Yet another GOP health care proposal is on the brink of falling by the waste side in the Senate, and once again Sen. John McCain is the man who has stepped up to shoot it down. Republicans aligned behind the latest bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Friday, September 22, but were virtually sent back to the drawing board when Sen. McCain warned that he'd vote it down. “I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried,” McCain would later say of his decision.
With the Graham-Cassidy bill (named after Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, and Bill Cassidy, R-La.) set to be rolled out on the floor for a vote one week from now, it now survives on thin ice. Republicans have 52 total votes in the Senate and if they more than two of their party members cross over to vote against it the bill will be void. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky has already vowed to oppose any Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins has been leaning towards batting the bill down as well. Collins is actually noted as having refused to pass the GOP's last proposal, as had McCain, who famously walked into the chambers of the Senate not long after being diagnosed with cancer, to cast a no vote with a dramatic thumbs-down.
“We should not be content to pass health care legislation on a party-line basis,” said McCain.
