NOTE: The evening of June 29, there is a rally to let Rep. Paulsen know we want to keep our healthcare. More info here.
The following article by Avantika Chilkoti and Emily Cochrane was posted on the New York Times website June 27, 2017:
Under a blistering sun, protesters let out a cheer on Tuesday across Capitol lawns as word spread that the Senate Republican leader had delayed a vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act. But amid the celebration, Democrats urged the crowds to keep the heat on lawmakers whose opposition to the health care overhaul could grow cold over the coming Fourth of July recess.
“If there is one thing that everybody knows in politics, it’s this: When you have the votes, you take the vote,” Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, roared to the amassed activists, some clad in pink Planned Parenthood shirts, others in red AIDS awareness shirts.
By midafternoon, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, had announced that he did not have enough support to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, and would take lawmakers’ temperatures when they returned to Washington the week of July 10.
But already, organizers were warning against getting caught up in the small victory. They predicted the majority leader would be ready to push ahead, and harder, after the recess.
“The bill being delayed is a sign that McConnell, and the leadership, is really committed to making this happen,” said Lee Storrow, a national advocacy coordinator with the American Heart Association. “We can’t be complacent.”
Nearly every health providers’ association and patient advocacy group in the United States has criticized the proposed bill, which seeks to make deep cuts in Medicaid and end requirements for most Americans to have health insurance. Lobbying groups have been ramping up their efforts in recent weeks, holding rallies across the country and taking to social media in a bid to save Mr. Obama’s health law.
The American Civil Liberties Union has held an estimated 168 events on health care since just before the House narrowly passed its own version of a repeal in May, delivering a major blow to the lobby effort. The American Federation of Teachers, meanwhile, has sent more than 60,000 letters to lawmakers in the past two weeks.
“This is a huge, huge, huge win — but it’s not a victory,” said Angel Padilla, the policy director at the progressive group Indivisible, describing lobbying plans during the weeklong recess.
“When senators go home, they need to see how many constituents don’t want this bill,” he said. “They can’t even be thinking about voting for this bill when they come back.”
Emily Tisch Sussman, the campaign director for the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank, said she was encouraging protesters rallying around her on Tuesday to speak to their representatives at holiday events and parades back home.
“They love to be accessible there,” she said. “We expect them to hear from their constituents.”
Tuesday was the beginning of the People’s Filibuster, where lawmakers, patients and activists will congregate on Capitol Hill for three days — including linking arms to form a human chain around the Capitol on Wednesday — to protest the Senate bill.
Their focus now, some said, has switched to the lawmakers themselves. Protesters chanted “Shame” on Tuesday afternoon as Republican senators piled into a bus headed for a health care discussion at the White House.
Over the recess, some opponents of the repeal measure are funneling resources toward states that are represented by moderate Republicans, where rolling back Medicaid would cause particular harm or where incumbent senators are already feeling pressure incoming re-election races. At the top of their list: Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dean Heller of Nevada, both Republicans.
Advocacy groups supporting the repeal were also gearing up ahead of the break, emailing key senators and arranging meetings with them in Washington and their districts. The delay in voting, some said, was in their favor.
“For McConnell, deadlines are magic,” said Neil Trautwein, a vice president with the National Retail Federation, which supports the health care overhaul. “He has not only this July 4 recess, but the month of July to bring his caucus together.”
As the sun began to recede on Tuesday, some protesters pointed to their work as a factor in the decision to delay a vote. But Mr. Trautwein, a former legislative staff member on health issues, said he felt it was unlikely that they had swayed Mr. McConnell.
“He’s particularly impervious to that sort of thing,” he said.
View the post here.