Silke Jasso
The saga that is ObamaCare continues to keep Texas’ junior Senator Ted Cruz up late at night.
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8:07 p.m. seems pretty late for him, anyway.
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Cruz posted the Tweet yesterday following a CNN interview with House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, where the leader of the right(er) portion of House Republicans said he would oppose any legislation that would effectively establish “another entitlement program.”
According to a report by The Hill, Meadows was responding to a draft bill leaked last week proposing a replacement of ObamaCare, including refundable tax credits Meadows and other Freedom Caucus members and supporters have vehemently rejected.
Instead, the caucus has endorsed a replacement bill introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), which, in part, establishes a tax deduction of up to $5,000, rather than a refundable credit. S.222 was introduced on Jan. 24 and is currently pending in the Senate Finance Committee, where it awaits further consideration.
Margins on any prospective vote are going to be tight regardless of whether the Republicans can ever get it together on what they want to do next, as it would only take three GOP defectors in the Senate to kill a loaded bill.
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) remains optimistic that the ObamaCare repeal effort will pass in a similar fashion to the 2015 initiative to repeal that was promptly vetoed by the president.
McConnell’s counterpart, Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), has his doubts that ObamaCare will ever be repealed, citing deep divides in the Republican Party over things like funding Planned Parenthood and expanding Medicaid.
Should a bill diverging from the 2015 repeal language make it to the Senate floor against the better efforts of Cruz and friends, here’s hoping he has another Dr. Seuss book on hand to keep us all entertained during any other 21-hour filibusters he’s wily enough to stage.
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A true Texas hero.
