Please, let's keep our eye on Obamacare "repeal and replace"!
Last edited Wed Jun 7, 2017, 08:56 AM - Edit history (1)
I know we can multitask! We are understandably swept up in the hearings, but I assure you that Mitch McConnell et al. are not taking a break from trying to steal healthcare from millions of Americans while we are watching the hearings. Let your senators hear from you. Tens of millions of Americans will lose their health coverage, and this will include children as well as others of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.....and all for the sake of providing a tax break for the wealthy. Please keep up the pressure. This is especially important if you have a Republican senator.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_593723f2e4b0ce1e7408aebf/amp
"Republican senators appear closer to ultimately passing a bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with legislation that would dramatically reduce health insurance coverage for low-income people, only in a less severe fashion than the House measure.
Senators still lack an actual bill, and the compromises needed to pass the Senate could imperil the legislation in the House, which will also have to back it. But Tuesday was a pivotal day for discussions in the upper chamber ― and seemingly a positive one ― as Republicans try to build a 50-vote coalition to repeal Obamacare."....(more)
= new reply since forum marked as read
Link to tweet
But here is the problem with your exhortation and that article that needs to be emphasized - the Senate is NOT going to vote on and pass the House version of the repeal (that was declared DOA). So if they pass their own, THEIR version would have to go back to the House who might declare it DOA if it is not draconian enough. And thus begins the back and forth (often via a joint committee) to reconcile to a single version, and that will take some time.
So right now, the AHCA is going in circles and yes, it does need to be monitored, but no, it's not ready to go to the President's desk for signature.
and am saddened that you have her as a rep. 
(at least mine is a Democrat).
But my point is that you have assumed that people have forgotten or don't care about this issue and they do (and have the support of a number of large organizations like AARP that represent the groups that would be most impacted).
However we (the people) are going to have to do the fighting at the local level ("All politics is local"
because Democrats do not own the national megaphone and will have extreme difficulty torpedoing the Russia-Drumpf story off the broadcast or print media to get to other issues.
but Blackburn's district is only one county away and hence within picketing distance. Diane Black's and Scott DesJarlais' districts are also adjacent to my small island of political sanity. I don't think you and I disagree on fighting this locally as well as nationally. I know people here care! My OP was just a reminder to keep up the pressure at a time when it is tempting (myself included) to be absorbed by the #TrumpRussia hearings. Just before the cabinet confirmation hearings, I was part of a group from the Union of Concerned Scientists that met with staff in the local offices of both of our U.S. Senators, urging them to vote against Scott Pruitt. The regional UCS rep thanked us for taking the time to do it, and reminded us that industries with an interest in abolishing environmental regulations were most certainly making sure that their side was represented. They have vast resources at their disposal and will not take their eyes off the ball for one second, and we need to do the same. This obviously goes for healthcare, too.
and I wouldn't worry about engagement per se - re: healthcare because there are people whose very lives depend upon it if suddenly cut off, and that realization has hit many in that group that initially opposed it, and they have the medical community behind them too.
As a former 30+ year fed, I know the ramifications of such a vitriolic administration and Congress on the civil service workers who have to carry out their missions in this type of environment. The one thing that might help slow things down is the whole regulation change process, where the "public" can provide comments to the changes and there are time frames for that comment period (these can't be instantly "thrown out" because "he says so" .
Response to Tanuki (Original post)
