Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Kaine: GOP Obamacare repeal plan is a 'big smokescreen'

"THE REPUBLICAN HEALTH CARE ZOMBIE IS BACK"

All In with Chris Hayes 9/20/17

Senate Republicans are trying once again to repeal Obamacare. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia says their plan is actually 'a
big smokescreen' for cutting Medicaid and putting those savings toward their yet-to-be-unveiled tax cut. Duration: 5:20

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/kaine-gop-obamacare-repeal-plan-is-a-big-smokescreen-1051299907588

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9/20/17
Who do you trust on new Obamacare repeal: Trump or Christie?
Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) says he's opposed to the new Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill because it is "injurious" to his state, but the
senators who wrote it and Pres. Trump keep pushing it. Neera Tanden, Howard Dean & Julie Rovner join Lawrence O'Donnell. Duration: 14:51
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/who-do-you-trust-on-new-obamacare-repeal-trump-or-christie-1051391555951


On health care, the GOP literally doesn’t know what it’s doing
Steve Benen 09/20/17 12:57 PM—Updated 09/20/17 01:19 PM

[...]

These officials are paid quite a bit of money to do an important job – shaping federal policy for the planet’s most dominant superpower – and by all appearances, Congress’ Republican majority doesn’t feel like doing that job responsibly. Someone will put a bill in front of them, call it “repeal and replace,” share a few bumper-sticker slogans, and they’ll vote “aye” without a whole lot of thought.

If tens of millions of Americans are punished in the process, so be it. Their goal is to check a box, not to protect your interests.

I made the case yesterday that the public has no idea why Republicans support this regressive approach to health care, but as GOP lawmakers are helping prove, Republicans themselves have no idea, either.

What matters most, of course, are the outcomes for the public, but before Americans feel the brunt of the GOP’s policymaking, consider what this dynamic means for the process in the institution that was once known as The World’s Most Deliberative Body. Senate Democrats could (and likely will) make a clear and convincing case against Graham-Cassidy to their Republican counterparts, explaining why it’s an awful plan that would cause widespread suffering if it were implemented. What’s more, those Democratic arguments would be rooted in fact, evidence, and reason.

But the asymmetry between the parties suggests it wouldn’t make any difference. Because for many Republicans, whether a bill is sound on the merits is far less important than whether it’s a Republican bill. There’s no meaningful connection between the value of an idea and GOP lawmakers’ willingness to support it.

Policymaking in the United States can’t, and won’t, work this way. History will be merciless.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/health-care-the-gop-literally-doesnt-know-what-its-doing