GOP prospects to challenge Sen. Tammy Baldwin mostly mum on Obamacare repeal
MADISON - Most of the potential GOP challengers to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin aren't saying yet whether they support a U.S. Senate proposal to repeal Obamacare.
Compared to current law, the Better Care Reconciliation Act would cut taxes for upper-income families, and reduce coverage rules for insurers and federal spending on health care for low and middle-income taxpayers.
Senate GOP leaders are scrambling to gather enough votes to pass the proposal, with conservatives criticizing it for not doing enough to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and with moderates criticizing it for going too far.
Just one of the five most plausible 2018 challengers to Baldwin, a Madison Democrat, would say whether he or she would vote for or against the Senate repeal bill.
"I don't have enough particulars to comment, I just got back from a trip from California and I don't know anything about it," said Madison investor Eric Hovde, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2012 Republican primary for Senate.
RELATED:Republican Sen. Ron Johnson slams Senate GOP Obamacare repeal legislation
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For her part, Baldwin said on Thursday that the Senate plan would make it less likely that the poor and the sick get health coverage in the future.
"The people of Wisconsin did not send me to Washington to take people’s health care away. I am going to fight to protect the health care people have today and I will continue my work to make it more affordable, not more costly," she said in a statement.
State Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield), who seems the most likely of all the GOP candidates to run against Baldwin, praised the Senate health care repeal but didn't explicitly back it. On Sunday on WISN-TV's "Upfront with Mike Gousha," Vukmir said changes might be needed to the Senate bill but didn't say what those would be.
"I think it's a great starting point," she said of the Senate bill.
Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) said he had concerns about the Senate proposal but was willing to back it, making him the only potential GOP candidate to give a position. Kooyenga wanted the bill to go farther in rolling back Obamacare provisions such as tax credits to subsidize health insurance.
"I would lean more toward repeal of the Affordable Care Act but I understand and appreciate the necessity of reaching compromise," Kooyenga said. "On balance, it's better than the status quo."
Vukmir also agreed with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson that the process needs to be slowed down, saying she didn't believe senators should vote on the bill this week. He said Tuesday he would not vote for the measure in its current form.
"I think this needs to be done right because it affects so many Americans," Vukmir said of the repeal.
Two other potential GOP challengers did not respond to multiple requests for comment Monday: Marine veteran and business consultant Kevin Nicholson and education researcher Nicole Schneider, a daughter-in-law of the now-deceased trucking magnate Donald Schneider.
After this story posted Tuesday, the Journal Sentinel reported later in the day that Schneider had decided not to run after all.
Baldwin's campaign manager said that it was unacceptable that all the challengers didn't weigh in.
"Anyone who wants to serve in the U.S. Senate should have to tell the people of Wisconsin where they stand on this legislation. Do they support kicking millions off of their health care all to pay for tax breaks for insurance corporations?" Scott Spector asked.
The Senate GOP plan would repeal Affordable Care Act taxes and the law's mandate on consumers to buy health coverage and it and would shift federal subsidies to private plans offering less generous coverage. The bill would phase out more generous federal funding for expanded state Medicaid programs and would limit future federal spending increases on Medicaid for needy families, the elderly and disabled.
Twenty-two million fewer people would have health care coverage by 2026 under the Senate bill, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Monday. The proposed bill would also reduce the federal deficit by $321 billion over the next decade.
A spokesman for the state Republican Party sought to keep the focus on Baldwin.
"While Republicans are at work on reforms that put hard-working Wisconsin families first, Senator Tammy Baldwin has offered nothing more than the Obamacare status quo,” Alec Zimmerman said.