# Thank you to senators Murkowski, Collins and McCain **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 28, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328 "2017-07-28T15:07:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/21 "2017-07-28T21:38:08Z")
Also thank you to the 48 democrats senators who stood together, including the democratic senators from red states. When Trump won I was afraid people like Joe Manchin would roll over and become a Trump patsy in an effort to get reelected, I’m glad he stood with the dems and protected health care in his state (West Virginia has a large medicaid population). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/22 "2017-07-28T21:40:43Z")
And from [last night.](https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/890834234457210880) > [@](#): > > CNN reports Dems will give Lifetime Achievement Award to Murkowski Collins and McCain. Schumer so happy he cried. A search of CNN turns up no such story. So this man of God, a so-called Baptist minister, is a flat-out liar and a spreader of FAKE NEWS. Explains where is daughter gets it from. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/23 "2017-07-28T21:41:50Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Yup, the problem isn’t the ACA, the problem is we spend 2x as much on health care as any other nation and have less to show for it. This was a problem long before the ACA came about. > > However true reform is going to galvanize very powerful industries. The AMA, hospital industry, pharma, insurance industry, etc. because true reform will lower their business revenues and net profits. There is no way they take reform lying down. This is the core problem with health care costs in our country. The ACA put us on the road to needed reforms, and no one denies it needs work. Maybe now there will be some rational talk about doing whats needed, and not playing political football with the issue. Nah, that is probably asking too much at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/24 "2017-07-28T23:13:10Z")
I’d like to thank the Democrats for standing firm and united. If they were in power we wouldn’t have even had to worry. The GOP is barely a political party. The only legislation they know how to do is symbolic even when they are in power. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/25 "2017-07-29T00:35:42Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And from [last night.](https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/890834234457210880) > > A search of CNN turns up no such story. > So this man of God, a so-called Baptist minister, is a flat-out liar and a spreader of FAKE NEWS. > Explains where is daughter gets it from. And WOW those commenters turned on McCain fast. He was a Maverick, now he’s a traitor. Someone said he should have been left in Vietnam. For realsies. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/26 "2017-07-29T01:07:20Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Also thank you to the 48 democrats senators who stood together, including the democratic senators from red states. When Trump won I was afraid people like Joe Manchin would roll over and become a Trump patsy in an effort to get reelected, I’m glad he stood with the dems and protected health care in his state (West Virginia has a large medicaid population). Yes, one of the things pointed out by the 538 blog was that it was interesting that none of the votes of the red state Democratic senators was in the slightest doubt. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/27 "2017-07-29T01:56:29Z")
I posted a link to Minority Leader Schumer speech in the imho thread. Schumer strongly indicated a willingness to seek a bipartisan solution on health care and other pending legislation. McCain’s speech a couple days ago focused entirely on returning to bipartisanship and compromise. I’m hoping the Republicans finally realize they really don’t have a strong 50 vote majority. The R Freedom Caucus doesn’t support mainstream legislation. They’re responsible for a lot of the grid lock. It puts the other Republicans in a situation where they can’t pass meaningful legislation unless some Democrats help. Let’s hope Congress finally wakes up and does the right thing. They will have to answer to voters eventually. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/28 "2017-07-29T02:10:06Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > … > Let’s hope Congress finally wakes up and does the right thing. They will have to answer to voters eventually. What would the right thing be, ultimately, in your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/29 "2017-07-29T02:20:32Z")
On health care? McCain explained they need to go back to traditional legislation like they did before 2009. Start the Health care process in committee and hammer out a compromise solution that a majority from both parties can support. Perhaps bring in experts from the medical and insurance fields to advise. McCain’s speech on returning to bipartisanship was very good. Schumer echoed the same comments in his speech. Specifically mentioning names from both parties that could serve on the committee. There’s really no choice on Health Care. The crises can’t be ignored much longer. ACA has to be fixed. The Republicans don’t have the votes to do it alone. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/30 "2017-07-29T02:39:12Z")
Nothing will happen unless Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is willing to work with the Democrats. So far, I haven’t heard him say much about bipartisanship. It’s more than health care. There’s a backlog of nominations waiting to be confirmed. The Budget fight in Sept. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/31 "2017-07-29T02:50:02Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > He could have saved everybody a lot of effort by staying home. I don’t know what to think of him. Imagine a dying man flying 2000 miles to accomplish exactly nothing. He was not there for nothing. He was the _only_ path for Republicans to pass their bill. They needed 50 + 1 (Pence) in order to pass it. They only have a majority of 52, and 2 (Murkowski and Collins) were already lost. Kudos to all 3, for sure, but McCain was the only wobbler. Without him, they had to flip a Democrat – and that wasn’t going to happen. As far as fixing the ACA, start with getting every single state into the Medicaid expansion. Add some subsidy money to offset the high risk folks, that Marco Rubio took away in 2015 by eliminating the high risk corridors. Add a public option (could be Medicare) so as to provide some meaningful competition to health insurance companies. Alternatively, at least allow older Americans (some of us who are still actually very healthy) to opt into Medicare. This will move us into a bigger risk pool and offset the high costs for people even older than we are. Stop sabotaging the individual exchange markets by being coy about whether the insurance companies that offer those policies will be paid for them, starting now. Immediately tell insurance companies how much they will be paid for subsidies in 2018, so they can figure out what plans they can offer. Encourage people to get into the ACA instead of spending tax dollars to actively discourage them joining. It can be done. With the help of moderate Republicans, I suspect it _may_ be done. And then we’ll watch Trump veto the legislation when it hits his desk, all for spite and malice. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/32 "2017-07-29T02:52:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Nothing will happen unless Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is willing to work with the Democrats. > > So far, I haven’t heard him say much about bipartisanship. > > It’s more than health care. There’s a backlog of nominations waiting to be confirmed. The Budget fight in Sept. There’s an [even bigger backlog](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-administration-appointee-tracker/database/) waiting for a nominee to be named. > [@](#): > > 575 positions > > 357 no nominee > 3 announced but not officially nominated > 165 waiting for confirmation > 50 confirmed > > The Post and Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, are tracking more than 500 key executive branch nominations through the confirmation process. These positions include Cabinet secretaries, deputy and assistant secretaries, chief financial officers, general counsel, heads of agencies, ambassadors and other critical leadership positions. These are a portion of the **roughly 1,200 positions that require Senate confirmation.** ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/33 "2017-07-29T03:07:09Z")
Geez. We’re certainly testing our Democracy’s resilience. It’s going to be a long four years. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/34 "2017-07-29T13:20:31Z")
Saw this on reddit, the creator said that Trump likes wrestling gifs. [http://i.imgur.com/QifJ4NM.gif](http://i.imgur.com/QifJ4NM.gif) ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/35 "2017-07-29T14:08:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Alternatively, at least allow older Americans (some of us who are still actually very healthy) to opt into Medicare. This will move us into a bigger risk pool and offset the high costs for people even older than we are.] This, honest to god, this. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/36 "2017-07-29T14:15:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Nothing will happen unless Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is willing to work with the Democrats. What would be required to replace him? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/37 "2017-07-29T16:10:56Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > This, honest to god, this. Putting medicare and medicaid on the ACA exchanges should be a national policy. Part of the reason why it isn’t is because medicare and medicaid are cheaper than private insurance, and reimbursement is lower than private insurance. So the AMA, hospital industry and insurance industry will all oppose it. Nevada almost put medicaid on the exchanges but the governor vetoed it. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/38 "2017-07-29T22:29:32Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > While Obamacare has done some great things we do have to at some point face the music and realize the costs are just not sustainable. While that may be true – it’s hard to get a sense of what’s real through a thick crust of exaggeration – it’s also true the old system was unsustainable due to cost. It’s just that the costs were better hidden then. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/39 "2017-07-31T20:17:20Z")
I just sent this letter to each: \*Dear Sen. [Name]: Although I’m not a constituent of yours, I wanted to thank you for your recent brave and principled vote against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. In so voting, you helped ensure that many millions of Americans will not needlessly lose their healthcare coverage. Would that there were more senators guided by the national interest and not blind partisanship. With gratitude and best wishes,\* ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328/40 "2017-07-31T20:52:01Z")
Very cool letter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-to-senators-murkowski-collins-and-mccain/792328.md?page=3)