QOTD: from their lips to God's ear edition
by digby
Let's hope this is true:
- Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC): "It's unlikely that we will get a health care deal, which means that most of my time has been spent trying to figure out solutions to Iowa losing all of its insurers ... I don’t see a comprehensive health care plan this year."
- Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ): “There are some still saying that we’ll vote before the August break. I have a hard time believing that."
- Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): Suggesting a short-term bill to stabilize the marketplace followed by a more long-term repeal effort, "To me, this may be a two-part process. I would admit that’s probably a minority view in the Republican Senate right now."
It won't solve the problem of Trump sabotaging the ACA so that he can blame Democrats as he's openly says he believes would redound to his favor politically:
I tell Paul Ryan and all of the folks that we’re working with very hard -- Dr. Tom Price, very talented guy -- but I tell them from a purely political standpoint, the single-best thing we can do is nothing. Let it implode completely -- it’s already imploding. You see the carriers are all leaving. I mean, it’s a disaster.
But two years don’t do anything. The Democrats will come to us and beg for help.
He has no understanding of the political opposition. In fact, he's a complete disaster when it comes to any sort of negotiating tactics. After he said that he tacked on a perfunctory disclaimer that it wouldn't be "good" for the American people but he doesn't really give a damn. He thinks this is a great way to force Democrats to make a deal.
He's wrong. He's playing games with people's lives in the balance and everybody knows it.
But as long as they don't succeed in repealing the law we're better off.
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