Some people have started to notice something interesting. All attention was focused on John McCain as he made a dramatic return to the Senate after being diagnosed with cancer, giving a speech that received a standing ovation, and then voting against the Obamacare repeal.
Ironically, there was another senator who was also recently diagnosed with cancer, and it is stage 4 kidney cancer, which is likely to be terminal. This senator traveled even further to return to the Senate, also gave a speech, and also voted against the repeal.
That senator is Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). Is it because she is a woman that nobody noticed?
I’m just asking, because even if you just limit yourselves to Republicans there were three senators who voted against the repeal bill, and two of them were women. But McCain is getting most of the attention.
Not to mention the fact that when Mitch McConnell assembled his team to write the repeal bill, somehow there were only white men on that team. Hirono is neither white nor male.
In addition, when she was young her family was too poor to afford health insurance. Her two-year-old sister died from pneumonia because her parents could not afford medical care.
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I would suspect that it was because Collins and Murkowski “no votes” were already assured and counted four. Hirono is a democrat.
No doubt about it, McConnell is as sexist as they come. He is the least liked Republican Senator. How Chao can stand him is beyond me.
It is always the decider and unknown that takes credit. All democrats were known no, and both Republican women had voted no many times and were vocal about it. McCain vote was the surprise one so he is being talked about.
Women, usually are ignored, minorities are often ignored, and in this congress, Dems are ignored, so she has a triple whammy. Add to that the fact that McCain loves being the center of attention and being able to provide some drama and it’s a wonder the two female Repub senators have gotten any attention, except as naysayers.
I generally agree with Hassan @2 that novelty gets the credit, particularly in regard to Hirono. Dramatic speeches tend to hold more sway when they show a change of heart or are unexpected.
But I think it is a mistake to assume Collins and Murkowski were no votes. Capito, Heller, and Portman were all just as vocal and against it, but they all caved. Let’s not forget that Collins and Murkowski were both in the Senate when the ACA passed, and they both voted against it.
Hassan, reality is that, the AFA was first introduced in the House as the “Service Members Home Ownership TAX Act of 2009” (H.R. 3590) by Charlie Rangle of NY on Sept 17, 2009; committee consideration by Ways and Means; passed the House on October 8, 2009 with a nearly unanimous vote of 419-0; passed the Senate as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” on December 24, 2009 with a vote of 60-39 with amendment; House agreed to Senate amendment March 21, 2010 with a vote of 219-212; signed into law by President Obama March 23, 2010.
So, yes, the AFA DID originate in the House and yes, it DID begin as a tax bill.
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And I agree, by the way… get rid of the zero-value-added markup of our health care delivery by insurance companies who provide exactly the same service as the U.S. government provides in delivering Medicare except that private insurers add a hefty profit margin for themselves.
This is discrimination.
“Make America White Again”
The Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants,” according to a document obtained by the New York Times.
The document seeks current lawyers interested in working for a new project on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions.”