Paul Ryan And Señor Trumpanzee In League To Destroy Senate Bipartisan Efforts

Lamar Alexander (R-TN) voted to repeal Obamacare but when the repeal failed he decided he doesn't really want to hold folks in Tennessee who get healthcare coverage through Obamacare hostage. A former governor of his state and the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, he started working on a bipartisan fix that would at least stabilize the insurance markets while Congress figures out how to proceed. I've been hearing reports that his efforts have been going well. But then someone ratted him out to Trump and yesterday Trump-- with Paul Ryan in tow-- tried to put the kibosh on the whole endeavor. Ryan and White House extremists went to McConnell and Cornyn and told them to make Alexander stop, claiming that if a catastrophe is looming, there will be more pressure on senators to pass this new version of TrumpCare-- the one 10 governors, including Republican governors of Ohio, Massachusetts, Alaska, Nevada and Vermont, came out against yesterday and the one, also yesterday, the AMA said "would result in millions of Americans losing their health insurance coverage, destabilize health insurance markets, and decrease access to affordable coverage and care," and the one Vet Votes told their members "would be the single largest cut to veterans' health care in the history of our nation. If this bill passes, tens of thousands veterans will lose their health care, and countless military family members as well." That one.

Republicans say that while the bipartisan talks between Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) initially seemed promising, many in the GOP fear providing money for Obamacare but offering little for conservatives-- especially after Republican lawmakers have been throttled by President Donald Trump and the GOP base for failing to repeal the health law.

Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that the Trump administration is all-in on the latest repeal effort, flying to Washington with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to deliver a message to the Senate GOP on repeal: "This is the moment. Now is the time," according to a pool report. Ryan and Trump called them during the plane ride as well.

Trump has threatened to withhold billions in Obamacare subsidies, which would upend private insurance markets. Alexander and Murray are working on legislation to have Congress provide those subsidies while allowing states more flexibility.

But Republicans claim Democrats are not willing to bend enough. Democrats reject that claim and say it is intended to sink bipartisan negotiations.

The “speaker is drawing a red line” and said the House “would not be able to pass a bailout of insurers,” said one congressional source familiar with the dynamics. “The White House also told GOP leaders that [Obamacare subsidies] without repeal would not work.”

A House source familiar with the conversation confirmed that a call between Ryan and Senate GOP leadership occurred in which the stabilization approach was sidelined. A second House Republican source said a stabilization bill "would definitely make some in our conference pretty upset if we took it up."

"Our focus is on repealing and replacing this failing law, and we are encouraged the Senate is making progress," said AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan.

Señor Trumpanzee by Nancy Ohanian

Instead, Ryan and the White House are backing the repeal bill written by Graham and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) that would turn federal health care programs into state block grants, repeal Obamacare’s coverage mandates and wind down the law’s Medicaid expansion while capping the entitlement program’s spending for the first time.

Graham said his friend Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) may support the bill, according to the pool report, a potentially significant development considering McCain's opposition to the last repeal attempt.

Asked about Graham's suggestion in an interview Tuesday, McCain responded: "I have nothing to say."

Pence called Graham Monday night to get him ready for the goal line push, and also called Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a moderate Democrat, to test his support. A Manchin spoksesman said Tuesday he opposed the bill.

Pence also spoke to Alaska Gov. Bill Walker about how the bill might affect Alaska, in a bid to reel in Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), another senator who helped tank the last effort.

However, a bipartisan group of governors-- including Walker and GOP Govs. John Kasich of Ohio and Brian Sandoval of Nevada-- sent a letter to McConnell on Tuesday saying they oppose the Graham-Cassidy plan and want the Senate to concentrate on the bipartisan Murray-Alexander approach.

The Congressional Budget Office said Monday it would not be able to provide full estimates on how the Graham-Cassidy bill would affect insurance premiums or coverage for several more weeks. The bill would make deep spending cuts to Medicaid in the coming years; CBO has estimated that similar proposals would mean millions more would be uninsured.

...A senior White House official said there was never much interest in the Murray-Alexander talks and chalked it up to "the media talking about it,” though McConnell openly acknowledged the possibility that the two deal-making senators could strike a bargain. Trump listened to arguments for it and seemed intrigued, but it wasn't seriously considered as a possibility, this person said.

The bipartisan proposal would continue subsidy payments and would not be seen as repealing Obamacare, this person said. Other White House officials said Graham-Cassidy isn't their ideal bill, but it's a "final chance to actually get something done," according to a second administration official.

...Democrats portrayed the rejection of the bipartisan push as intended to create pressure on Senate Republicans to hold their nose and support the Graham-Cassidy bill, and as the only way out of the party's political quagmire. If that bill fails, Republicans may have to return to bipartisan talks, particularly if Trump again threatens to halt subsidy payments.

On Monday, Democrats said Murray was willing to make significant concessions to Alexander on more flexibility for states to run their health care systems if Obamacare subsidies were funded by Congress.

“Murray has agreed to basically everything that Alexander has been asking for,” a Democratic aide said.

If Democrats are able to perusade just three Republicans to endorse the stabilization effort, it could mark a death blow for the Graham-Cassidy bill, since it would suggest there are not 50 Senate Republicans willing to completely repeal Obamacare. Democrats say GOP leaders and the White House are trying to create a false sense of urgency with a deadline looming.

“It’s crystal clear that Republicans are trying to shut down those negotiations in order to close off the better, more bipartisan path that moderate Republicans could take,” said a second Democratic aide. “They know that if they have a choice between a good bipartisan bill and Graham-Cassidy, some of them are likely to choose to former.”

Scott Walker Gives Away The Radical Right's Healthcare Game... Oops

Congressional Republicans don't know quite how to respond to reporters' and constituents' questions about the TrumpCare legislation they just voted for. Some are following Trump's hubristic, bombastic approach of just flat-out lying and claiming more people will be covered for less money and get better healthcare-- just unsubstantiated nonsense that has been widely debunked. Buffalo-area New York Trumpist Chris Collins just flat out admitted he didn't read the bill and wasn't even aware that his vote cuts a program called Essential Plan that provides low-cost health insurance to low- and middle-income people who don't qualify for Medicaid. Over 20,000 people in his own district are benefitting from it. It's one thing for Collins to oppose the program and vote against it and then tell his constituents why; it's entirely something else for him to not even bother reading the bill and understanding how it impacts the life and death struggles of his own constituents but voting for it anyway. John Shimkus told a TV reporter, on camera, that he wasn't able to read the bill before voting on it because he was busy at baseball practice. (He and his family get government health insurance that has been exempted from the life-threatening provisions of Trumpcare, so... no worries. And that district of his is soon read. Trump won it with 70.7% and the DCCC has never even thought about challenging Shimkus.)

At a townhall meeting in Lewiston, Idaho Friday morning, Republican Raul Labrador, who voted for TrumpCare just hours earlier, drew intense jeers when he claimed nobody dies due to lack of access to health care. That's an incident that every voter in the district will have in the back of her or his mind when they vote in 2018-- not that the DCCC has any intention of ever running anyone against Labrador. They had a rot-gut Blue Dog incumbent, Walt Minnick, who Labrador beat in 2010 and Minnick so destroyed the Democratic Party brand in the district that's it's been irrelevant since then.

Greg Gianforte, the Republican multimillionaire running for the open at-large Montana seat against Rob Quist, has carefully tried to hide his support for the highly toxic TrumpCare. But... oops! On Thursday he told reporters he'd need to read the full bill before voting on it. A few hours later during a private conference call with conservative K Street lobbyists, the dishonest Gianforte felt free to say what he really thinks of the horrendous bill. "The votes in the House are going to determine whether we get tax reform done, sounds like we just passed a health care thing, which I’m thankful for, sounds like we’re starting to repeal and replace." The Times pointed out that "Even in Montana-- a Republican-leaning state on the presidential level, but which still elects Democrats statewide-- it appears no longer politically safe in the heat of a campaign to offer full-throated support for repealing Obamacare." (The DCCC refuses to help in Montana but if you'd like to help Quist beat Gianforte, you can do it here.)

And then you've gotten very vulnerable crackpot Martha McSally in the Tucson area (AZ-02). Hillary beat Trump in her district last year 49.6-44.7%. Local Democrats are trying to recruit state Rep (and surgeon) Randy Friese to run against her. She didn't help herself by voting for the very unpopular TrumpCare and, as Jim Nintzel reported in the Tucson's weekly paper, The Range, "After declining to inform the public of where she stands on the Zombie Trumpcare bill, it appears that Congreswoman Martha McSally (R-AZ02) is fully behind it, according to AP reporter Erica Werner, who reports that McSally told her GOP colleagues it was time to get this 'fucking thing' done."

But most Republicans are just sticking to the focus-group tested talking points Paul Ryan's office sent out, the lies about how great the bill is. One of those lies, which was puked out last week 2 days in row on Chris Hayes' show by Republican leaders, first Tom Cole (OK) and then Mike Burgess (TX), is that "oh, no one's going to use those silly waivers that kill preexisting condition protections-- how'd that get in there anyway? Besides, the Senate will kill it. Doesn't mean a thing--zip... nothing, nada, zero... less than zero."

Hours later, Todd Richmond, reporting for the Associated Press: Scott Walker would consider seeking waiver to let health insurers raise premiums in Wisconsin. Embarrassing. But far more an expression of where Republican ideologues are on this than Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Tom Cole or Michael Burgess will ever let on.

Gov. Scott Walker said Friday that he would consider seeking a waiver to let insurers raise premiums for people with pre-existing medical conditions if the House Republicans’ health care plan becomes law... Walker, a Republican, told reporters that he would consider seeking such a waiver, saying Wisconsin has run high-risk pools well in the past.

...According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization that tracks national health issues, about 852,000 non-elderly Wisconsin residents had pre-existing conditions in 2015. That’s a quarter of the state’s non-elderly population.

...Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said he was disappointed that Walker is ready to sacrifice health care coverage for thousands of Wisconsin residents.

“We need to make health insurance more affordable for everyone, not penalize people who get sick or are born with a serious health concern,” Barca said.

Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, said in an email that she was “shocked” that Walker would even entertain the idea of raising premiums on families with pre-existing conditions.

Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor and a former Democrat, has made quite the splash lately by telling CNN that for TrumpCare to pass the Senate it must pass the Jimmy Kimmel Test.

Jimmy Kimmel's tearful monologue about his infant son's heart surgery struck a cord with at least one member of Congress.

Republican Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy said Friday that he's basing his support on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare on "the Jimmy Kimmel test."

"I ask, Does it pass the Jimmy Kimmel test?" Cassidy told CNN. "Would the child born with a congenital heart disease be able to get everything she or he would need in that first year of life ... That they would receive all of the services even if they go over a certain amount?"

TrumpCare doesn't even come close.

Some Republicans Worry That Señor Trumpanzee Might Be The Wrong Messenger For Their Vision-- But He's Not

Do one ever accused Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy (R) of being a moderate. He hasn't been in the Senate long and he's already run up one of the worst voting records of any member. ProgressivePunch rates him an "F," of course, but an F that equates to a 5.19, worse than extremists like Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) for example. According to Buzzfeed, when Cassidy was asked during an interview on C-SPAN’s Newsmakers program about whether Trump, Louisiana senate candidate David Duke, and a growing number of pro-Trump white supremacists have hurt the GOP’s brand, Cassidy said Republicans’ electoral woes this fall aren’t so much a question of policy, but rather Trump himself. Cassidy: "The message that we have is pretty good… it may turn out that Mr. Trump is not the messenger. Maybe he is. But it really seems to boil down to Mr. Trump’s personality being not what people like, as opposed to some of the issues."

It's a somewhat different way of phrasing Garrison Keillor's widely syndicated OpEd, addressed directly to Señor Trumpanzee this week.

The cap does not look good on you, it's a duffer's cap, and when you come to the microphone, you look like the warm-up guy, the guy who announces the license number of the car left in the parking lot, doors locked, lights on, motor running. The brim shadows your face, which gives a sinister look, as if you'd come to town to announce the closing of the pulp factory. Your eyes look dead and your scowl does not suggest American greatness so much as American indigestion. Your hair is the wrong color: People don't want a president to be that shade of blond. You know that now.

Why doesn't someone in your entourage dare to say these things? So sad. The fans in the arenas are wild about you, and Sean Hannity is as loyal as they come, but Rudy and Christie and Newt are reassuring in that stilted way of hospital visitors. And the New York Times treats you like the village idiot. This is painful for a Queens boy trying to win respect in Manhattan where the Times is the Supreme Liberal Jewish Anglican Arbiter of Who Has The Smarts and What Goes Where. When you came to Manhattan 40 years ago, you discovered that in entertainment, the press, politics, finance, everywhere you went, you ran into Jews, and they are not like you: Jews didn't go in for big yachts and a fleet of aircraft-- they showed off by way of philanthropy or by raising brilliant offspring. They sympathized with the civil rights movement. In Queens, blacks were a threat to property values-- they belonged in the Bronx, not down the street. To the Times, Queens is Cleveland. Bush league. You are Queens. The casinos were totally Queens, the gold faucets in your triplex, the bragging, the insults, but you wanted to be liked by Those People. You wanted Mike Bloomberg to invite you to dinner at his townhouse. You wanted the Times to run a three-part story about you, that you meditate and are a passionate kayaker and collect 14th-century Islamic mosaics. You wish you were that person but you didn't have the time.

Running for president is your last bid for the respect of Manhattan. If you were to win election, they couldn't ridicule you anymore. They could be horrified, but there is nothing ridiculous about being Leader of the Free World. You have B-52 bombers at your command. When you go places, a battalion of security guys comb the environs. You attract really really good speechwriters who give you Churchillian cadences and toss in quotes from Emerson and Aeschylus and Ecclesiastes.

Labor Day and it is not going well. You had a very bad month. You tossed out those wisecracks on Twitter and the Earth shook and your ratings among white suburban women with French cookware declined. The teleprompter is not your friend. You are in the old tradition of locker room ranting and big honkers in the steam room, sitting naked, talking man talk, griping about the goons and ginks and lousy workmanship and the uppity broads and the great lays and how you vanquished your enemies at the bank. Profanity is your natural language and vulgar words so as not to offend the Christers but the fans can still hear it and that's something they love about you. You are their guy. You are losing and so are they but they love you for it.

So what do you do this winter? Hang around one of your mansions? Hit some golf balls? Hire a ghostwriter to do a new autobiography?

What the fans don't know is that it's not much fun being a billionaire. You own a lot of big houses and you wander around in them, followed by a waiter, a bartender, a masseuse, three housekeepers, and a concierge, and they probably gossip about you behind your back. Just like nine-tenths of your campaign staff. You're losing and they know it and they're telling mean stories about you to everybody and his brother.

Meanwhile, you keep plugging away. It's the hardest work you've ever done. You walk out in the white cap and you rant for an hour about stuff that means nothing and the fans scream and wave their signs and you wish you could level with them for once and say one true thing: I love you to death and when this is over I will have nothing that I want.