As Democrats continue to hold the floor in the US Senate as part of their effort to stall the Republican health care bill, Senate Democratic Leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) got Republican Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) to admit that Obamacare wasn’t negotiated in secret, but had 25 days of hearings.
Video of Schumer:
.@SenSchumer gets @joniernst to admit O-care got 25 consecutive days of hearings, 169 hours of consideration
Trumpcare: 0 days of hearings pic.twitter.com/odHYpgDYUx
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— CAP Action (@CAPAction) June 19, 2017
Schumer got Joni Ernst to admit that the Affordable Care Act got 25 days of hearings and 169 hours of consideration. Trumpcare has had zero hearings and zero hours of consideration. One of the talking points that Republicans are using to defend their actions is that they are using the same process that Democrats used when doing the ACA. As Schumer got Ernst to acknowledge in the video above, this claim is a flat out lie.
What Republicans are currently doing with their health care bill has not been done in the Senate since before World War I. Republicans are breaking over a century of Senate behavior and precedent to try to pass an unpopular health care bill so that the wealthiest Americans can have bigger tax cuts.
Republicans have been clinging to the lie that they aren’t doing anything different or unusual with the Senate version of Trumpcare, but this is the opposite of true. Mitch McConnell and his Senate majority are committing a crime against transparent governance, popular representation, and the legislative process.
Democrats are demolishing the lies and delivering facts as a first step in derailing the secret Republican health care bill.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
