Tag: Mitch McConnell

Trump Launches A Suicidal War On His Own Party

The following article by Steve Chapman was posted on the Creators.com website August 13, 2017:

Credit: AFP/Getty Images

During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump often told the story of the kind woman who found a half-frozen snake and took it in and nursed it back to health — only to be repaid with a cruel bite. What Republicans didn’t know is that in this story, they’re the woman and Trump is the reptile.

With his approval rating sinking, Trump has decided his problem is that he has too many allies. So he set out to rid of himself of an important one: Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

The taciturn Kentuckian managed to inspire rage by suggesting that, being new to Washington, Trump had “excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.” The president responded by tweeting angrily, “Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal & Replace for 7 years, couldn’t get it done. Must Repeal & Replace ObamaCare!” Continue reading “Trump Launches A Suicidal War On His Own Party”

Why Repeal-and-Delay Is a Risky Health Care Strategy

The following article by Margot Sanger-Katz was posted on the New York Times website July 7 2017:

President Trump and Senator Ted Cruz have each talked up the possibility of repealing Obamacare without an immediate replacement. Credit Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

If you can’t repeal and replace Obamacare all at once, what about just repealing it first, and coming up with new ideas later?

That was the preferred political strategy of many in Congress after the election, but it was ultimately rejected by the White House and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who determined that Republicans should repeal and install a new plan simultaneously.

Now, as Republican senators balk at the health bill their leaders have drafted, several politicians have suggested that it’s time to return to the original idea. Such a strategy would come with tremendous political risks for Republicans and practical risks for consumers, many of whom might end up dealing with zombie-like markets. Continue reading “Why Repeal-and-Delay Is a Risky Health Care Strategy”

Why is Mitch McConnell still calling for a health-care vote?

The following article by Sean Sullivan was posted on the Washington Post website July 18, 2017:

Monday night brought one of the most embarrassing blows Mitch McConnell has endured in his 2½ years as Senate majority leader.

Two more Republican senators came out against McConnell’s bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, effectively dooming the latest version. That forced the Kentucky Republican to confront a difficult question with no good answers: What now? Continue reading “Why is Mitch McConnell still calling for a health-care vote?”

McConnell’s claim that Senate GOP health bill would not ’cause anyone currently on Medicaid to come off it’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell misleadingly claims that the Senate’s health-care proposal won’t lead to cuts in Medicaid. (Video: Meg Kelly, Julio Negron/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Senate GOP’s Obamacare repeal bill will cost lives, but fatten the wallets of millionaires

The following article by Michael Hiltzik was posted on the Los Angeles Times website June 22, 2017:

Mitch McConnell (Credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

Senate Republicans finally revealed on Thursday why they’ve been crafting their Affordable Care Act repeal in secret. As the newly released draft shows, it’s a rollback of health coverage for millions of Americans that could cost the lives of tens of thousands a year.

But make no mistake: This is not a healthcare bill. It’s a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, paid for by a reduction in government funding for healthcare. The measure would constitute one of the largest single transfers of wealth to the rich from the middle class and poor in American history. Continue reading “Senate GOP’s Obamacare repeal bill will cost lives, but fatten the wallets of millionaires”

Shifting Dollars From Poor to Rich Is a Key Part of the Senate Health Bill

The following article by Margot Sanger-Katz was posted on the New York Times website June 22, 2017:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at his office on Thursday, when the Republican health plan was made public. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

The Affordable Care Act gave health insurance to millions of Americans by shifting resources from the wealthy to the poor and by moving oversight from states to the federal government. The Senate bill introduced Thursday pushes back forcefully on both dimensions.

The bill is aligned with long-held Republican values, advancing states’ rights and paring back growing entitlement programs, while freeing individuals from requirements that they have insurance and emphasizing personal responsibility. Obamacare raised taxes on high earners and the health care industry, and essentially redistributed that income — in the form of health insurance or insurance subsidies — to many of the groups that have fared poorly over the last few decades. Continue reading “Shifting Dollars From Poor to Rich Is a Key Part of the Senate Health Bill”

Mitch McConnell on the health-care legislative process, 2010 vs. 2017

The following fact check article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website June 19, 2017:

While Obamacare was under consideration, McConnell had strong words for the Democratic majority’s tactics, criticizing them for going ‘the partisan route.’ Now, he seems to be using them. (Video: Meg Kelly/Photo: Oliver Contreras for The Washington Post/The Washington Post)

“Unfortunately, it will have to be a Republicans-only exercise. But we’re working hard to get there.”
— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in remarks to reporters June 13

It has become a regular feature of the U.S. political system that the politicians in the minority accuse the politicians in power of cutting deals behind closed doors to advance controversial legislation — only to engage in similar tactics once they regain power. Continue reading “Mitch McConnell on the health-care legislative process, 2010 vs. 2017”

Mitch McConnell, the man who broke America

The following column by Dana Milbank was posted on the Washington Post website April 7, 2017:

“No majority leader wants written on his tombstone that he presided over the end of the Senate,” the minority leader said.

He continued: “Breaking the rules to change the rules is un-American. I just hope the majority leader thinks about his legacy, the future of his party, and, most importantly, the future of our country before he acts.” Continue reading “Mitch McConnell, the man who broke America”

Sunday Shows Whitewash Republicans’ History Of Obstructionism

The following article by Zachary Pleat was posted on the Media Matters website April 2, 2017:

NBC’s Chuck Todd and Fox’s Chris Wallace failed to explain Republican senators’ unprecedented obstructionism of former President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees when discussing a 2013 rule change made by Senate Democrats to forbid the filibustering of judicial nominees below the Supreme Court level.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appeared on the April 2 editions of NBC’s Meet the Press and Fox Broadcasting Co.’s Fox News Sunday and declared that President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, will be confirmed to the court. The hosts questioned McConnell on whether he would invoke the nuclear option — a rule change that would eliminate the use of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees — if the Democrats filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination. Additionally, the hosts pointed out McConnell’s opposition to the rule change in 2013, which he now appears poised to use on behalf of Gorsuch:

Continue reading “Sunday Shows Whitewash Republicans’ History Of Obstructionism”

Mitch McConnell’s crime of passion against Elizabeth Warren

The following column by Doyle McManus was posted on the L.A. Times website February 12, 2017:

After 32 years in the Senate, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has earned a reputation as a wily legislative wizard and a cynical genius at outwitting Democrats.

So when McConnell invoked a little-used Senate rule to silence Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as she read a letter from Coretta Scott King denouncing President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Congress-watchers figured there had to be a clever strategy behind the move. Continue reading “Mitch McConnell’s crime of passion against Elizabeth Warren”