Here Come the Backroom Deals to Save Obamacare

Remember the Cornhusker Kickback that was used to buy Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson’s support for Obamacare?

Well, it’s about to happen again.

We’re hearing that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could break his promise to fight for the Obamacare repeal bill, which the Senate passed in 2015, and instead use sweeteners and earmarks to buy support for his original fake repeal plan.

McConnell is so determined to keep Obamacare’s core provisions and to bail out the insurance companies that he’s offering carveouts and kickbacks to moderate Republicans to buy their support.

Please call the senators below and urge them to oppose McConnell’s last minute, backroom deals to save Obamacare. They promised repeal and now it’s time to deliver!

Some of the payoffs being considered include:

• A special Stability Fund formula that would result in an automatic $1.32 billion for the state of Alaska (for Senator Lisa Murkowski);
• New criteria for federal Medicaid funding that primarily benefits the state of Louisiana (for Senator Bill Cassidy); and
• Expanded reimbursement for Medicaid services provided to Indian Health Service enrollees primarily benefiting the state of South Dakota (for Senator Mike Rounds).

“We’re making it rain on them,” said one senior GOP aide.

And this is just the beginning.

By keeping Obamacare’s net investment tax and Medicare “high-income” tax, McConnell’s plan retains over $230 billion in revenue, which he can spend buying off moderate senators.

We’re even hearing that McConnell could give Senator Dean Heller a pledge to continue Senator Harry Reid’s blockade of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility.

Do not be fooled. McConnell is not doing this to pass repeal. He’s doing it to pass a bill that continues some of the worst parts of Obamacare and that bails out the insurance companies. 

TAKE ACTION

McConnell promised he would repeal Obamacare “root and branch” during the campaign and last week he promised to fight for the 2015 repeal bill. That is what he must deliver.

Please call the senators listed below and urge them to oppose any attempt by Senator McConnell to use payoffs and kickbacks to buy votes for fake repeal.

• Luther Strange (R-AL) – (202) 224-4124
• Tom Cotton (R-AR) – (202) 224-2353
• Joni Ernst (R-IA) – (202) 224-3254
• Jerry Moran (R-KS) – (202) 224-6521
• Ben Sasse (R-NE) – (202) 224-4224
• James Lankford (R-OK) – (202) 224-5754
• Tim Scott (R-SC) – (202) 224-6121
• Ted Cruz (R-TX) – (202) 224-5922
• Mike Lee (R-UT) – (202) 224-5444
• Ron Johnson (R-WI) – (202) 224-5323

Please tell these senators: No bait and switch, no backroom deals, and certainly no bailouts. Just repeal it like you did before.

Thank you for your support.