GOP Care Near Death: At Least 4 GOP Senators Say They Oppose Latest Version of Health Bill

In addition to Sen. Rand Paul, who has been stalwart in his opposition to Obamacare-lite, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has announced he will not back the current bill.

From the Left, Sen. Dean Heller, R- Nev., has announced that he will not support the bill as written, criticizing in strong terms its rollback of Medicaid expansion. Also, Republican Susan Collins of Maine said she will vote "no" on the motion to proceed with the bill.

In a tweet, Collins said she wants to work with Republicans and Democrats to "fix the flaws" in Obamacare, but the "Senate bill won't do it."

That puts 4 Republican, at the current time, in the "no" column.

 In addition after the CBO report's release, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told CNN that he had not seen the CBO report but that, as described by the network, it made him "more concerned." He added that he remains "uncommitted."

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah could also vote in opposition.

For the bill to pass, no more than 2 Republicans can vote against the bill. The Democrats in the Senate will all vote "no."

Rand can probably be counted on to vote "no" so Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will have to twist a few more arms to get the crony Mussolini-like healthcare plan passed.

It is going to be very close but few do crony arm-twisting as well as Mitch.

As Jesse Benton put it, sometimes even he had to go into work holding his nose when he worked for Mitch.

   - RW