Those senators — Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Mike Lee of Utah — dislike the Senate GOP bill because they do not feel it goes far enough in repealing the Affordable Care Act. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can afford to lose only two Republicans and still pass the measure.
By Sean Sullivan, Juliet Eilperin and Kelsey Snell • Read more »
Republicans are ideologically divided, spread between conservatives who fundamentally don’t believe in the government’s role in health care and moderates who think Obamacare was a step in the right direction.
The bill’s details suggest that it helps insurers and many consumers primarily in the near term and, in important ways, offers less support than a comparable plan the House GOP adopted last month.
The bill takes major steps to roll back provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but stops short of the severity of the House’s bill. In both bills, the spending cuts made by Medicaid and other programs would go to fund a substantial tax cut for the health care industry and the rich.
Former president Barack Obama posted a nearly 1,000-word critique of the Senate bill on Facebook. “And small tweaks … cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.”
“I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings,” president tweets, a belated admission after weeks of attempts by Congress and the press to determine whether such tapes existed.
By Philip Rucker and Karoun Demirjian • Read more »
Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, commandeered Comet Ping Pong in December to investigate a false Internet rumor of a pedophile ring linked to Hillary Clinton.
