I jumped all over Senator McCain a couple of days ago when he reprimanded the Senate for hyper-partisanship over the healthcare “reform” matter, and then failed to take the proper action by assenting to a procedural “begin the debate” move. By all reports, the current GOP healthcare push in the Senate was terminated by his Nay vote, as reported by NBC News:
Senate Republicans failed to pass a pared-down Obamacare repeal bill early Friday on a vote of 49-51 that saw three of their own dramatically break ranks.
Three Republican senators — John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski — and all Democrats voted against the bill, dealing a stinging defeat to Republicans and President Donald Trump who made repeal of Obamacare a cornerstone their campaigns.
I don’t know what sort of tightrope Senator McCain is walking, or thinks he’s walking, but it was good of him to recognize the basic unacceptability of everything about the bill he rejected – the process by which it was written, its crudeness, and its reported cruelty to those least able to defend themselves. (In this I depend on the analysis of many others, as I don’t have the time or the expertise for it.)
I’m relieved he, as well as Senators Collins and Murkowski, finally stopped the farce. My heart-felt thanks, both for my own nerves as well as some relatives who depend on the ACA and would be forced to return to uninsured status without it. Has anyone thought of inviting the honored Senators to switch parties?
THAT said, I am fairly much appalled that all of the rebuffs of the various healthcare proposals which occurred in the last couple of days were so bloody close. What is wrong with a party that would cause it to deny a benefit to so many citizens who are otherwise unable to afford it, who benefit from it individually, and, just as importantly, benefits the Nation as a whole? Do they not realize that a Nation of healthy people is a productive, happy Nation? This is not a matter of, Well, I’d rather not be healthy this year, there won’t be any long term consequences.
No, this is a matter of the random blows of Nature laying us low, temporarily or permanently, through little fault of our own. The point of society is mutual support, and healthcare, unlike consumer goods, is all about support so that we can productive in our chosen arenas. Sometimes fantastically so.
But rare is the person who can make a living out of being ill. Maybe Evel Knievel did.
So, what is it? Purely rhetorical, I know; I’ve speculated before that this is simply a party purple with envy. But I felt the urge to vent. Sorry about that.
