Action 168: TrumpDon'tCare Delayed—Don't Celebrate Yet
Well, flooding Senators with calls and showing up to their offices worked. TrumpCare has stalled once again because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell doesn't have the votes ... yet.
While postponing the vote until after the July 4th recess is certainly a small win, it by no means indicates the bill is dead. Instead, what this really does is give McConnell more time to get the votes that he needs to actually pass this; this recess is critical.
And while the Senate has another chance to help line the pockets of the rich by passing a literal death sentence to 200,000 people over the course of a decade, we get another chance to stop them in their tracks.
So, here's the plan:
If you live in one of the ten targeted states (Alaska, West Virginia, Maine, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas) follow Indivisible's guide for contacting your Senators.
Not in a target state? We still need your help—and it is critical!
Democratic Senators should "withhold their consent" to waive Senate rules (which is often done to get work completed since the rules are so convoluted) so that business slows to a crawl. They should be prepared to filibuster by amendment, and prepare to submit thousands of amendments to the bill since they have the ability to make unlimited amendments because the bill is being passed via reconciliation. Refer to Indivisible's guide for more on what this means.
Go here to find out how this bill will impact your state specifically.
We know you're tired - but guess what - the opposition is counting on it.
What you can do-
CALL YOUR DEMOCRATIC SENATOR and ask them to resist this bill through Senate procedure in one of two ways: filibustering by amendment or withholding consent—these can help slow down the process of passing the legislation and tie it up. Choose one of these procedures (either one is fine) and call and ask them to do that. Need a longer explanation of these procedures and a script? Use the one at the bottom of this page from Indivisible.
- CALL YOUR REPUBLICAN SENATOR and ask them to commit to voting against the bill, and commit to voting against any bill that doesn't guarantee people with pre-existing conditions will get a higher premium, and to vote against anything eliminating Medicaid funding.