Free Republic

As Mitt Romney considers whether to run for an open US Senate seat in Utah, the person who can most influence him is encouraging him to get into the race: his wife, Ann. Ann Romney — a confidante for nearly all of Romney’s adult life and frequent catalyst for his political ambitions — is fully supporting a campaign for Senate, another strong indicator he will run, according to four people close to the Romneys. Her own battle with multiple sclerosis is not a major factor, with all signs indicating that her health remains strong, the people said.

Outgoing Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Wednesday that former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have his support if he runs to take his place in the Senate. Hatch's remarks come a day after the 83-year-old senator announced his retirement. President Trump had urged Hatch to stay in the seat, reportedly as an attempt to block Romney from taking the Senate spot. "There's no question that he loves Utah and wants to support Utah any way he can. And I'm hopeful he'll run, because he would be just fine," Hatch said in a radio interview on Utah's Morning News program....

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) predicted that the Graham-Cassidy bill will receive 50 Republican votes and votes from a few Democrats. Graham said, “I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never been more excited than I am right now. We need 50 votes to get this over the finish line. The president has been working like a tiger. The vice president, Mitch McConnell’s going to give us a vote. … And I can tell you this, if you want money and power out of Washington, you want to end the march to...

They can get you now, or get you later . . . Fifteen senators, including 2020 hopefuls like Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, are co-sponsoring Bernie Sanders’ single-payer health care bill. But even some of those not signing on have plans to eventually convert the country to single payer. On today’s Morning Joe, Dem Senator Chris Murphy [CT] described his plan, which Politico has called “stealthy single-payer.” Under it, people would be given the option of buying into Medicare or remaining with private insurance. Murphy expressed the belief that: “Given that choice, consumers would choose Medicare, and it would allow...

Getting rid of Obamacare was one of Donald Trump’s key campaign commitments. Several Republican senators said this week they would not vote to support various forms of dealing with the controversial law. Political commentators have construed the announcements as another indictment of the president’s leadership. Yet this interpretation ignores the fact that congressional Republicans have built their majorities on promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If they fail, it’s not Trump who will be blamed by voters. he come-hell-or-high-water stance by leadership tells Murkowski and Capito in particular that they will not be protected from the appearance of flip-flopping....

Until now, I haven't been too concerned about the Republican Party's difficulties in passing a health care reform bill because delays have resulted in improvements to the proposed legislation. But enough is enough. No more games. It's time to quit the finger-pointing. Neither congressional leaders nor President Trump have done enough to whip votes and sell the bill. A major overhaul of Obamacare, whether a full repeal, or a repeal and replacement, is imperative for Trump and congressional Republicans. More than any other, Obamacare is the issue that has galvanized grass-roots conservatives since 2010, and the Republicans' failure to...

After a repeated series of false starts, Senate Republicans are meeting again Wednesday night in an attempt to bring their healthcare bill back from the dead. The renewed attempt comes amid a flurry of mixed signals form leadership and whiplash-inducing shifts from President Donald Trump.

Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and Susan Collins (Maine) said on Tuesday that they will not support moving forward with the plan to repeal ObamaCare with a delayed replacement. "My position on this issue is driven by its impact on West Virginians. With that in mind, I cannot vote to repeal ObamaCare without a replacement plan that addresses my concerns and the needs of West Virginians," Capito said in a statement. Collins added to NBC that she is still a "no" on proceeding to the House-passed bill, which would be used as a vehicle for any Senate action. The...

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is hedging over whether he'll back the Senate's new ObamaCare replacement bill. Johnson initially indicated he could back the measure, but told a local newspaper that he's now not so sure because of comments by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggesting some Medicaid cuts in the bill may not happen. "I am concerned about Leader [Mitch] McConnell's comments to apparently some of my Republican colleagues — 'Don't worry about some of the Medicaid reforms, those are scheduled so far in the future they'll never take effect,'" Johnson told the Green Bay Press-Gazette in remarks that...

Fact check: Mostly true. Republicans promised to repeal ObamaCare since the moment it was passed seven years ago, and kept insisting that voters needed to give them full control of Washington DC. Now that they have it, Republicans have to deliver, and Donald Trump took to his favorite platform while in France to remind them of it So impt Rep Senators, under leadership of @SenateMajLdr McConnell get healthcare plan approved. After 7yrs of O'Care disaster, must happen! After all of these years of suffering thru ObamaCare, Republican Senators must come through as they have promised! 1:07 AM - 14 Jul...

Republicans are about to do something very stupid. Using bribery, threats and cajolery, they intend to pass a catastrophically unpopular bill on a party-line vote. GOP: Obamacare is unpopular, so let's pass a new health care bill that's even MORE unpopular. Normal Person: Why would you do that? GOP: No, you don't understand. Obamacare is totally imploding, so if we pass this bill now, all its problems will be blamed on us! Republicans would be better off doing nothing. They can survive the ridicule for running against Obamacare through four election cycles and then not repealing it. They cannot survive...

RUSH: By the way, folks, while all of this is going on, the health care bill status over in the Senate’s looking very, very bad. You see what Rand Paul has said? Has a written a piece — I saw it at Breitbart — and I think he’s trying to get people’s attention with this. But he’s saying if anybody’s paying attention, Obamacare is staying, the essential health benefits are staying, Obamacare taxes are staying, nobody wants to do anything about it, and it’s all a bunch of smoke and mirrors. The insurance companies are gonna have to be bailed...

RUSH: This is a fascinating poll result. It’s IBD, Investor’s Business Daily. Headline: “People Like The Senate Health Bill More Than They Realize — Just 33% of the public say they approve of the Senate plan to repeal and replace Obamacare and 62% oppose it, the latest IBD/TIPP Poll finds. However, many of the specific provisions in the Senate bill get majority support. … Unlike other polls, the IBD/TIPP Poll restricted its findings on the Republicans’ Obamacare replacement plans to the 77% who say they’ve been following the health care debate closely.” So this poll is not include people unfamiliar...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting President Trump's suggestion on how the Senate could promptly pass its ObamaCare overhaul measure -- by immediately repealing the 2010 heath care law and replacing it later. snip He also riffed on Trump’s winning campaign slogan, saying, "It's not easy making America great again, is it?"

Senate Republicans are considering dropping a tax break for the wealthy from their ObamaCare repeal bill as they seek to secure 50 votes for the legislation. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Thursday said the bill would be changed to increase the subsidies that help lower-income people afford health insurance. The most likely way for that to happen is by keeping a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for high earners, Corker said. “We will it appears, address the issue of ensuring lower-income citizens are in a position to buy plans that are actually provide them appropriate healthcare,” Corker said. To...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday that opposing the Republican health-care bill wasn't enough and the Democratic Party should start running on a new national single-payer plan. "President Obama tried to move us forward with health-care coverage by using a conservative model that came from one of the conservative think tanks that had been advanced by a Republican governor in Massachusetts," she told The Wall Street Journal. "Now it's time for the next step. And the next step is single payer." Polling has shown government-provided health care to be a very popular notion among Americans. Depending on whether it's described as...

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker cautioned that a health care bill proposed by U.S. Senate Republicans would cost 264,000 state residents their health coverage and have a cumulative negative impact of more than $8.2 billion on the state by 2025, while Sen. Edward Markey described defeating the bill as the legislative fight of his life. In a letter to the state's all-Democrat Congressional delegation, Baker, a Republican, wrote that the bill would "increasingly strain the state's fiscal resources, result in greater numbers of individuals without insurance and destabilize the commercial insurance market." He separately joined Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in urging...

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” while discussing the Republican health care bill, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he would vote for a partial repeal of Obamacare, but the current bill was “not anywhere close to repeal.” Paul said, “I’ve been telling leadership for months now that I will vote for a repeal and it doesn’t have to be a 100 percent repeal. For example, I’m for 100 percent repeal, that’s what I want, but if you offer me a 90 percent repeal, I’d probably vote for it. I might vote for 80 percent repeal.”

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that he thinks the Senate healthcare bill “looks too much like Obamacare.” Senator Rand Paul joined Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) in opposition to the Senate bill. The coalition of conservative senators argue that the legislation does not do enough to repeal Obamacare. Senator Paul explained his opposition to the newly released Senate healthcare bill: I think the bill looks too much like Obamacare. It really doesn’t look like a repeal bill. It looks like we’re keeping Obamacare, it keeps probably 100 percent...

A group of at least three Republican senators are planning to openly oppose the newly-released Republican health care bill, NBC's Chuck Todd reported Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) released the text of the bill Thursday after more than a month of speculation. "For the past seven years, Obamacare has continued to hurt the people we represent," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "For the past seven years, Republicans have offered ideas for a better way forward. And soon, we will finally have the chance to turn the page on this failing law." But the host of "Meet...