savings for the version of H.R. 1628 that was passed by the House of Representatives.

The Senate bill would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law, slightly fewer than the increase in the number of uninsured estimated for the House-passed legislation. By 2026, an estimated 49 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law.

Bolding is mine.

The bill also calls for cuts to Medicaid to the tune of $772 billion over the next ten years.

And premiums for a 64-year old with middle income go from $6,800 under current law to $20,500 under the Senate Republicans legislation.

Click image to enlarge

So, good news for those conservatives looking to see deficit reduction, but 22 million uninsured isn’t much better than the 23 million uninsured predicted for the House Republican healthcare bill.

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Nevada: Sen. Dean Heller Says “No” To Senate GOP Trumpcare Bill

Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada

Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada (my state) announced today he will not be voting for the newly unveiled Senate version of Trumpcare.

Heller is considered the most vulnerable Republican senator up for reelection in 2018 being from a very purple state that went for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.

Via Politico:

“This bill that’s currently in front of the United States Senate is not the answer. It’s simply not the answer,” said Heller, the most vulnerable Senate Republican in the 2018 midterm election. “It’s going to be very difficult to get me to a yes.”

Heller is now the fifth Republican to go public with a threat to vote against the bill, which is the culmination of seven years of GOP campaign promises. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can lose only two of his 52 members for the bill to pass when he holds a vote in a week.

On Thursday, four conservatives — Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Ron Johnson — said they aren’t ready to support the draft bill because it preserves too many of Obamacare’s regulations but said they’re open to negotiations.

Heller did leave the door open to supporting the bill if changes are made.

“Both Republicans and Democrats can agree the [Affordable Care Act] does need some fixes,” the Nevada Republican said.

Heller said he is opposed to the rollback of the Medicaid expansion because it hurts Nevada.

“This is all about Medicaid expansion. … You have to protect Medicaid expansion states,” Heller said, adding that he wouldn’t support rolling back Medicaid unless payment rates for a state like Nevada are boosted.

Trust and believe I was one of the phone calls his office received over the past couple of days.

Heller becomes the fifth Senate Republican to say they won’t be supporting the GOP Healthcare bill. Republicans only have a two vote majority, so with five saying “no,” this bill has to be amended. The problem is the moves to get moderate Repubs on board will push far-right GOPs away, and vice-versa.

The answer to healthcare is for Republicans to work WITH Democrats to address fixes in Obamacare. Period.

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Senate Republicans: “American People Simply Will Not Tolerate” Blocking Trump SCOTUS Nominations

After absolutely NO movement on President Obama’s SCOTUS nominee for 294 days, Senate Republicans have the nerve to say “the American people simply will not tolerate” Democrats blocking Trump’s SCOTUS nominees.

Let’s remember that almost 3 million more Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump.

Watch Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell serve up some serious hypocrisy: