After complaining on Tuesday that the Senate was “getting nothing done,” and saying that “our healthcare insurance system is a mess, Senator John McCain heeded Governor Doug Ducey’s plea to save Obamacare by killing the only available vehicle for reform of the failing system. Just days before the vote, Rep. Paul Gosar seemed to predict the failure when he said, “The Democrats are the opposition, but the Senate is the enemy.”
Ironically, Gosar made his comments during an appearance on the James T. Harris radio show out of Tucson after McCain had warned his fellow senators to “stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio. To Hell with them,” he screeched, “they don’t want to get anything done for the public good.”
McCain then proceeded to block what many believed was for the public good. Many believed that McCain returned to the Senate after under going brain surgery to provide the much needed fiftieth vote to pass the “skinny repeal” bill so debate could begin. Passage would have sent the bill to conference where reform could be forged by Democrats and Republicans.
Listen to Gosar interview here.
Prior to Friday’s vote, McCain released a statement in which he noted that he was relying on Ducey’s advice. Ducey sent McCain a letter asking him to protect Medicaid expansion.
The morning following President Trump tweeted: “If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!”
|
Rep. Andy Biggs replied to the President’s tweet with a reminder that he had introduced the “Protection from Obamacare Mandates and Congressional Equity Act” last year. That legislation would have ended the loophole for members of Congress and congressional staff to opt out of the Obamacare exchanges.
The bill would have assisted the many Arizonans who have lost healthcare insurance due to the ACA’s collapse by provided an exemption to the Obamacare individual mandate for individuals residing in counties with fewer than two health insurance issuers offering plans on an Exchange.