The Senate is back in town.
You know what that means.
Time to keep on calling the DC offices and the local offices and tell the interns answering the phones your strong, polite and coherently worded opinions on the AHCA/BCRA tax cut bills.
Andy Slavitt lays out the contours of the next two week:
Of all the many Senators who oppose the bill, McConnell is likely to press them 1:1 not to be the THIRD no if he gets that close. 11
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) July 9, 2017
The fundamental assumption in that tweet is that no Republican wants to by the decisive vote. The two allowable “No’s” have been taken by Heller and Collins. If there is a single vote left on the floor and the count is 49 Yes-50 No, the pressure will be immense to not be the person blamed for killing the bill. The bill will probably go to the floor if McConnell can count on 47 or 48 solid Aye votes. He figures he can arm twist and allow a political pressure cooker to squeeze the last few people whose personal political preference is “Vote No, hope yes but is there if needed.”
So that means the hard No’s need to be locked down. So people from West Virginia, call Senator Moore Capito; people from Kansas call Sen. Moran. Keep on calling.