Face the consequences...

Trump cautions GOP to pass Obamacare repeal or face the consequences

By LOUIS NELSON

President Donald Trump warned Republicans Friday morning to fall in line behind last-ditch legislation in the Senate to repeal and replace Obamacare, writing online that any GOP lawmaker who votes against the bill will be remembered as "the Republican who saved Obamacare."

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of the repeal-and-replace bill’s loudest opponents in the Senate, was singled out by the president’s Friday morning warning.

“Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as ‘the Republican who saved ObamaCare,’” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Weeks after their initial effort to undo former President Barack Obama’s healthcare law stalled out in the Senate, Republicans have begun to throw their weight behind legislation written by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) that would block grant federal government spending on Obamacare to the states. Senate Republicans have until the end of the month to pass the legislation via a procedure called reconciliation, which would allow them to approve with as few as 50 votes instead of the typical 60 required by the chamber’s filibuster rules.

With a thin majority in the Senate, the GOP can afford to lose just two Republican votes there and still pass the Graham-Cassidy legislation with the benefit of Vice President Mike Pence’s tie-breaking vote. Paul has already expressed his opposition to the bill over concerns that it leaves in place too much of Obamacare’s taxes, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), perhaps the most moderate GOP member in the Senate, is also expected to vote no, although she has not yet stated a position on the bill.

Other swing votes on the bill include Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), both of whom voted along with Collins against their party’s previous repeal-and-replace efforts.

Paul, in his own series of posts to Twitter, defended himself and his position Friday morning, doubling down on his sentiment that the Graham-Cassidy legislation falls short of the GOP promise to repeal Obamacare.

"No one is more opposed to Obamacare than I am, and I've voted multiple times for repeal. The current bill isn't repeal," he wrote online, breaking his message up into multiple posts to accomodate Twitter's character limit. "I won't vote for Obamacare Lite that keeps 90% of the taxes & spending just so some people can claim credit for something that didn't happen. Calling a bill that KEEPS most of Obamacare 'repeal' doesn't make it true. That's what the swamp does. I won't be bribed or bullied."