How John McCain saved ObamaCare and proved the haters wrong
The senator from Arizona finally earned his "maverick" reputation with the highest stakes imaginable
Early Friday morning, Sen. John McCain walked into the Senate chamber and, to a burst of applause from Senate Democrats, cast the decisive vote to defeat Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Health Care Freedom Act. It was a historic moment. And I have never been happier to have been dead wrong.
Earlier this week, McCain — who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer — flew to Washington, D.C., to vote on the motion to proceed with health-care legislation. He gave an intense speech harshly (and accurately) condemning the incredibly opaque and undemocratic process that McConnell was trying to use to ram an extremely unpopular bill through the Senate. The only problem was that he had just cast a crucial vote to allow the process he was attacking to go forward.
Some journalists praised McCain's speech nonetheless. Other journalists and pundits roundly mocked McCain for harshly condemning a process he cast a decisive vote to continue. I will freely admit that I was one of the skeptics. McCain had a history of showing rhetorical independence from the Republican leadership and then voting the party line. I thought we were seeing this again, at the worst possible time.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But, for once, the conventional wisdom was right. McCain told Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at 10 p.m. Thursday night. Some reporters on the floor began to get the impression that the bill might be in trouble. And, ultimately, McCain voted to kill the bill. The "maverick" earned his reputation with the highest stakes imaginable, and I'm happy to eat crow. We don't know yet why he did it, but his actions are what matter.
This is, above all, a victory for the American public. The so-called "skinny repeal" bill that was killed this morning would have led to 16 million people losing their health insurance and caused premiums to skyrocket. It would have resulted in millions of people losing employer-provided coverage and destroyed the individual insurance markets in many states. It would have savagely cut funding for women's health services and public health funding. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called it a "disaster" — so you can imagine what people who didn't vote for it thought.
And a bill modified by a conference committee if this bill had passed would have almost certainly been even worse. It probably would have restored some or all of the draconian Medicaid cuts in the House and Senate bills, and eliminated even more of the Affordable Care Act's crucial consumer-protection regulations.
So the most important recent expansion of the American welfare state has been preserved. It's almost impossible to overstate the magnitude of this policy victory. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved. A great deal of suffering and countless medical bankruptcies have been averted. Dedicated protesters were celebrating outside of Congress, and they were right to.
This bill will also have a substantial political fallout. Oddly, McConnell did not release any further marginal votes even after he lost his majority. McCain and Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — the latter two of whom voted no on the motion to proceed earlier in the week — were the only Republicans to vote "no." The two most vulnerable Senate Republicans in 2018, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dean Heller of Nevada, cast futile "yea" votes. As Pema Levy of Mother Jones observed: "The best outcome for Dems tonight was for bill to fail, while top targets Heller and Flake vote aye. Amazingly, that's what happened." And numerous House Republicans who face tough re-election fights in 2018 also voted for an incredibly unpopular bill without getting anything in return.
This doesn't mean that Democrats will take over Congress in 2018. The Senate map is brutal for the Democrats, who may not be able to win the three seats they need to take over even in a wave election. The heavily gerrymandered House will also be a tough fight, although a winnable one.
But Democrats can worry about 2018 later. This was a major victory. Collins, McCain, and Murkowski deserve a lot of credit for bucking their party and doing what's right for the country. Deserving even more credit is every member of the Democratic caucus in the House and Senate, all of whom were steadfastly opposed to every terrible Republican proposal. And the most credit goes to the many citizens who gave so much. Supporters of the ACA took to the streets, called, and wrote, and made the public aware of what a fiasco passing this bill would have been. McConnell's failure is above all a triumph of democracy over a party whose leadership expressed stunning contempt for democratic norms.
Bless you, John McCain, for recognizing it.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Scott Lemieux is a professor of political science at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., with a focus on the Supreme Court and constitutional law. He is a frequent contributor to the American Prospect and blogs for Lawyers, Guns and Money.
-
Tuck in to British fusion cuisine
The Week Recommends The trend for combining classics from two food cultures can result in dishes that are doubly delicious
By The Week UK Published
-
Labour and nuclear weapons: a turbulent ideological history
The Explainer From the 1940s to Keir Starmer, the party leadership has zigzagged in and out of love with the bomb
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Trump trial transcends sex, money and politics'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published