The nightmare is over, at least for now.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 28, 2017
3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
Stunned McConnell blames Democrats after crucial health care loss https://t.co/STfOJVB1vV via @ludacristiano pic.twitter.com/iGCbs8G26g
— POLITICO (@politico) July 28, 2017
McCain now having a very happy conversation with Democrats including Schumer where he mouthed "fuck" to glee and merriment
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 28, 2017
Many many many many points in this process for senators to stop the bill. Sustained effort of protesters for months are the real heroics.
— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) July 28, 2017
.
(If we can keep it… ) From the Washington Post:
Senate Republicans suffered a dramatic failure early Friday in their bid to advance a scaled-back plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, throwing into question whether they can actually repeal the 2010 health law…
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had hoped to approve the new, narrower rewrite of the health law at some point Friday, after facing dozens amendments from Democrats. But the GOP defections left McConnell without a clear bill to push.
McCain had been seeking an iron-clad guarantee from House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) that, if the Senate approved this latest proposal, the House would not move to quickly approve the bill in its current form and instead engage in a broad House-Senate negotiation for a broader rollback of the law. Ryan issued a statement intended to assuage the concerns of McCain and two others, Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.), but the 2008 presidential nominee deemed the speaker’s statement as insufficient…
McConnell’s draft rattled both moderates – Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) were the other Republican votes in opposition – and Republicans who wanted a more robust uprooting of the existing law…
Media Mancrush McCain will be getting 99.9% of the public applause for this, but let’s — as Abigail Adams might say — Remember the Ladies.
It’s been rumored that Susan Collins is thinking of running for governor back in Maine, and her recent hot mic moment certainly sounds like she’s not happy in DC right now.
As for Senator Murkowski…
The interior secretary told Murkowski and Sullivan her vote put Alaska's future with the administration in jeopardy https://t.co/IPzqMcsSaz
— Alaska Dispatch News (@adndotcom) July 27, 2017
DELAYED: Hearing to confirm a series of nominees to Zinke's Interior. Murkowski also controls Interior $$ via approps subcom chair
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) July 27, 2017
Switch parties, @lisamurkowski, and you'd be the Democrat with the twelfth highest seniority. Just sayin'… https://t.co/77flXhCRXz
— Al Giordano (@AlGiordano) July 27, 2017
Not
For
A
Nanosecond
Did
A
Single
Democrat
Waver.Both chambers. They were rock solid. They faced the assault unified, and held the line.
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 28, 2017
Trump is gonna fire Pence on twitter overnight
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) July 28, 2017
Morzer
Well, the Rohirrim have saved Gondor; now we have to walk into Mordor and distract the Alt-Seeing I enough for Mueller to drop the One Ring into the GOP’s Crack of Doom.
something fabulous
Emerging from lurking while I happen to be up during a fresh new thread to say howdy. And: WOOT! All of you who worked so hard and made so many calls and everything: well done!
Damien
So what is plan….F? G? M? What are we up to now?
Is it finally, finally going to be “work together to ensure greater healthcare access for more Americans” or are we looking at “Einsatzgruppen Amerikaner Act of 2017” and they just let it all hang out?
eclare
Tonight and tomorrow we make popcorn and fight. And I call my senators and the ones in other states who actually took a stand, like McCain. Still stunned by that, but then again, maybe you shouldn’t call a POW a loser.
Morzer
@Damien:
I suspect that Kobach is working on the Freedom Is Slavery Act as we speak.
Yarrow
I’m so relieved. THANK YOU, SENATORS COLLINS, MCCAIN, AND MURKOWSKI! I’m making a point of calling all their offices tomorrow to say thank you.
I’m still so keyed up I can’t sleep. I think I still can’t believe it.
NobodySpecial
Holden: The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to destroy Obamacare. But it can’t. Not without your help. But you’re not helping.
John: Whatya means, I’m not helping?
Holden: I mean you’re not helping! Why is that, John?
Yarrow
LOL.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
I live on Hawaii Time, and this was fairly late for me too. I HOPE (probably not) that the media grows a spine and point out how NOT NORMAL this failed attempt was.
Major Major Major Major
Where are all the doom trolls? Curious.
MomSense
@Yarrow:
We did it, Yarrow!!!
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@Major Major Major Major: probably drinking or comatose in shock. The fix was Supposed to be in ya know.
Major Major Major Major
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: Maybe they got fired.
NobodySpecial
@Major Major Major Major: This is all part of the GOPs cunning plan.
HeartlandLiberal
I have been calling Indiana Senator Todd Young’s office every week on this. It has gotten to the point where earlier this week I honestly thought the aide was going to hang up on me, I was pretty brutal. But Young is a hopeless idealogue, He rejects global warming, he is a thru and thru member of the GOP, totally disconnected from reality.
Anyway, I woke up over an hour ago, could not get back to sleep, probably the steroid pack I am in second day of for my flared up back pain, so it has literally made my early morning to read this news.
As angry as I have been with John McCain, I have to admit he deserves full credit for standing up to the Orange Stain on the White House, and Sentor McTurtle from that not so great state to the south of Indiana, where I am.
Yarrow
@MomSense: I know!!!!!! I’m still so excited I can’t sleep. I’m going to be a mess tomorrow. Well, today. I need to go listen to soothing music and get a bit of sleep, but I’m still reading Twitter feeds and enjoying the hell out of them. I know you’re as relieved as I am.
Thank you everyone for your calls, letters, faxes, emails, texts, postcards, visits to offices, marches, protests and anything else you did to help make this happen. I am so very grateful, as I know so many other people are. I feel like I can breathe for the first time in ages.
patrick II
Originally, when asking the House members to vote for their deathcare bill, Ryan said not to worry too much about the parts they didn’t like — the Senate would take care of it. And McConnell’s final appeal was the “skinny” deathcare bill which he told the Senators not to worry about too much because Ryan would take care of it in conference. Neither one of them wanted to be the last one holding that hot potato.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@Major Major Major Major: from your lips to the FSMs Orecchiette.
Shalimar
Puts Alaska’s future with the administration in jeopardy? What is Trump going to do about it, sell Alaska to the Russians … oh, shit.
HeartlandLiberal
Oh, and I also need to call Indiana Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly’s office and thank him. He actually led on many points during this fight, introducing some significant language, and standing strong. Which considering he is in Indiana took some guts. He has faltered on some issues, e.g. on support Planned Parenthood, he fell for the hysteria after the faked videos, and I reamed him out on that, but on many, many major issues, he has remained true to whatever shreds of party commitment to what its ideals are supposed to be. After this, I will definitely be working to reelect him, I think he is up in 2018.
Major Major Major Major
I feel like Cory Gardner will not be faring well next year.
Maeve
This
https://twitter.com/jennyyangtv/status/890816867119517696
Giving McCain the credit for defeating this repeal when female Senators Murkowski & Collins were early NOs is EVERY WORK MEETING EVER.
@jennyyangtv
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Why? What did he do?
Major Major Major Major
@Yarrow: Vote to kill thousands of his constituents.
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Oh, I’m tired and mixed up the Corys. Thought you were talking about Booker. I was thinking, “What did he do? I thought all the Dems voted No.”
Villago Delenda Est
Oregon’s borderline teabagger Secretary of State, Dennis Richardson, has told Kobach he won’t be sending him the publically available voter info, because Kobach didn’t fork over $500 as required by law.
magurakurin
@Morzer: but Frodo failed in that task. He kept the ring. Gollum took it from him. Who is Gollum? I’d say Bannon…so, in this story Bannon goes nuts and just testifies against them all…
Major Major Major Major
@Yarrow: Ah, no, Booker’s fine. Gardner though, I don’t think he’s gonna be a senator much longer.
OzarkHillbilly
@Morzer: That was good.
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Let’s hope!
Morzer
@magurakurin:
Well, Sessions does look kinda like Gollum. Maybe he’ll be the one to leap involuntarily into the fires.
OzarkHillbilly
@Morzer: Arbeit macht frei.
jmw
@NobodySpecial:
There is no shortage of rose twitterites expaining how the Democrats stopped this in the wrong way. Also Single Payer was going to happen in 2009 until Obama took an oath on the bald head of a kid going through chemo.
OzarkHillbilly
@Maeve: Heh.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ?? ?
rikyrah
I went to bed pretty sad, people. And , I wake up to this news???????
Morzer
@jmw:
Let’s not forget that Jill Stein would have been the bestest president ever, despite having no support in either the House or the Senate. IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!
Morzer
@OzarkHillbilly:
Vorsprung durch Twitter.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: But they’re poor, so are they really Cory’s constituents?
Yarrow
@rikyrah: Good morning! And what a very good morning it is! :)
I’m still up because I’ve been so keyed up I can’t sleep. Fun to see the morning crew check in and find out what happened. Yay!
sukabi
@Morzer: wouldn’t surprise me a bit…there’s a wingnut billboard near where I live that’s been sporting “Freedom is dangerous. Slavery is peaceful.” for about 3 weeks now.
Izabela
These first 6 months of this have been a constant trainwreck of nightmare fuel. It’s weird to wake up, check my twitter feed, and feel so grateful that a small crumb of hope came to it in the overnight.
Morzer
@sukabi:
Man, those people really are showing their ugly, white asses after Trump slithered into power.
OzarkHillbilly
@Morzer: Can you lead if nobody follows ?
Yarrow
@sukabi: Whaaa??? Is it just those words, or are they advertising some group for white supremacists or something? That’s awful.
Morzer
@OzarkHillbilly:
What is the sound of one orange jaw flapping?
aliasofwestgate
It was good to see it all happen as it did. Such a bit of relief, before heading back into the fight once again. I need to call my two senators, Stabenow and Peters and thank them for not budging at all during this insane bit of crazy times. Especially since Stabenow was ‘targeted’ with the whole announcement of the transgender ban in the military. I think my senior Senator knows more about the military works than Dolt 45 does. I hope she’s laughing all weekend long, because i am too!
This means i continue to get my own healthcare on MI’s medicaid expansion, and my mom(the permanent resident alien) has help with her supplemental plan for her medicare, continues to get her SS checks.
sukabi
@Yarrow: Just those words on that side of the board…the other side is currently bitching about taxes and jobs…
Local john bircher owns the sign calls it Hamilton’s Corner…
Yarrow
@sukabi: Sheesh. That must be fun to see as you’re driving along.
rikyrah
I have tears in my eyes, looking at the videos of the relieved protestors. I can’t believe it. Country Last finally came through.
Schlemazel
@sukabi:
GACK! Are you serious? That has to be some sort of joke – please tell me that is a joke
rikyrah
Bravo to Chuck S and Nancy Smash..no Dem defections.
OzarkHillbilly
@Morzer: If a President falls in the White House and nobody hears him, did he make a twitter?
raven
Well, I was able to sleep until 5:30. I was awakened by a punch to the ribs by the princess!!!!
Morzer
@OzarkHillbilly:
I read that as “If a president FAILS…” etc. It seemed to me that the answer was yes.
Applejinx
McCain, walking in to the last vote: “From hell’s heart I stab at thee”
I’d like to know if the very white-haired dude top center in the blue suit is who I think it is. He doesn’t react to McCain’s thumbs-down… but if you rewatch the video, when McCain comes up and poses with his hand out, white-haired dude gets the attention of the lady next to him. And reacts before the vote happens, with a ‘watch THIS’ gesture.
If that’s my Senator, now I know why he hugged and waltzed with McCain, and I forgive him for that. At the time I couldn’t work out what the fuck he was thinking, but it sounds like they were in cahoots. Takes one big dramatic ego to understand another, maybe?
Drama, acquired, in a way that SERIOUSLY wounds McConnell, Trump, et al.
I’ll take it.
Morzer
@raven:
You are Shrek and I claim my five dollars!
raven
@Morzer: I didn’t do nuttin!
OzarkHillbilly
As Urban League gathers in St. Louis, NAACP issues a Missouri travel warning
That’s my state of Misery.
rikyrah
Andy IhnatkoVerified account @Ihnatko
We can rejoice, but we can’t relax. We stopped an angry, inhuman army’s attempt to advance and kill more of us. But they’ll be back soon.
12:01 AM – 28 Jul 2017
OzarkHillbilly
@Morzer: Heh. After typing it I had to read it twice to make sure I hadn’t had a Freudian slip.
Morzer
@raven:
Drain the swamp!
rikyrah
Chadfreeman
Replying to @Ihnatko
The ruling party will probably destroy ACA some day. But not today.
12:19 AM – 28 Jul 2017
Cermet
I guess it took a brain tumor to convince McCain to finally, and I do mean finally, vote no as he said he should on a policy issue that his fellow thugs wanted him to vote yes on. Maybe if (a lot) more thugs came down with brain tumor’s they too might vote in a manner that would make it appear they were human rather than what they really are – shit that floats.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: You know what you did, and if you don’t you get another punch in the ribs for being so insensitive.
Morzer
@Cermet:
Maybe the tumor knocked out McCain’s GOP control chip and restored partial humanity?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Now I have to go back in there and wake her and the pups!
OzarkHillbilly
@Morzer: I thought the GOP control chip was the tumor.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Don’t forget to DUCK!
Morzer
And the Prime Minister of Pakistan has been removed from office by their supreme court:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/28/pakistani-court-disqualifies-pm-nawaz-sharif-from-office
C’mon, John Roberts. Are you really going to let Pakistan do the right thing and just sit there sucking your thumb while Trump wrecks the USA?
Morzer
@OzarkHillbilly:
And cover! Or covfefe, if that’s your bag.
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
“Pups” are doggies, NOT ducks!
I thought, being in the hinterlands, you’d know the differments.
I guess that as long as you don’t call Poco a “duck,” you’re ahead of the game. But still …
raven
@SFAW: Vya no chicken?
OzarkHillbilly
@SFAW: Of course Poco is not a duck. Ducks can’t run for President of Vice.
Jeffro
SO NICE TO WAKE UP TO GOOD NEWS FOR ONCE!!
Also – fuck yoooouuuuu Turtle, you utter scumbag
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Applejinx:
Could break the shell of the turtle. Pentagon is ignoring the trans tweet, Putin has ordered the US to curtail diplomatic presence (so what) as he is realizing that the curtailment of Trump’s ability to relieve sanctions is veto proof, and that Putin has had to disrupt a potential asymmetric attack on St Petersburg by central Asian rebels, and China is joining Russia in Baltic drills.
The thrall may be over.
SFAW
@raven:
Vya Ford?
sm*t cl*de
@Morzer:
He’s actually in New Zealand at the moment, possibly checking the asylum options.
raven
@SFAW: OK Ravelli!
OzarkHillbilly
@sm*t cl*de: Checking out his bestest buddy Peter Thiel’s new digs?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@raven: You know what you did.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I finally get it. A little slow this morn.
Morzer
@OzarkHillbilly:
More likely looking for innocent children to drain of blood for Vampire Pete.
Patricia Kayden
@something fabulous: Yes kudos to all of those who made calls to their Senators — especially those of you in red states where you knew you were talking to the enemy. Good for Murkowski, Collins and (quite shockingly) McCain for doing the right thing. Interesting that in his sad trombone speech, McConnell blamed Democrats but didn’t mention any of the defectors from his side by name. As McCain was casting his no vote, McCain’s eyes remained on the floor and he didn’t make eye contact with McCain.
What a sad day for turtles everywhere.
Patricia Kayden
@Cermet: Yes perhaps more tumors are needed because I’m quite surprised that so many Republicans were willing to vote for a bill which would take away healthcare from millions of their fellow Americans but I guess this is who they really are. They have shown their true colors and hopefully voters will remember this. Clearly, there is a political party which is okay if millions suffer just so that they can give tax breaks to people who don’t need them.
OzarkHillbilly
It’s just all too mooch:
It’s like a train wreck. You know it’s horrible and people are going to die, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
satby
Good morning everyone! Though it appears most of you have been up all night ?
Brachiator
I was away from the media and the Internets for a good chunk of the day and then fell asleep before the vote, so this is surprising good news. McCain’s vote is very welcome. Was there a Republican who previously voted no who flipped to yes?
Amazing that the Dems have been so solid.
I now look forward to a Trump eruption. Maybe even a Mooch eruption, now that we have a new clown at the circus.
bemused
@sukabi:
Jaw dropping and makes me sick to my stomach. I did a little research on the vile people who would put up a billboard like that. The old man Alfred Hamilton put it up decades ago and when he died several years ago, his son continued his father’s rants. Checked out some pics of the billboard and one had said, Public Library, a great place for your kids to meet sexual deviants.
Morzer
@OzarkHillbilly:
Are Scaramucci and Priebus really people as we usually understand the term? They seem more insectoid than anything else, although the Mooch does bear a remarkable resemblance to Josef Goebbels in Downfall.
Zach
The next shoe to drop (if McConnell can’t rescue Obamacare repeal) will be more states joining medicaid expansion now that it’s not perceived as supporting Obama’s politics. Individual mandate/subsidies will always be vulnerable along with insurance regulations, but medicaid expansion is looking safe (absent a GOP position of strength greater than Obama’s 2009-2010).
Democrats have a few months to figure out how to convince Americans that Obamacare’s failures are Trump’s responsibility because he’s sabotaging it. Come up with some simple explanation(s) and saturate the airwaves with those plus individual stories of how healthcare was great until Trump and the Republicans came along and broke it. A Dem wave in 2018 is a real possibility (though still small Senate majority at best), and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Trump will be just as eager to sign anything Dems get out of Congress as he was with the GOP if he can call it a win.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Morzer: Mooch is high as a kite.
debbie
“Stunned”? Guess Mitch has lost his touch in more ways than one.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
The crash and burn will be nuclear.
OzarkHillbilly
@Morzer: Insectoid? A cockroach has higher morals than anyone in that bunch.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Worth another look.
different-church-lady
The thing that blows my mind is not just McCain’s vote, but the idea that (based on reports I’ve read) he put on an unmistakeably overt display of unity with the Democrats. There seems to be some kind of deeper message here than merely “No to this particular bill.”
Lapassionara
@Zach: Subsidies are very vulnerable, and insurance companies will be planning accordingly. Unless Turtle keeps trying, getting the Gov to pay the subsidies is the next round in the fight. Not sure who to call on that issue, and any suggestions are welcomed.
rikyrah
@Applejinx:
I LOL everytime that I read your reply. Love the Khan reference
debbie
@different-church-lady:
Reckoning with the end of life is a very, very powerful force.
debbie
@Applejinx:
I had to Google to find out that’s a Moby Dick reference. Best metaphor for the GOP I think I’ve ever seen!
Brachiator
@sukabi:
. Reads like standard libertarian gibberish. The idea that true conservatives are tough and free because they do not depend on the government, while those who take government subsidies for health insurance, or who depend on Social Security, etc, are slaves to the welfare state. Bunch of crap.
Elizabelle
Thank Dog. Will put up with all the adulation of John McCain if he helped to stop this odious bill.
Mostly, congratulations Democrats, for sticking together. And Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins proved they are brave and noble on the subject of healthcare affordability, and kudos to them.
Just leave the ACA aloooooone. Drop it, Turtle.
Applejinx
@rikyrah: Good to be more on the same side. I always like seeing your ‘FUCKOUTTAHERE’ type posts :)
Matt McIrvin
@sukabi: I’d choose to read it as being about people who would give away the Bill of Rights to protect themselves from an imaginary terrorist.
Cheryl Rofer
@sukabi:
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
OzarkHillbilly
@different-church-lady:
It’s not really very deep, just a simple one fingered salute.
NotMax
Open thread, so —
Scientifically speaking, we may be down a planet but also might be primed to gain a continent.
oldgold
There have been worse speeches given in the Senate, but the defeated Turtle’s maudlin diatribe was to my ear the most hypocritical ever uttered.
Wag
@Morzer:
One and done. Amazing comment.
OzarkHillbilly
@Brachiator:
I wonder how many roads they’ve paved? Sewer lines the dug? Airplanes they’ve flown? Ad nauseum.
oldgold
From the movie Top Gun:
Stinger: “Maverick, you just did an incredibly brave thing.”
Yes, he did. Last night watching an American hero, who because of vanity, falling victim to the lure of power and lazy thinking had badly tarnished his heroic image, late in the autumn of his life, reaching deep into the smithy of his soul and finding the courage to perform a heroic act was damn good stuff. Frank Capra where are you?
oldgold
And, of course, Collins and Murkowski, displayed even more courage than the Maverick! Great stuff!
Ken
@Morzer: It occurs to me that Jill Stein’s “plan” for the presidency was the same as Trump’s – you tell Congress what to do, and they do it because they recognize the righteousness of your position.
(Trump’s plan in his speeches of course. Reality has been a little different.)
Ken
@Shalimar: Don’t be silly. Trump won’t sell Alaska to the Russians. He’ll give it to his bestest buddy and man-crush Putin.
Cheryl Rofer
@Ken: Maybe not. Looks like the deal on giving back the intel dachas fell through.
Immanentize
@sukabi: @Brachiator:
I think Libertarian is spot on. I found this:
Immanentize
The Republicans have fallen victim to their own spin. In the end, the American people didn’t hate their health care, they were just generally hating on taxes and gays and Obama and all that. The ACA was just a banner in that expression. But the Republicans came to believe that the bloody banner they waived was itself the cause.
People 1
Reptiles 0
But the match will continue.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Nooners must have written that while chasing her one week chip. Sounded salty, angry and edgy.
And I hate to give credit to MoJo’s crew, but somebody brought up that the firehose of small lies means they can be trusted on nothing.
,
rikyrah
ICYMI:
Silverman points out the importance of this defeat last night in a reply:
Tazj
It’s great to wake up to wonderful news. I’m out of town and drove so much yesterday I couldn’t keep my eyes open last night when McCain came up to vote. I was following Scott LeMieux’s Twitter feed and he said that if McCain voted no it would be the most delicious crow he ever tasted(or something along those lines).
I’ve been critical of McCain also, but today I’m very grateful to him and senators Collins and Murkowski for their votes.
Jinchi
@Maeve:
They all deserve credit. But the entire Democratic party deserves the most. They risked their majority to pass Obamacare in the first place, and they held together against expectations to preserve it.
I wonder if Portman and Heller are secretly thanking McCain for voting to kill a bill they knew would be a disaster. He allowed them to be good Republicans without suffering the consequences. They deserve our contempt.
sukabi
@Schlemazel: not a joke. Always something critical (and unhinged) about some dem policy or person… (Favorites have been Obama and Hillary) but in the last 6 months those two have been given a reprieve…and the billboard hasn’t been as “entertaining” until the last entry.
Brachiator
Trump can’t even keep up with his own lies. But now he’s stuck, if the media and the opposition keep at him.
Trump promised that he would replace Obamacare with something better. He said it would happen immediately when Obamacare was repealed. During a recent press conference, he brought up three families who he claimed were hurt by Obamacare.
Okay, I call his bluff. I expect for him and his surrogates and defenders to show exactly how Trumpcare are will be better for these families and for the country. And Trumpcare must also increase the number who are insured.
The Republicans can’t just play their BS games. They need to put up or shut up. And I’m pretty sure they got nothing.
Fred
When I see McConnell looking sad I know something good happened for America.