Democrats to 'crank up the outrage' over Senate Republican health care bill over July 4 break
WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's decision to delay a vote on a GOP health care plan is giving Democrats a big opportunity to seize the July 4 recess to dial up the pressure to kill the bill.
Several outside progressive groups are planning campaigns over the congressional recess to highlight the stories of real Americans who could lose health care – and targeting vulnerable and moderate Republican senators with paid media, phone calls and protests.
“It’s time to crank up the outrage and tell all Senators to vote NO” on the Senate bill, said Paola Mendoza, a national organizer for the Women’s March, which has created a new hashtag on Twitter highlighting personal stories titled #HowTheACASavedMyLife.
While Sen. McConnell, R-Ky., conceded Republicans' goal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would not happen before members of Congress leave town Friday, the bill is not dead. Senate lawmakers say they still hope to reach a compromise and they point to the House's ultimate success in passing a bill despite early setbacks. Yet it’s in significant peril as McConnell works to bridge deep differences among moderate and conservative members of his party.
A report this week by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office showing up to 22 million Americans would lose their health care under the GOP plan is fueling resistance to the bill. The current Senate Republican plan would roll back Medicaid expansion under Obamacare while offering less generous subsidies to those who purchase health insurance on the individual market.
Democrats say the recess is critical to ensuring that Republican leaders fail in cutting a deal within their conference and without Democratic input or votes. “Republican leaders have made clear they are delaying the vote specifically to get squishy senators like Shelley Moore Capito to vote yes for Medicaid cuts, and we must not allow a bait and switch," said Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green.
On Wednesday, his group dropped a television ad featuring a woman named “Priscilla” and her 38-year-old daughter who has cerebral palsy and could die from seizures without health insurance.
It’s part of a burst of activity expected to envelop vulnerable Republican senators, in particular, over the July 4 weekend that will include sit-ins outside lawmaker district offices by disability activists similar to Capitol Hill protests that garnered media attention; paid television media targeting members including Sens. Capito of West Virginia and Dean Heller of Nevada, who is sitting for re-election next year; and social media campaigns.
According to MoveOn.org, one of the main resistance organizing groups, its activists will flood district offices with calls, hold organizing cookouts and show up at July 4th parades in different cities with signs reading “Healthcare is our right” and “Health care is patriotic.” Our Revolution, the outside progressive group affiliated with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., says it is organizing a series of non-violent protests including sit-ins at Senate offices on July 6.
Organizers are hoping much of the campaign will be viral. The Women's March organizers pointed to the personal stories Americans are beginning to share on Twitter like these:
Republicans will have their own messaging campaign, as they try to tie all Democrats to comments made by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is pressing for a single-payer health care system, in which the government would run a health insurance program available to any American.
Republicans plan to have their own digital campaign and hold press conferences that include testimonials from Americans who’ve been “negatively impacted” by Obamacare, said Republican National Committee spokesman Rick Gorka.
Yet McConnell has acknowledged if Republicans can’t pass a bill soon, they may have to work with Democrats, who will demand preserving the current Obamacare program by shoring up the individual market exchanges.
“People get really emotional about health care, but Republicans have clearly lost the narrative on this, and the discussion has moved towards ‘Who are you taking health care away from?’” said former Republican House member Tom Davis of Virginia, who previously headed reelection efforts for his party.
Republicans worry Democrats will ultimately push for a single-payer system that is anathema to their limited-government, free-market driven ideology. Once a politically toxic prospect – Hillary Clinton faced significant blow back as first lady for her 1990’s flirtation with universal health care that stopped short of single payer – polls now show modest increases in support for such a system.
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found 33% of respondents favor a single-payer system. More relevant to the current debate, 60% said the federal government is responsible for providing healthcare coverage to all Americans. In an interview on MSNBC, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, D-OH, who represents a working-class area including Youngstown, also expressed support for single-payer
Additional polling also suggests Democrats have a running start on public opinion heading into the break. According to a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, just 12% of Americans support the Republican plan, a similar number other major surveys including by Marist. NBC News/Wall Street Journal found just 16% of adults believe the House bill was a good idea.
Activists may not have as many opportunities to confront GOP senators as they did House members mulling a health care vote during congressional recesses. According to a website that compiles town hall events, just two senators are listed for events over the recess: Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Jerry Moran of Kansas.
Still, Democrats are hoping their grassroots activism will be enough to make a difference.
After all, the bill is already facing opposition from conservatives like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Tenn., and moderates including Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
Even after McConnell delayed a procedural vote, others including Capito came forward to put themselves on record opposing it. Further, a number of Republican governors including Brian Sandoval of Nevada and John Kasich of Ohio stand in opposition to the core tenet of the bill, which is a claw back in Medicaid coverage and insurance exchange subsidies.
To pass a health care bill, Senate leaders cannot afford to lose more than two members of their party.