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Nevada Sen. Dean Heller raises numerous objections to the House bill, according to audio obtained by POLITICO.

By Burgess Everett

03/12/17 06:46 PM EDT

Sen. Dean Heller panned House Speaker Paul Ryan's bill to repeal and replace Obamacare during a closed meeting with constituents on Saturday, according to audio obtained by POLITICO.

The remarks by Heller, the most vulnerable GOP senator on the ballot next year, are another sign of the difficult prospects the House bill faces in the other chamber. Already, more than a half-dozen senators have criticized the bill, and Republicans can afford to lose only two votes.

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The Nevada senator has been quiet about the GOPs efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act as he prepares to run for reelection as the only Republican incumbent from a state Hillary Clinton won. But Heller raised significant issues to state Republicans and senior center residents about how the bill would affect the states Medicaid population, even as he declined to say that health care is a fundamental right.

Ive heard a lot of people say that every American has a right to an automobile, Heller said to guffaws from liberal attendees, who frequently challenged him and at one point called him a liar. Do I believe that all Americans should have access to health care? Absolutely, I do.

Still, Heller took a far softer tack than the laws staunchest opponents, frequently speaking of making changes to Obamacare rather than eviscerating the law as some Republicans say they will do. He made no commitment to support the House-led effort to repeal the law, which could come before the Senate this month.

Not everything in the Affordable Care Act is bad, Heller told the crowd in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, as protesters demonstrated outside. As we move forward and take a look at some of these changes and whats occurring, I think we ought to embrace whats good in the Affordable Care Act.

His strategy on Obamacare shows the tightrope Heller is walking in a state that's trending Democratic but has a strong presence of conservative activists. Heller was critical of Donald Trump in last year's election. At the Saturday event, he urged the president to keep his promise to enact a trillion-dollar infrastructure program and said having a safety net is a core responsibility of government.

But the focus was mostly on how Heller handles Obamacare repeal. Nevada has nearly 300,000 people who have obtained insurance through the ACA's Medicaid expansion, and the states GOP governor, Brian Sandoval, has warned against changing it. The House bill would keep the expansion through 2019 before winding it down, although some conservatives want to begin gutting it earlier.

Theyre talking about 2020, now theyre talking about making the changes in 2018, Heller said. Thats not enough time for Nevada to adjust. We need time to adjust. I want to move that thing up four or five years," he added, referring to a longer delay.

Heller also said he opposed the bills preservation of the so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost insurance plans. Heller and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) have sought to kill the tax for years.

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My argument with the Republicans is if were going to make the changes, dont repeal the Affordable Care Act so you can keep all the taxes. I think thats unfair and I dont think thats a responsible way to move forward, Heller said. The House bill does eliminate some taxes on wealthy people.

Hellers comments underscore the difficult prospects the House measure faces in the Senate should it make it to the chamber. The Nevada senator said he was urging Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow the Senate to make significant changes to the bill. Conservatives in both chambers have knocked the plan as "Obamacare-lite," and centrists are concerned about its rollback of the Medicaid expansion.

Heller's criticisms of the effort have been more under the radar. He faced protesters outside the Henderson event for avoiding public town hall events that have turned into forums for liberal activists. Heller has instead focused on private events and "tele-town halls" in which constituents can call in. Heller also rarely speaks to reporters in Washington, often using routes in the Capitol to avoid the media.

Asked by one person Saturday why he wont have an open town hall meeting, Heller responded: Did anybody force you to come today? This is a town hall meeting. That remark led to shouting matches between Hellers supporters and his hecklers, with one organizer telling attendees they are acting like children.

It wasnt the only moment of hostility. Heller claimed at one point that the economy was entirely stagnant under former President Barack Obama despite steady growth after the recession.

It's been eight years, eight years since I've heard a treasury secretary talk about economic growth, Heller said. They never talked about economic growth. You know what? We didn't have economic growth for the last eight years."

A woman shot back: Liar, liar pants on fire. Officials at the event then tried to remove her, according to the audio.

Heller ended the exchange with this response: I want to thank both Republicans and Democrats for being here today.

Indeed, the Nevada senator offered something to liberals and conservatives as part of his balancing act. He said he supports Neil Gorsuchs nomination to the Supreme Court and defended a recent vote to reverse regulations that required the Social Security Administration to flag people with mental illness for gun-sale background checks. Heller said he does not believe mentally ill people should be able to buy weapons, but also said that people can recover from mental illness and be able to keep their Second Amendment rights.

And when asked about veterans health care, Heller touted an Obama-era program that allows some veterans to seek health care closer to home.

Bernie Sanders will tell you that he and I teamed up to make these necessary changes for our veterans, Heller said. Sanders will be the first to tell you: That when I gave him my word, I stuck with it.

See original here:
Another key Republican senator knocks GOP Obamacare plan ... - Politico

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said GOP members of the House should not "walk the plank" by approving the Republican health care bill, warning that it could cost the party the House majority and put the entire GOP agenda at risk.

"I would say to my friends in the House of Representatives with whom I serve, 'Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote," Cotton told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos.

The Arkansas senator went further, saying on "This Week" Sunday that Republicans are in danger of losing their House majority if they approve the GOP health measure, called the American Health Care Act, proposed last week by House Republican leaders and endorsed by the White House.

Cotton has been critical of the legislation that congressional GOP leaders put forward to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

"Im worried it could make it worse in some ways, that insurance rates could go up and Americans could have even less control over their health care systems," Cotton told ABCs chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl Thursday.

On "This Week," Cotton said, "I just do not think that this bill can pass the Senate, and therefore I think the House should take a pause and try to get as close as we can to a good result before we send it to the Senate."

When pressed by Stephanopolous to clarify if he was suggesting that House Republicans who vote for the bill "are going to pay the price without getting any benefit," Cotton noted that Republicans have other agenda goals in addition to health care reform.

"We have majorities in the House and the Senate and the White House not only to repeal Obamacare and get health care reform right, but to reform our taxes and our regulations and build up our military and accomplish many other things," Cotton said. "And I don't want to see the House majority put at risk on a bill that is not going to pass the Senate."

"That's why I think we should take a pause, try to solve as many of the problems on both Medicaid and the individual insurance market in this bill in the House and then allow the Senate to take its work up," Cotton said. The bill probably can be fixed, but its going to take a lot of carpentry on that framework."

Read more from the original source:
Republican senator: GOP risks losing House majority if health bill approved - ABC News

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the go-to guy for mainstream media members who need a Republican voice in order to claim balance and non-bias in their stories, took to CNN over the weekend to offer up some criticisms of President Donald Trump.

Whatd he say?

McCain weighed in on the wiretapping allegations Trumps slung Barack Obamas way with typical Not a Friend of This President bodyslam.

First he told State of the Union host Jake Tapper he had no reason to believe Trumps charge was true. And then he said, in essence, Trump ought to put up or shut up.

I have no reason to believe that the charge is true, but I also believe that the president of the United States could clear this up in a minute, McCain said, CNN reported. All he has to do is pick up the phone, call the director of the CIA, director of national intelligence and say, OK, what happened?

Maybe. And maybe Trump, like his Newsman CEO buddy Chris Ruddy previously explained, is confident he will be proven right about the wiretapping.

McCain also said during this same CNN interview: I do believe on issues such as this, accusing a former president of the United States of something which is not only illegal, but just unheard of, that requires corroboration. Ill let the American people be the judge, but this is serious stuff.

Time will tell, wont it?

In the meantime, though, itd be nice if members of Trumps own party could quit helping the left tear down his administration.

Oh, we know McCain has a grudge, maybe even a vendetta, against Trump. Back in July 2015, Trump said from Iowa that McCain was not a war hero. He then went on to add, I like people that werent captured. Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. He was referring to the five years McCain spent as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, after his plane was shot down in 1967.

A red-faced McCain has never been able to get over that remark or, perhaps, over his own failed 2008 bid for the presidency and the fact Trump has been able to tread where he could not.

Either way, its time for McCain to come out of the Democratic shadows and put on his big-boy GOP pin.

Its getting tiresome seeing his name in headlines like this, just in from the Los Angeles Times: McCain joins Democrats in seeking proof of Trump wiretap claim.

Of course, McCains not the only Republican waiting for answers on the wiretap claims. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has joined in the call to get to the bottom of the matter, and Rep. Deven Nunes, R-Calif., has said the House was willing to investigate.

But McCains the face in the media, always willing to offer up the Democratic talking points against the president, under guise of being a Republican. As Trump aide Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News, about the wiretap scandal: Well make a comment after [House and Senate] findings are complete.

If only McCain would agree to the same.

See original here:
John McCain, will you ever be Republican? - Washington Times

Late on Friday, a federal district court finally issued its long-awaited ruling in the lawsuit over Texas Republican-drawn congressional map shown at the top of this post (see here for a larger version). The court delivered a major victory for voting rights when it struck down several districts for violating the Voting Rights Act and the Equal Protections Clause, holding that several districts were illegal racial gerrymanders. This ruling could result in a new map being used in the 2018 elections that would contain additional districts where Latino voters could elect their candidate preference, and Democrats could consequently gain seats.

The courtstruck down several districts where Republicans had either diluted Latino voting strength so that Anglo candidates could win, or where Republicans had packed Latino votersto prevent them from electing their candidate choice in neighboring seats. A redrawn map could consequently see considerable changes to the invalidated 23rd District, which spans from El Paso to San Antonio, the 27th, which covers Corpus Christiand Victoria, and the 35th, which stretches from Austin to San Antonio, along with neighboring seats. Such adjustmentscould subsequently see a Latino Democrat oust Republican incumbents in the 23rd and 27th.

The judges additionally faulted Republicans for abusing race when drawing districts in the greater Dallas area, butdid not specifically indicate that theywould require Republican legislators to draw a new district to elect a Latino candidate. Plaintiffs will undoubtedly press the court to impose such a requirement when they argue for the appropriate remedy. Indeed, Daily Kos Elections itself has previously demonstrated how Republicans could have drawn another seat that would elect Latino voters candidate choice in Dallas at the expense of an Anglo Republican, in addition to making the aforementioned GOP-held 23rd and 27th heavily Latino.

Read more from the original source:
Huge: Court strikes down Texas' Republican-drawn congressional map for illegal racial gerrymandering - Daily Kos

After weeks of demonstrations outside of his office in California, longtime Republican congressman Darrell Issa faced a crowded auditorium of angry voters Saturday, marking his first town hall appearance since the election in November.

The nine-term congressman caved to demands from his constituents to hold a town hall event, bringing him face to face with an auditorium of more than 500 largely Democratic voters troubled by the Trump administration.

Issa held two separate town halls at Junior Seau Recreation Center in Oceanside, California, to accommodate the large number of voters and protesters who gathered to challenge their representative. Audience members booed and jeered throughout the meetings as the congressman answered questions for more than three hours.

At one point, the auditorium was so rowdy Issa quipped, "I don't mind that things are contentious. I just don't want things to end like the play 'Hamilton.'"

But his voters were largely not amused.

They pressed Issa on how he plans to challenge the proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act, calls to defund Planned Parenthood, and President Trump's stance on immigration and refugees.

Voters also refused to let the congressman sidestep questions about Trump's alleged ties to Russia, repeatedly questioning how he personally plans to investigate the country's interference in the 2016 election.

Related: Republicans Tamp Down Sessions Criticism While Democrats Ramp it Up

Issa said his past statements with regard to Russia have been "clearly out of step" with his fellow Republicans in Congress and that he has, instead, pressed lawmakers to investigate the claims.

Demonstrators protest over the repeal and replacement of Obamacare outside the offices of Republican congressman Darrell Issa in Vista, California. MIKE BLAKE / Reuters

"When you elect a member of Congress you elect him to worry about global security and our security," he said. "Are we going to investigate Russia to the very nth degree on interfering in our election? Yes."

Issa ended his first town hall after a tense exchange with a Democratic challenger for his congressional seat. On Wednesday, a prominent local Democrat, Mike Levin, announced he would run against the congressman in 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Related:

In a preview of their upcoming showdown, Levin and Issa had a tense exchange over the environment before the congressman cut him off.

"If you're fortunate enough to go to Congress, you're going to discover that dialogue is possible," Issa said, to renewed boos and jeers.

See the original post:
Darrell Issa, Republican Congressman, Faces Tough Crowd at Town Hall - NBCNews.com