It sounds to me as though they probably have the votes. McCain and Rand Paul are waffling but probably on board.

A. John McCain gave a speech.
B. John McCain voted "no" on a similar bill.
C. Nothing has changed since A and B.

The former is very close with Lindsey Graham.

Miss Lindsey can go suck it this time. :)

https://youtu.be/rY0WxgSXdEE?t=35s

Yeah. Yeah Jimmy! Without his input, this whole debate might have slid under the tide of other news, given our whole nuclear threats/natural disasters matrix lately.

The funny part today was when some Republican criticized Kimmel, suggesting that entertainers should stay out of politics, only to be reminded by the whole rest of the world:

Reagan. Trump. You've got to be kidding.

heh.

There are the things they planned to do, of course. They now have deadlines and budgets to pass, and, thanks to the Don and Chuck and Nancy, another Debt Ceiling debate. Following this unnecessary healthcare debacle rerun, the base will be on the warpath against McConnell, just one year out from when voters start casting votes for the Midterms.

Moreover, this just exacerbates a problem that Ryan and McConnell have had in both houses: they can't push legislation on anything, because their caucuses are engaged in internecine conflict, yet won't work with Democrats for fear of further alienating their right flank and their hard-line donors. That last point is important because, even though McConnell could easily go around Mike Lee and Ted Cruz by making nice with Schumer, such a move would enrage his donor base, again, just before the Midterms.

Trump on the other hand, with all of his filthy rich friends (including oligarchs), is donor-proof. His loyal base is gaffe-proof, and logic-immune. And it seems every other utterance is cause for yet another Senate inquiry. Trump put DACA on McConnell's plate along with some seriously mixed signals about what to do about it. He's threatening a nuclear tête-à-tête without even placing a phone call to congress.

McConnell and Ryan have just about reached the crossroads on Trump. They can't normalize him, or trust him to do even the things he agrees to do. On the other hand, Trump, like a manic Zeus, keeps presenting them more and more difficult tasks. If this keeps up, Ryan will be prematurely gray, and McConnell's heart (which is tiny and cold, but functional) will give out. Hercules, they ain't.

But it does seem that the heat has been turned up -- it seemed to take a few days for resistance to gain steam. Monday I got through on Portman's comment line. Today the "box" was full.

And YAY Jimmy Kimmel.

The deadline is still a week away. Remember, it's when you let your guard down that you get smacked really good.

I wonder if Puerto Rico's agony will interact in some way with this issue, in the way the disaster relief bill affected the president's involvement with the Democrats' maneuvering over the budget a week or two ago? Congress (specifically the Senate in this case) doesn't always get the luxury of focusing on just one bill or issue at a time. The re-introduction of nuclear sabre-rattling over Korea by the president is another factor that may affect this bill's chances.

Kicking millions of people off their medical insurance will create a lot of anger. And anger feeds Republicanism. It doesn't have to make sense rationally. It only has to make sense emotionally. If blaming Obama for the mess lets them feel the way they want to feel, that's what they'll do.