On Press The Meat yesterday, Chuck Todd asked Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt what Republicans would do if the Affordable Care Act is overturned.
"Is it your hope that if Justice Barrett -- if Judge Barrett becomes Justice Barrett -- that it leads to the overturn, the ruling of the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional?" he said.
"No, that's not my hope. My hope is that on any case she deals with, she looks at the facts of the case, applies it to the Constitution and the law, and then makes a decision. And I don't know how you can predict any of that in advance," he said. (Even though she was vetted for exactly that, but okay.)
Todd asked if Blunt wants to see the ACA ruled unconstitutional and totally thrown out
No big deal, it won't happen for months! Plenty of time for a brain trust like the Republican caucus figure out what to do, he says. (Although odds are slim they will do anything at all, since as we know, the only thing they know how to do is cut taxes.)
"I think a lot of the Affordable Care Act is now baked into the system. The one provision in the Affordable Care Act that I authored, so we filed about nine or ten bills, was keeping people on insurance, their parents' insurance until they're 26 -- sure don't see that being reversed. I don't see preexisting conditions being protected being reversed," he said. (Even though the real issue, of course, is the cost of covering preexisting conditions to the average consumer.)
"No matter what the court decides, a lot of that discussion has already been had. The American people have accepted that as a basic part of the ongoing system. And we'll have that happen."
"But if they throw out the law, it doesn't, it doesn’t matter, you guys have to pass a new one. Very quickly, you guys are rushing to confirm a Supreme Court justice. Where's the urgency on virus relief?"
"If they throw out the law -- a November hearing doesn't throw out the law. They won't do that until sometime in the late, late spring or early summer before you even know what their ruling is. And we'll have time to deal with this," he said.
"On virus relief, I think we're doing some really innovative things. There are going to be as many tests produced in October as people have taken up until now -- about a million and a half -- 150 million tests produced in October, more testing, vaccines that work. We're --"
"But no virus relief from Congress," Todd said.
"Oh, on COVID, I think, I think that is a huge mistake, Chuck. I think to get back to school, to get back to work, to get back to better health, we need a bill. We're in very near agreement on all the COVID things that matter. What we're not in agreement on is about $1 trillion worth of other things," Blunt said.
In other words, we're not doing anything for suffering people anytime soon. Remember that as you fill out your ballots!
