FIGHTING ON – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  The White House believes that the Senate plan to repeal and replace Obamacare is not dead.   I guess it depends on what dead means.  Will the proverbial rabbit be pulled out of a hat?  From Fox: 

The White House tried Sunday to garner public support for the Senate’s upcoming vote on Republicans’ latest plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, with a top adviser to President Trump saying the pending legislation is still alive and that a “vast majority of Americans” will benefit.

“It’s not dead,” Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, told “Fox News Sunday.” “Here we are, just days away from a final vote, and we’re trying to win over the support of the last couple of senators to get there.”

Like previous Senate efforts this year to repeal and replace ObamaCare, the latest measure, the Graham-Cassidy bill, appears a few votes shy of passage.

The GOP-controlled chamber has until Sept. 30 to pass the legislation with a simple, 51-vote majority, under so-called budget reconciliation procedures.

However, just 48 of the chamber’s 52 Republican senators appear to support the bill, which has no backing from Democrats.

“We need to make sure that we win over the last couple Republicans,” Short said. “That’s our path to victory.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Friday that he’ll vote no. And Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that she would have trouble envisioning a scenario in which she would “end up voting for the bill.”

Meanwhile, fellow Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Rand Paul, of Kentucky, appear undecided.  

“We hope we can earn his support,” Short said about Paul, whom Trump tried to persuade Saturday in a tweet.

COMMENT:  It will be tough, but, if the two votes are found, it will be a political revolution.  Success in the House should be relatively easy, and a new, state-based health system will be introduced.  It's not the ultimate answer, but it's better than what we have now.

September 24, 2017