Graham to Trump: Focus on Obamacare repeal, not DACA

Copper · 09-16-2017, 12:40 PM

Quote:

President Donald Trump’s attention should be on repealing and replacing Obamacare, not forging a deal with Democrats on immigration and border security, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday morning.

Trump’s focus should be on the former, Graham (R-S.C.) said, because time is quickly running out for Republicans to make good on their long-held pledge to undo former President Barack Obama’s signature health care legislation. Because of the Senate’s parliamentary rules regarding reconciliation, the procedure by which budget legislation passes through the chamber, GOP senators have only until the end of the month to pass repeal-and-replace legislation with a simple majority of 51 votes.

After September, any repeal-and-replace bill would be forced to clear the Senate’s typical 60-vote threshold, an all-but-impossible task given Democrats’ unity in opposing a repeal of Obamacare.

“For strong border security, I would be willing to let the DREAM Act kids have legal status. They have no place to go other than America. So border security for DACA kids, legal status, makes plenty of sense. I applaud the president wanting to try to fix this problem,” Graham said Thursday on Fox News, outlining the framework of a deal reportedly discussed Wednesday night between Trump and Democratic leaders in Congress. “But here’s what I tell the president. We've got six months to deal with the DREAM Act kids. You’ve got 17 days to repeal and replace Obamacare.”

Graham and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) have proposed a last-ditch repeal-and-replace bill that would block grant all of the money spent by the federal government on Obamacare back to the states. But that legislation has received a mixed response from Senate Republicans, and it is unclear whether GOP leadership intends to push the bill over the remaining days in September.

Trump, for his part, has said he supports the Graham-Cassidy legislation, although much of the White House’s messaging in recent weeks has focused on the president’s goal of rewriting the U.S. tax code.

Graham, in his Fox News interview, compared his plan with the single-payer health care system proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), suggesting that Americans would much prefer his plan to Sanders’ Medicare for All legislation. The South Carolina senator called on the leaders of his party to rededicate themselves to reforming the nation’s health care system and pledged to “fight like a tiger to the bitter end to repeal and replace Obamacare.”

“President Trump needs to be as committed to repealing Obamacare as President Obama was in passing it. Mitch McConnell needs to be as committed to repealing Obamacare as Harry Reid was to passing Obamacare,” Graham said. “I know there’s a lot of fight left in the Republican Party. Is there any fight left in Republicans on Capitol Hill? I believe there is, and I'm going to do everything I can to have a vote on repealing and replacing Obamacare.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/0...-repeal-242710

PhelonOne87 · 09-16-2017, 12:55 PM

What a clown ....

eva02 · 09-16-2017, 12:55 PM

Graham: let's fuck people over on healthcare first, then we can get to the dreamers.

dtrt09 · 01:02 PM

??????!!!

Why is he involved with DreamAct, then? This is urgent and no, destabilizing the health care market does no one any good. I know - I am a health care worker.

Newsflash: The attempt to repeal and replace the ACA has opened the door to MedicareforAll and universal cvg. DreamAct is a good solution that is easy to enact. All the pieces are in place, Senator Graham, all we need is your action: vote.

dreamer__13 · 09-16-2017, 01:13 PM

This seems strategic. Graham knows an Obamacare repeal will fail again. With that failing, again, Trump will bitch out Ryan and McConnell once more. Trump would likely pressure both of those guys to get something done. That would be a good opportunity for the Dream Act/border security bill to pass. Ryan is already in danger of losing his leadership over the majority in the House. He might crack under pressure from Trump.

eva02 · 09-16-2017, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreamer__13

This seems strategic. Graham knows an Obamacare repeal will fail again. With that failing, again, Trump will bitch out Ryan and McConnell once more. Trump would likely pressure both of those guys to get something done. That would be a good opportunity for the Dream Act/border security bill to pass. Ryan is already in danger of losing his leadership over the majority in the House. He might crack under pressure from Trump.

I semi agree. I do believe Graham wants to repeal Obamacare though, I'd say all the GOP donors do, so most of the GOP agrees as well. However, what they struggle with are the negative consequences for the party. Throwing people off health insurance would be a catastrophic PR move for them. It's a reason they haven't been able to, even as Obama is no longer there to veto it.

If he really cares about us, IF, then I am sure he also knows that Republican failures will only make Trump more desperate.

DD4S · 09-16-2017, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreamer__13

This seems strategic. Graham knows an Obamacare repeal will fail again. With that failing, again, Trump will bitch out Ryan and McConnell once more. Trump would likely pressure both of those guys to get something done. That would be a good opportunity for the Dream Act/border security bill to pass. Ryan is already in danger of losing his leadership over the majority in the House. He might crack under pressure from Trump.

this is correct

libertarian1776 · 09-16-2017, 07:50 PM

thats fine, they literally have 15 days lol

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Graham to Trump: Focus on Obamacare repeal, not DACA