HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TAXES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) faced intensifying pressure Wednesday [7-12-17] from President Donald Trump, conservative lawmakers and outside groups to push through a health-care overhaul next week, but he appeared to make little progress in bridging the deep divides imperiling his party’s seven-year quest to topple the Affordable Care Act.
Senate Republicans plan to unveil Thursday the text of their latest version of the bill to repeal most of the ACA and set up a new system based on steep cuts to Medicaid, expanded use of health-savings accounts, and tax credits to consumers who buy insurance on their own.
But GOP leaders continued to wrestle with internal squabbling among Senate Republicans that could leave the bill short of the 50 votes it needs to pass. Conservatives are signaling they would blame such a legislative collapse largely on Mr. McConnell, and Mr. Trump said Wednesday that he would not be pleased.
‘I will be very angry about it and a lot of people will be very upset,’ Mr. Trump said in an interview on the Christian Broadcasting Network Wednesday. ‘Mitch has to pull it off.’ “
-Stephanie Armour, Kristina Peterson, and Louise Radnofsky, “McConnell Faces Increasing Pressure Over Health Bill as Timetable Tightens,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 12, 2017 06:45pm