Sen. Rand Paul on principle opposes the Cassidy-Graham proposal to kill Obamacare. He opposes it because it doesn’t actually kill Obamacare. But it might earn his vote if the Senate will pass his amendment to restore the stolen run rights of 257,000 veterans who were diagnosed with PTSD.
The amendment would keep the ATF from banning guns for veterans with a PTSD diagnosis. It would also bar insurance companies from inquiring about gun ownership, or using that information to determine coverage eligibility. Finally, Paul’s amendment would roll back the truly Orwellian ACA requirement for doctors to ask patients about gun ownership so that information could be recorded in a federal database. My doctor would get a self-diagnosis of “nunya syndrome.”
Perspectives
GOA Urges Senate to Adopt Rand Paul’s Amendment to Protect Gun Owners from ObamaCare | The Resurgent
“GOA applauds Sen. Paul for introducing this amendment to protect gun owners from a pernicious gun control law,” Erich Pratt, the Executive Director of GOA said in a press release. “Any replacement healthcare considered by Congress should wipe out the anti-gun provisions of ObamaCare, which Democrats rammed through in 2010. I urge the Senate to adopt Paul’s Amendment to protect the rights of gun owners.”
Rand Paul is unlikely to support the Graham-Cassidy measure – Washington Times
“No conservative [sic] should vote for a rebranded trillion dollar spending program just because it adds some block grants,” Mr. Paul tweeted adding, “Keeping 90% of Obamacare is not ok and it’s not what we ran on. Conservatives should say no.”
With Mr. Paul making it clear he is unlikely to support the measure and Democrats saying they will not support anything that replaces Obamacare, remaining Republicans need to rally together for the bill to pass.
Rand Paul shocker: Not voting for this ObamaCare repeal either – Hot Air Hot Air
Going into this week, not many people in Washington gave Republicans a chance of passing healthcare legislation before the end of the month, when reconciliation language allowing them to pass a bill with a simply majority expires. Even President Trump and congressional leaders had seemingly moved on. But now, it looks like the the bill released by Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana., Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Dean Heller of Nevada and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has gained some real momentum. While still an uphill climb, there’s now a non-zero chance of something passing. Cassidy said Friday that more senators have told him they support his proposal to overhaul Obamacare, bringing the total to as many as 49 votes.
Reactions
RELEASE: GOA to Senate: Adopt @RandPaul’s Amendment to Protect Gun Owners from ObamaCare
Read: https://t.co/LSD3Xbb3OH @DrRandPaul pic.twitter.com/JOZnqg2l3v
— GOA (@GunOwners) September 19, 2017
Retweeted GOA (@GunOwners):
The Senate must adopt @RandPaul's pro-gun amendment on health care:… https://t.co/5M4y7Nr7gt
— Robert A Adjutant (@wizardQi) July 28, 2017
Final thoughts
Cassidy-Graham is a hot mess and a devil’s bargain. But if in exchange for passing it, we roll back some of the more egregious federal overstepping and trouncing of constitutional authority regarding Second Amendment rights and the truly horrible treatment of our veterans, it’s worth the bargain. It might even get Rand Paul’s vote. Then at least the Senate will be able to claim that they’ve done something versus nothing.
