With polls showing only 12 percent support for Republican bill
Democrats appeal for bipartisan compromise to slash health care costs
By
Barry Grey
1 July 2017
Senate Republicans failed to reach agreement on a new version of their bill to cut $1.2 trillion from government spending on health care and effectively dismantle Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor, prior to the 10-day Independence Day congressional recess, putting off a vote on the measure until mid-July at the earliest.
The more that becomes known of the Senate version of a similar Republican measure passed last month by the House of Representatives, the more rapidly popular opposition grows. On Wednesday, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll was released showing popular support for the Senate bill at a mere 12 percent. According to the survey, conducted among registered voters from last Saturday to Tuesday, 45 percent oppose the bill, 40 percent do not know enough about it to form an opinion, and 3 percent fall into the category of “other.”
Even among Republicans, support is minimal. The poll showed 26 percent supporting, 17 percent opposing and 52 percent saying they need more information.
Far from seeking to mobilize the anger among working people over the assault on health care, Democrats are appealing to President Donald Trump and the Republicans to reach a bipartisan agreement to impose new cuts and make further concessions to the insurance industry, by making the current “Obamacare” system even more pro-corporate and anti-working class.
On Wednesday, as Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Mike Pence were meeting with various far-right and “moderate” Republican senators who have expressed opposition to the current draft of the bill,…