Schumer emphasized that Democrats were eager to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, a mammoth military bill that usually receives strong bipartisan support.
Democrats should not be eager to support $788 billion for the Pentagon in one year. They should decry the sum as a moral outrage.
Before everybody jumps all over Schumer for this, remember, this is what he is SUPPOSED to say after handing the Republicans a humiliating defeat.
HE KNOWS this fight is a long way from over, with the WH having the ability (and authority) to fuck up the ACA as much as they please, and then blame it all on the Democrats.
We all know the only solution to the constant wrangling about this issue is “Single-Payer” funded by payroll tax deductions, but that is years away.
We must remain vigilant and fight to keep what we have and improve it if we can (a dubious prospect with the Lunatics in the House and the White House.)
Not only that: what Schumer said waves a red cape in front of McConnell who will do anything BUT return to regular order and act in a bipartisan fashion.
Congress has 10-12 appropriations bills and the debt ceiling to consider before 10/1. He needs to sound conciliatory, but not too. Otherwise, nothing will get done. The D’s are the grownups here.
Best case scenario now is to convince a few Rs to work towards improving the bits of the ACA that can be tinkered with, and avoiding Trump’s asinine proposed policy of “letting Obamacare fail”. The Rs have given it their best shot and failed; this is an opportunity to seize the initiative, insofar as it’s possible given R control of the entire government. What the heck, let them take some credit for it.
It would at least be good PR for the Ds.
Bless you. 
God knows it’s easy to try to outdo each other in outraged venting with the HOW DARE YOU and the I HATE YOU SO MUCH for the other side and the HOW NAIVE CAN YOU BE for ours. Outrage is a luxury we can afford here, and that’s fine, but it’s about a thousand times more interesting when smart folks get together and try to suss this stuff out, figure out what moves people are using in the high-stakes game they’re playing. It’s easy to take things at face value. But it’s more fun to try to figure out what’s really going on.
Schumer’s alacrity is admirable, but probably a wasted gesture. Everyone’s positions are hardened. Personally I wouldn’t administer CPR to a downed Republican were I assured of his party and allegiances. I could never live down the guilt and shame of bringing one back to life once in the clutches of the Reaper.
I think this is pretty excellent trolling on his part. And when all those other bills he mentioned get stalled because the GOP can’t even get their own caucus in order, he can just wave that red cape again.
Now is the time to FIX the Affordable Care Act!
Mitch, you better get your little boys and girls together and demand they FIX it, NOW!
His speech was PERFECT. McConnell’s, on the other hand, showed him to be the ass that he is.
Schumer handed the situation perfectly. Promise bipartisan cooperation-- on his terms.
It must get really tiring for Dems to have to act like the only adults in the room 24 hours a fucking day.
Schumer trolling the entire GOP always makes me happy
Fine, but he also should be talking about Democrats wanting Universal Healthcare every time he has the microphone.
Blah, blah, blah, blah…
Chuck Schumer…really.
The Democrats held together through the health care fight and Schumer gets credit. But I wish he would stop apologizing for stuff the Democrats aren’t guilty of. I don’t think the Democrats get one smidgen of blame for dysfunction in the Senate. I still can’t figure why Harry Reid didn’t go nuclear immediately when McConnell’s obstruction strategy became clear. The political cost would have been zero, since the hard R’s all believe he did it eventhough he didn’t. And the price of letting McConnell and his criminal gang block everything and not telling them to go pound sand was the horrific 2010 rout. Everything could have been different if Obama had been permitted to govern and get something done. These guys are not ever going back to regular order and the D’s should concede nothing, because nothing will be gained.
I saw the cut from Schumer’s speech that was on The Times’ video of McCain’s vote and reactions to it. Schumer was uncharacteristically clear and heartfelt–you can hear his voice catch when he’s referring to McCain. I am hoping against hope that a few Republicans (Flake, Heller, Capito and Portman, I’m looking at you) will hear McCain and Schumer’s call to go back to what McCain referred to as regular order, and that the parties might actually work to improve Obamacare and remedy its acknowledged shortcomings.
The video is at https://nyti.ms/2h8h7lg
Trolling indeed! I would say Harry’s mantle has been firmly passed with a maneuver like this. Without Republicans slitting their own electoral throats by allowing the vote to proceed, Chuck knows the GOP scorpions can never change who they and would rather drown then reach across the aisle.
What I would rather not do is go back to the bipartisanship characterized by a few Blue Dog Democrats being peeled off from the party to support the base Republican agenda.