A Mile Wide, An Inch Deep

If you're confused by the news reports and you're wondering how the pieces fit together and where things stand, I'll try to keep this page updated as events unfold. ACA repeal: what happens next? Politico reporter Dan Diamond posted this ACA repeal checklist on Twitter. I've modified it slightly to better reflect the full scope of what's happening when. But don't forget, "ACA repeal" in this context is only a partial repeal, which will set up a "death spiral" in health insurance markets and raise costs for all of us. (Read my backgrounders on what the GOP can and can't do through reconciliation here and on the politics of their replacement plans here .)   ☑  Senate vote-a-rama on amendments to budget outline   ☑  Senate passes budget outline   ☑  House passes budget outline   ☐  House drafts reconciliation bill repealing parts of the ACA, cutting taxes on the .01% wealthiest Americans, and blocking women with Medicaid from g

Was the ACA rammed through Congress with no Republican opportunity to amend the bill? Nope. But don't take my word for it. Here is Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on the Senate floor, September 24, 2013. He notes that 160 Republican amendments were accepted in the HELP committee alone. He says the ACA fight was "one of the most hard-fought and fair, in my view, debates that has taken place on the floor of the Senate in the time I have been here." He says he's "proud of the effort we made and, frankly, the other side of the aisle allowed that debate to take place." Mr. McCAIN. It is a matter of record that the Senate Finance Committee considered the Affordable Care Act over several weeks and approved the bill on October 13, 2009. At that time members of the Finance Committee submitted 564 amendments, 135 amendments were considered, 79 rollcall votes were taken, and 41 amendments were adopted. Then the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committ

If you've ended up here from installment #1 , you already know that congressional Republicans plan to use a parliamentary tool known as 'budget reconciliation' to partially repeal the ACA. And you know that if Republicans are able to pass a reconciliation-based repeal this winter/spring, they'll create a big chaotic mess in the health insurance markets just in time for the 2018 mid-terms. (Click here for a checklist of where Republicans are in the process and an overview of what they're planning for the next two years.) But that's only part of the story. What do the politics look like for Republicans now that their rhetoric around repeal is suddenly being taken seriously? Republican Congressman Mike Coffman (CO) got a small taste when he was forced to sneak out of his own constituent meeting early. But Republicans have reason to worry about much more than just contentious constituent meetings because... There are big differences between what Republ