Following Dean Heller’s announcement today that he will vote yes to open debate on the GOP’s health care bill, American Bridge President Jessica Mackler made the following statement:

“With his announcement today, Dean Heller has proven to Nevadans that he will always put himself first, and them last, even at the expense of their families’ health and economic security. Make no mistake about it: Heller’s vote today is a vote to undermine the entire American healthcare system, forcing millions Americans off their health care, weakening protections, and raising costs for millions more. Despite promising to oppose legislation with exactly these outcomes, Heller sold out Nevadans and put his own political career first. Nevadans didn’t trust Dean Heller yesterday, and today he has lost their trust forever.”

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Dean Heller’s spent this week doing his best impersonation of a Magic 8 Ball, refusing to discuss Nevadans’ health care with reporters and giving meaningless answers when cornered.

Yesterday, in a bizarre interview with Axios, Heller couldn’t give a clear answer to seven questions in a row about Trumpcare:

Where do you stand? “I don’t have an answer.”
What about premiums? “That’s one of the variables.”
Would higher premiums be bad? “Well, you know, all the scoring and everything.”
What if Nevadans lose coverage? “I’m not going to talk about that.”
What would you tell Nevadans? “It just depends on the individual.”
Is Gov. Sandoval a factor in your decision? “Everything’s a factor.”
You sound pretty flexible. “I hope so.”

“It sounds like Dean Heller’s replaced his usual word salad with a Magic 8 Ball — that’s how terrified he is of taking a stand against Donald Trump and the Senate’s health care bill. Heller isn’t fighting for Nevadans’ health care — he’s fighting to […]

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The effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act — resulting in worse health care for hundreds of thousands of Nevadans — might be collapsing in Congress, but back home in Nevada, Dean Heller won’t be able to escape his record.

“Whether it’s Republicans’ latest health bill, or repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement, Dean Heller is stuck with a cruel plan to take away health care from millions — like gum stuck to a shoe,” said American Bridge spokesperson Joshua Karp. “Despite Trumpcare’s collapse in the Senate, Heller helped negotiate the bill and championed numerous disastrous ACA repeal bills that all rip away coverage from Americans who desperately need it, and Nevadans will hold him responsible.”

Heller has voted 20 times to repeal or undermine ACA, helped write Trumpcare in secret, and said he’d do everything he could to “get to yes” on […]

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​On MSNBC this afternoon, Nevada journalist Jon Ralston took Dean Heller to task for shredding his credibility on healthcare:

“It’s embarrassing for [Heller], or at least it should be, although we know to be a politician maybe you are beyond shame.”
“It was easy to vote to just repeal Obamacare at the end of 2015 knowing it was going nowhere…He is remaining in his undisclosed location, sneaking out side doors.”
“The bottom line for Heller is he has put himself in a terrible, terrible position. He has always talked about repealing Obamacare, he made that vote in 2015, then it’s as if he suddenly had an epiphany just a couple of months ago, and realized that he was in trouble, the bill was at 28% approval in Nevada, so he tethered himself to Brian Sandoval who has twice the favorability rating of Dean Heller.”

“Once you put yourself in that kind of box, after you have acutally voted to […]

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GOP’s latest offer to Heller and Sandoval is a bill of goods

“GOP leaders are confident Dean Heller can be bought off, and after months of waffling and secret negotiating he’s given Nevadans countless reasons not to trust him. But Republicans’ latest offer is woefully inadequate, a fig leaf that ‘wouldn’t come close‘ to helping the hundreds of thousands of Nevadans on Medicaid keep their health care,” said American Bridge spokesperson Joshua Karp. “If Dean Heller and Brian Sandoval are willing to sell out their state for this, I have some oceanfront property in Reno to sell them.”

CBPP: Waivers Can’t Solve the Problems Created by Massive Federal Medicaid Cuts
By Judith Solomon | July 15, 2017

Trump Administration officials are reportedly trying to win Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval’s support for the Senate Republican health bill by offering him a waiver of Medicaid rules that would give […]

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“Dean Heller’s word isn’t worth a bucket of warm spit. After telling Nevadans he would not support the Senate’s health care bill, Heller engaged in weeks of secret negotiations to find a politically convenient way to strip health care from tens of thousands of Nevadans. Now he’s going back on his word, telling reporters he may vote to let Trumpcare proceed. If Heller votes to move this disaster of a bill forward, he’ll be endorsing everything in it — and after he’s worked so hard on this bill, Nevadans already know that’s where his heart is,” said American Bridge spokesperson Joshua Karp.​

.@SenDeanHeller on if he’s undecided on motion to proceed: At this point yes.

— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) July 13, 2017

https://twitter.com/LACaldwellDC/status/885527218964893696

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Dean Heller returns home to Washington, D.C. today from a week-long vacation in Nevada that he spent hiding from his constituents after backtracking on his promise not to support the disastrous Republican health bill.

In fact, it’s been more than 2 months since he’s held a public event to speak with Nevadans. Last week, Heller even refused to get off of his horse to have an honest conversation with the people of Ely. It’s clear that Dean Heller is more comfortable negotiatingback room deals with his buddies in Washington, D.C., than he is talking to the people he’s supposed to represent.

“Dean Heller doesn’t want to face his constituents in Nevada, because he’s still working to get to yes on a […]

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