{"id":78580,"date":"2017-07-23T18:55:48","date_gmt":"2017-07-23T22:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=78580"},"modified":"2017-07-23T18:56:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T22:56:13","slug":"report-mcconnell-to-set-obamacare-repeal-vote-for-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=78580","title":{"rendered":"Report: McConnell to Set Obamacare Repeal Vote for Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

By Todd Beamon | NEWSMAX<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to schedule a vote Tuesday to bring legislation to repeal Obamacare outright to the floor for debate in hopes of forcing Republicans to own their positions.<\/p>\n

“Everybody has to be held personally accountable,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas told\u00a0Politico<\/strong><\/a>. “Everybody is a good enough politician that if they’ve got a reason to justify their vote, they’ll be able to sell that.”<\/p>\n

With the move, McConnell, the six-term Kentucky senator, is hoping that any strong public backlash from the procedural vote’s failure will force his conference back to the table, Politico reports.<\/p>\n

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“I don\u2019t think it’s over” if Tuesday’s vote fails, said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. “We’re going to need a little longer runway to get to 50 votes on something.<\/p>\n

“Even if we fail on the procedural vote next week,” Thune said, “all that really does is say, ‘OK, we\u2019ll regroup and then take another run at this.'”<\/p>\n

McConnell’s Bluegrass State colleague, Sen. Rand Paul, agrees.<\/p>\n

“We can do this for quite a while,” he told Politico.<\/p>\n

Paul has long advocated a straightforward repeal of the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n

The Senate last approved an Obamacare repeal in 2015, but it was vetoed by then-President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n

McConnell said Wednesday<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that the procedural vote would go through despite objections from three moderate senators, Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

They said they cannot support repealing Obamacare without a replacement.<\/p>\n

“We cannot keep the commitment we made to the American people to repeal and replace Obamacare unless we get on the bill,” McConnell told reporters after a White House luncheon with President Donald Trump and other conference senators.<\/p>\n

“So, next week, we’ll be voting to get on the bill.”<\/p>\n

With a 52-48 majority, McConnell can only afford to lose two GOP senators, which would allow Vice President Mike Pence break a tie.<\/p>\n

In addition, Arizona Sen. John McCain is recuperating from surgery after reports that he has brain cancer. His participation in Tuesday’s anticipated vote remains unclear.<\/p>\n

But, “leaders have opened the door to the idea that if the margin is narrow, they could vote again when McCain could return to Washington,” Politico reports.<\/p>\n

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McConnell has taken this approach before, according to the report: In 2015, the majority leader forced numerous votes that eventually\u00a0gave Obama fast-track powers<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.<\/p>\n

The strategy could work, versus simply pulling the legislation from the floor, and the vote could prove difficult for many senators.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to find out if there’s hypocrisy in the United States Senate in the next few days,” Georgia Sen. David Perdue told Politico. “I don\u2019t believe in situational ethics.<\/p>\n

“So, if you thought it was a good idea to repeal when we had a president that probably would not have accepted it, what’s wrong with repealing it now when we have a president who would sign it into law?”<\/p>\n

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Capito told Politico that “circumstances have changed” since her 2015 vote to repeal and that she “would hope” voters understand her change.<\/p>\n

She said that, for instance, expanded Medicaid in the state has had a critical role in battling the opioid epidemic.<\/p>\n

“People\u2019s minds change and circumstances change,” Capito told Politico. “And, as time goes on, that’s what’s happened \u2013 and, you know, I gotta do what I think is the right thing to do.”<\/p>\n

Both Capito and Perdue face re-election in 2020.<\/p>\n

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who is up next year, said he would still support outright repeal.<\/p>\n

“I’ve already voted on it,” he told Politico. “I’m fine with it.<\/p>\n

“All I can say is, if it comes up, I’ll vote for it.<\/p>\n

“There have been so many votes on this over the years that if your opponents want to paint you one way or another, there\u2019s lots of fodder they can use.”<\/p>\n

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