Graham/Cassidy Is a Teachable Moment

by Deacon Blues

Remember last week, when the political world was talking about how "Chuck and Nancy" had pulled the wool over Donald Trump's eyes and gotten a budget/debt ceiling and DACA commitment from him that went against what his congressional GOP allies wanted? Ah yes, those were the days when Democrats like Bernie Sanders and the clueless 2020 hopefuls like California senator Kamala Harris were so comfy with the status of health care in the USA that they felt it was time to wish for ponies and call for Medicare For All.

What a bunch of suckers.

While Chuck, Nancy, and Bernie were patting themselves on the back and basking in more positive media coverage than they deserve, Trump's White House and Mitch McConnell were quietly readying for a final assault upon Obamacare through the Graham/Cassidy repeal-and-replace legislation, a bill that will destroy health coverage, Medicaid, and nursing home care for millions of Americans. According to several accounts, McConnell and the authors are only 1-2 GOP votes short of hitting the 50 votes they need to allow Mike Pence to put the bill over the top and send it over to the House, where even hapless Paul Ryan will be able to sell the Freedom Caucus on the need to pass the bill unscathed by the September 30th expiration of the reconciliation budget rules that avoid a 60-vote requirement in the Senate.

Don't bank on GOP senators like John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, or other holdouts from the last effort to save Obamacare this time. We are about to find out that all of McCain's pronouncements about "regular order" and a bipartisan process are meaningless at the goal line, and he and other Senate Republicans will easily throw millions of Americans overboard in the name of party unity and undoing the Obama legacy.

There's a whole set of lessons learned from what is about to happen to millions of Americans. First and foremost, as most recently evidenced by Trump's embarrassment at the United Nations today, Donald Trump at the end of the day only cares about two things: Donald Trump and undoing anything that is the Obama legacy. And Democrats should know this by now, but they don't. Second, never ever take a Republican at their word and count on them to protect their constituents. Despite evidence that Cassidy's home state of Louisiana would be among the hardest hit states and that Graham's home state hospitals will be devastated by their own bill, both crafted something that is even worse than the previous efforts.

And lastly, as a corollary to the second point, can we please stop any pretense that Lindsay Graham and even John McCain are worthy of any bipartisan respect? They are not, and both they and almost the entire GOP congressional caucus are about to do irreparable harm to millions of everyday Americans for purely partisan reasons without one iota of concern for policy or people. I expect Trump and Pence to screw millions of Americans because I know what I'm getting with those two: Trump is slime and Pence is a whore for the Koch Brothers. But for any Democrat to ascribe anything positive to Lindsay Graham is lunacy after what is about to happen to health care in this country.

And for the love of God would Bernie, Chuck, and Nancy get a damn clue.