The U.S. Senate-approved healthcare-reform bill passed in the House of Representatives yesterday, and Senator John McCain isn't happy about it. McCain is particularly peeved with how the bill came to muster enough votes and as a result, has pledged that Republicans will not cooperate with Democrats for the rest of the year.
Way to take your ball and go home, senator.
After the bill passed in a rare, Sunday vote, McCain said in an interview with an Arizona radio affiliate that "there will be no cooperation for the rest of the year. [Democrats] have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it," The Hill reports.
McCain has been extremely vocal in his criticism of how the Democrats have handled healthcare negotiations, particularly the back-room deals and incentives for certain members of Congress, like the now-infamous "Cornhusker Kickback" -- which was ultimately removed from the final healthcare bill -- and the Democrats use of reconciliation to move the bill through Congress.
McCain spent much of today slamming Democratic leadership for pushing the bill through Congress while he claims the majority of the country didn't support it.
"I want to make it very clear, the people I represent in the state of Arizona are not going to sit still for this. They're going to want this repealed. We will challenge this in the courts. We will challenge this in the towns. We will challenge this in the cities. We will challenge this in the farms. We will challenge this all over America, and the will of the people will be heard," McCain said on the Senate floor this morning.
McCain's verbal rampage caused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to issue a statement calling McCain's actions "absolutely bizarre."
McCain spokesman Brian Rogers tells New Times that McCain and the Republicans will be more cooperative after this year's election because they don't expect to see many of the same unfriendly faces in Washington D.C.
"Obviously there will be a new Congress after the November elections, and it's looking more and more likely that the current Democrat majority and Senator Reid won't be a part of it because of their recent actions," Rogers says.
In response to Reid's accusations that McCain's actions were "bizarre," McCain campaign spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan fired off a statement accusing the Senate majority leader of some bizarre behavior of his own.
"It's absolutely bizarre that Senator Harry Reid is spending his time attacking Senator McCain while American families in Arizona, Nevada, and across our nation continue to face perilous times," Buchanan says.
