Posted on 07/10/2017 6:01:41 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Republicans pretend that they are powerless to do more about the great ship Obamacare than to change the fuel on which it runs and rearrange its deck chairs — never mind to sink it. Because they lack 60 votes to stop “unlimited debate,” they claim to be unable to vote even on whether to allow health insurance to be sold across state lines. They pretend to believe that fidelity to unlimited debate in the Senate trumps the importance of our health care system. But the reason why they prop up Obamacare rather than tearing it down is that they are even more beholden to the insurance companies and hospital chains than the Democrats who passed it in the first place.
Neither the filibuster nor the requirement of 60 votes to “cloture” it prevents voting and passing anything that a majority wishes to pass. Moreover, Senate rules can be made or changed by simple majorities. In practical terms, even without “cloture,” a minority’s protracted talk cannot stop a determined majority from voting. Potential filibusters learned long ago that talking nonsense to hold the floor day and night for weeks on end breaks them physically and discredits them politically. But the main reason why no one has tried a real filibuster for more than a half century is that, in 1970, the Senate adopted a “two track” procedure, by which, once a bill fails to gain enough votes to impose cloture (since 1975 that number has been 60), the Senate simply goes on to other business. This has resulted in countless bills having been effectively filibustered to death without a word having being spoken, without anyone having incurred any effort or risk. This, the avoidance of votes on risky, controversial matters — not any commitment to extended debate — is what senators of both parties find so attractive about the modern “virtual filibuster.”
Today however, Republicans are even more unwilling than Democrats to take responsibility for basic choices. The Democrats’ Obamacare made health insurance companies into public utilities. This is what the companies wanted. Republicans had joined them in working out similar schemes (vide the Heritage Foundation plan and Romney-care in Massachusetts) and resented being left out of the action.
If Republicans were serious about voting on any provision regarding health care, or anything else, they would not have to bother eliminating the filibuster. It would be enough to dare opponents actually to wage real ones — complete with minority senators babbling and majority senators sleeping on cots ready to answer quorum calls.
Real filibusters advertise the minority’s fatal political liability: refusal to confront the questions at hand. Because holding the floor to the exclusion of the majority makes it impossible to confute the majority, “extended debate” refutes no one and persuades no one. As the minority filibusters with scattershot or nonsense, the majority can repeat demands for roll-call votes to decide on matters at hand.
The real reason is because they are bought and paid for by lobbyists who brnefit from healthcare like it is now. Everything is always about the money
I have news for you. Most Americans — even many people right here on FreeRepublic — love socialized medicine.
You are day dreaming again. Nobody on FR wants single payer which is what the Dems and GOP corportists want.
He's absolutely correct! If the GOP Senate fails to repeal obamacare they will face an electoral massacre in 2018. And they will have earned it.
They claim they don't want single payer, but they are clamoring for a system that can only work through a single-payer process.
Plus they cut Medicare by 100’s of billions of dollars to fund Obamacare.
Older voters got the shaft as did many others.
So long as Congress thwarts the people’s wishes, they will be a Fake Congress.
Taxation, Corruption and Perversion - but no Representation.
RELATED.....
President Trump -vs- Deep State, Big Club and U.S. Media…
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3541413/posts
Healthcare Legislation is Stuck Amid The Big Club Administrative Lobbying Network…
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/07/09/healthcare-legislation-is-stuck-amid-the-big-club-administrative-lobbying-network/
~~~~~~~~
It’s a BIG club and Rethugs ARE in it :-/
The Republicans may have run their campaigns for the last seven years based on the promise to repeal ObamaCare, but the dirty little secret is that restoring hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare funding was much more important to their constituents than anything else they ran on.
See post 47
The entire Washington DC bunch of idiots are nothing more than communists pretending to be Constitutionalists. When will Americans kick their ars and remove all of them at the time of their term. None of them are worth a shi! Obamacare is dead and is costing us trillions and offer nothing more than what the insurance companies offer.
“And spineless voters in Wisconsin and Kentucky will keep voting in Ryan and McConnell.”
I heartily agree with your sentiments but let me add:
McCain in Arizona, Cochran in Mississippi, Cornyn in Texas, etc., etc., etc.
Some of it is unfortunately voters’ fault as well, especially in states such as Arizona (with all due apologies to Freeper Arizona voters). It really appeared that the gop-e was getting its’ comeuppance last year but alas McCain [the ultimate RINO] defeated Kelli Ward and handily. It appeared many in Arizona were finally ready to kick him out [note the precinct chairs’ rebellion against him] and so on but then....McCain wins big.
So gop voters have got to start becoming much much more engaged in the congressional primaries much as they did in the POTUS primaries last year for Trump. Just because the challengers in the primary don’t “catch your attention” as none will be able to capture the PR the way Trump could, it is imperative that gop voters learn who the best conservative challenger is in each primary and WORK, donate and VOTE for them and not brush it off because they don’t immediately recognize the name.
“And spineless voters in Wisconsin and Kentucky will keep voting in Ryan and McConnell.”
I heartily agree with your sentiments but let me add:
McCain in Arizona, Cochran in Mississippi, Cornyn in Texas, etc., etc., etc.
Some of it is unfortunately voters’ fault as well, especially in states such as Arizona (with all due apologies to Freeper Arizona voters). It really appeared that the gop-e was getting its’ comeuppance last year but alas McCain [the ultimate RINO] defeated Kelli Ward and handily. It appeared many in Arizona were finally ready to kick him out [note the precinct chairs’ rebellion against him] and so on but then....McCain wins big.
So gop voters have got to start becoming much much more engaged in the congressional primaries much as they did in the POTUS primaries last year for Trump. Just because the challengers in the primary don’t “catch your attention” as none will be able to capture the PR the way Trump could, it is imperative that gop voters learn who the best conservative challenger is in each primary and WORK, donate and VOTE for them and not brush it off because they don’t immediately recognize the name.
“And spineless voters in Wisconsin and Kentucky will keep voting in Ryan and McConnell.”
I heartily agree with your sentiments but let me add:
McCain in Arizona, Cochran in Mississippi, Cornyn in Texas, etc., etc., etc.
Some of it is unfortunately voters’ fault as well, especially in states such as Arizona (with all due apologies to Freeper Arizona voters). It really appeared that the gop-e was getting its’ comeuppance last year but alas McCain [the ultimate RINO] defeated Kelli Ward and handily. It appeared many in Arizona were finally ready to kick him out [note the precinct chairs’ rebellion against him] and so on but then....McCain wins big.
So gop voters have got to start becoming much much more engaged in the congressional primaries much as they did in the POTUS primaries last year for Trump. Just because the challengers in the primary don’t “catch your attention” as none will be able to capture the PR the way Trump could, it is imperative that gop voters learn who the best conservative challenger is in each primary and WORK, donate and VOTE for them and not brush it off because they don’t immediately recognize the name.
The Republican congress is a lot of wimps and rinos
You missed the point of my post.
They claim they don’t want single payer, but they are clamoring for a system that can only work through a single-payer process.
I didn’t miss it. You continue to insist on insulting FReepers who get Medicare for some reason. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.
Nice thought, but...
What about all of the taxes/surtaxes that are baked in to 0Care?
What about the states that signed up for the Medicaid expansions? How do you arbitrarily reduce that funding?
The tentacles of 0Care are long and treacherously deep :(
The money paragraphs:
“As Obamacare brought grief, Republicans fed on public hate for it for four election cycles. Today, they seem stuck with their original commitment to the health of the health insurance industry — as if maintaining the companies as public utilities and passing taxpayer money through them to lower patient out-of-pocket costs were a step toward freedom rather than another step toward socialism. The polls show that fewer that one in five voters approve of the Republican plans. That is why open debate on what to do about health care is the last thing on earth Republicans want.
Blaming “Senate rules” diverts attention from the basic choice that most Republicans made long ago to service the very groups that supported Obamacare: insurance companies and hospital administrators anxious for predictable streams of income. That is why, rhetoric about competition and freedom notwithstanding, Republican majorities in 2017-18 are no more disposed than were Republican majorities in 2005-07 to allow Americans to purchase any plan offered by any company certified in any state. Doing that today would cut virtually all of Obamacare’s Gordian knots. But each and every one of those complex rules means money for corporate constituents. Competition is what they don’t want.”
Yup. The only thing worse than being 55 and unemployed is being 55, unemployed, and having to pay outrageous Obamacare premiums.
We do need a national Fire Your Congressman movement.
Even if a few “good” babies go out with the bath water.
It’s long past time.
Since this will simultaneously deprive Senate Republicans of a major source of campaign funding, I don't see any real fix on the horizon.
Probably the best we can hope for is some form of single payer with certain types of superior private care still available at market rates. The cost to the taxpayer will be immense.
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