Susan Collins of Maine says she will vote no on Senate health bill

[riversedge]

Source: boston globe




By Jaclyn Reiss Globe Staff June 26, 2017

When it comes to the Senate health care bill, count Susan Collins out.

The Republican US senator from Maine had been on the fence about the GOP bill in recent days, saying she wanted to wait for a Congressional Budget Office evaluation before making her decision.

The CBO released its report on Monday, and the numbers weren’t pretty. It estimated that the bill would leave 22 million more Americans uninsured in 2026 than under President Barack Obama’s health care law, delivering a blow to GOP leaders’ hopes of pushing the plan through the chamber this week.


Read more: Lhttps://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/06/26/susan-collins-maine-says-she-will-vote-senate-health-bill/yNDUaqbNWbX55MfOliFyTK/story.htmlink to source

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Very interesting --and very good IMHO--she says she wants to FIX the ACA!!

Link to tweet

[spooky3]

1. Good news. Stick to your guns, Senator!

[ExtraGriz]

9. and she will stick to her guns!!!

Sen. Collins will stick to her guns...used to live in her district and in my opinion she is more sincere than most republicans (she replaced Senator Bill Cohen who served as a cabinet secretary under Bill Clinton.) Don't lump her with the rest of the republicans...we need her more than ever.

Attack Maine Rep Bruce Poliquin (R) all you want, AND PLEASE DO!!!!....he's a scum with a lot of murky, illegal real estate dealings.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Hope she will keep her word. Thank you. riversedge. n/t

[PoliticAverse]

3. That's 1 of the 3 needed to stop it. n/t

[riversedge]

4. I believe Dean Heller of NM will say no also. Need one more to break Pence tie.

[karynnj]

12. NV, he does appear to be a no, but i'm not sure he has mafe

A definitive statement.

[flying-skeleton]

5. I don't trust her resolve. She can be bought. Just wait and watch !!

[PSPS]

6. She usually says that when she knows it won't matter.

[Locutusofborg]

14. Senator Collins is the most hated Republican

among conservatives. They despise her for being a moderate. Her lifetime (21 years) American Conservative Union rating is 45% conservative, the lowest of any Republican in the Senate and her ratings for 2015 and 2016 are 23% and 21% conservative. There are some conservative Democrats like Nelson of Florida and Manchin of West Virginia who vote with the conservatives more often than Collins.

[madville]

7. The fix was already in

McConnell and many of the other Republican Senators don't want this to pass so they will get a few low-risk defectors to kill it. If I was a Republican I wouldn't want my name attached to a YES vote on this thing when it crashes and burns. When this doesn't pass they can still point at the ACA and blame high premiums and decreasing insurer participation on Obama. I just don't see any political advantage they would obtain by passing this turd that they would then OWN outright.

[jpak]

8. Let's see if her vote counts for anything

I suspect the fix is in.

[joeybee12]

10. I ll believe it when it happens

She's a worm

[obamanut2012]

11. *faint*

[sofa king]

13. That tells us something much more important.

My theory is that "moderate" Republicans have about as much autonomy and weight in Congressional floor votes as the Congressional Delegates from the territories, like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands had (when Democrats had a powerful control of Congress).

When Delegates had a floor vote, the floor vote could only be cast if their votes could not sway the decision.

Similarly, I think the pretend-moderate Republicans are allowed to go maverick from the herd only when they feel they have a solid victory in hand. Or--much less likely--because a loss is certain.

That doesn't tell us much, but it tells us one thing: the Whips have done their snout-counting and the decision isn't close enough, one way or another, for one of the wolves to bother taking off the wool cloak.

[Locutusofborg]

15. Only 3 R votes are needed

Collins is one. Nevada's Dean Heller is two and the far right are also opposing the bill in its current form: Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has also expressed serious skepicism.
Defeat just needs one of those 4 R's.

[FakeNoose]

16. This is awesome news!

Time for a happy dance!

[BigmanPigman]

17. Wasn't she on the fence with the Gorsuch nomination?

I don't trust ANY Repub at this point. Everyone said the House bill wouldn't go through and so they worked on making it even more cruel and it sailed through before anyone could blink. What's that saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". I feel older but wiser.

[joshdawg]

18. Right there with you Bigman.

I haven't trusted any republican since Nixon. The current group of republican congressvermin just proves my point.

[spiderpig]

19. Well, bully for her.

I'm sick of these wimp Repugs. They claim to be moderate and then fiddle-fart around over major legislation until they see which way the wind's blowing.

Jerks.

[Jim Lane]

20. What is "mtp"? She writes, "I will vote no on mtp." (n/t)

[Jim Lane]

21. I found it -- it's the motion to proceed

I think the process is: The Senate votes on the motion to proceed, which needs only a simple majority and puts the bill before the Senate. Next comes the "vote-a-rama" when amendments are voted up or down. Finally comes the vote on the bill.

Presumably the final bill's eligibility for reconciliation (i.e., can't be filibustered) depends on how it looks with any approved amendments.