Senate Republicans are back in their home states for a weeklong break, and already, some of them have gotten an earful on the controversial GOP legislation to dismantle Obamacare. The message from their home-state constituents: Don't you dare vote for that bill.<\/p>\n
Republican Sen. Susan Collins told reporters at a July 4 parade in Eastport that many Maine residents that she has spoken with while in her home state support her decision to oppose the legislation.<\/p>\n
\"There is a small group of people on the left who, right now, are very angry,\" Cruz told CNN affiliate KVEO. \"We can engage in cordial and civil debate -- that's how democracy works and that's how it's meant to work.\" <\/p>\n
McConnell was keenly aware of the political pressure that his colleagues would face on the health care bill when they went home. It was one of the key reasons he had worked furiously to try to have a vote before members left town. <\/p>\n
But a flurry of meetings and closed-door negotiations still left the majority leader far short of the minimum 50 \"yes\" votes he needs to get the bill through the upper chamber. And within hours of his announcement to postpone the vote last week, three more members came out as \"no\" votes, bringing up the tally of Republicans publicly against the legislation to nine. <\/p>\n
With 52 Republicans in the Senate, that's not a small number of senators McConnell has to move from the \"no\" column to the \"yes\" column. But the public opposition this week could make it that much more difficult for senators who are already against the bill -- and others who are on the fence -- to get to a \"yes.\" <\/p>\n
Over the July 4 recess, Senate leadership is continuing to engage rank-and-file members on potential changes to the health care bill, according to a GOP leadership aide. Leadership has also been in discussions with the Congressional Budget Office, so that the agency can swiftly release a new score of the revised Senate bill. <\/p>\n
Those in the conservative wing of the conference -- Sens. Cruz, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin -- say the Senate legislation doesn't go far enough in rolling back Obamacare regulations. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, one of the most serious hang-ups for several Republicans including Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Rob Portman of Ohio is the proposed cuts to Medicaid. The Senate bill proposes tying the growth rate for Medicaid funding to standard inflation instead of the more generous medical inflation. These senators are requesting that the funding stick with medical inflation. <\/p>\n
Capito and Portman also have deep reservations about whether their states would retain enough opioid addiction treatment funding, and have requested $45 billion be included in the Senate bill. <\/p>\n
But not every Republican senator is hearing from constituents opposed to the Senate health care bill. <\/p>\n
At a July 4 parade in Ely, Nevada, a man called out to Heller, an opponent of the bill and one of the most vulnerable senators up for reelection next year, to \"vote yes on that health bill\" as the senator rode by on a horse. <\/p>\n
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Senate health care plan: Recess isn't helping McConnell's hunt for 50 votes - CNN International<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Senate Republicans are back in their home states for a weeklong break, and already, some of them have gotten an earful on the controversial GOP legislation to dismantle Obamacare. The message from their home-state constituents: Don't you dare vote for that bill. Continue reading