WASHINGTON — In the middle of the night, three Republicans joined Democrats in the Senate to strike down the “skinny bill” to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
According to CNN, the skinny bill would enact various policies such as the removal of individual mandates that punishes Americans for not having health care, remove employer mandates for eight years, return rights back to the states through waivers on health care, defund Planned Parenthood to redirect the money to Community Health Centers, and void the medical device tax for three years.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), John McCain (R-Arizona), and Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted against Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare in the early hours of Friday morning.
Democrats could be heard gasping audibly and clapping when McCain cast his vote in the negative.
Afterwards, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) called for unity in the Senate.
“We’re so inspired by the speech and the life of the Senator from Arizona,” Schumer said early Friday morning. “He asked us to go back to regular order. To bring back the Senate that some of us here, who have been here a while, remember.”
Minnesota’s Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken are also calling on the Senate to unite for the good of the American people.
“Now is the time to come together,” Klobuchar wrote on Facebook. “For those girls, for all Minnesotans, for all Americans, I am determined to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to improve our healthcare system. We need to strengthen the exchanges, support small businesses, reform delivery systems, and lower the cost of prescription drugs…So many families are counting on us to get this right. It’s time to get to work.”
Before the vote, Franken urged his Republican colleagues to work together in a spirit of bipartisanship.
“I’ll keep urging my Republican colleagues to work together in an open and bipartisan way to build on the Affordable Care Act and fix what needs fixing, and I hope you keep making your voices heard,” Franken said.
After the vote, Franken once again called for bipartisanship.
“My message to Republicans is come back to the table, under regular order, and work with us in a bipartisan way to improve health care for all Americans,” Franken said in a Facebook post. “If we want to do this the right way, it’s the only path forward.”
However, the American public remains are skeptical of how long the ceasefire will last..
I guess all those people who wanted John McCain dead the other day are happy he lived.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 28, 2017
Erick Erickson was one of several Twitter users to question the sincerity of it all, saying, “I guess all those people who wanted John McCain dead the other day are happy he lived.”
Others brought up the process Democrats took to passing the Affordable Care Act more than eight years ago.
Schumer: “Let’s give [working together] a shot.” Like the steamroller no-GOP-votes passage of Obamacare in 2010?
— Twila Brase (@twilabrase) July 28, 2017
“Let’s give [working together] a shot.” Like the steamroller no-GOP-votes passage of Obamacare in 2010?”
You obviously missed the passage of OBAMACARE then https://t.co/zJU7ReNgh5
— The People’s Cube 👌 (@ThePeoplesCube) July 28, 2017
“You obviously missed the passage of OBAMACARE then.”
Whether or not the ceasefire in Washington lasts for long will be closely watched to see how the Senate moves forward. States such as Minnesota have been hit the hardest by the rise in health care premiums.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
