And The Wisconsin GOP Couldn’t Keep The One Promise That Everyone Agreed With:

Some how they made Governor Walker’s campaign pledge to protect pre-existing conditions so unpalatable to members of both sides of the aisle…that it didn’t pass this morning. Considering it is the one item that both sides agree should be done…and whose respective constituents pretty much all agree that they want…they couldn’t even get that straight. Considering the governor’s support for protecting pre-existing conditions occurred on the campaign trail as it became obvious that the citizens of Wisconsin wanted it…it is unfathomable that less than a month later they couldn’t get it done.

In another early-morning vote, state senators failed to deliver on a campaign promise from Walker to approve legislation that protecting health insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.

All Democrats and two Republicans in the Senate voted against that legislation, killing a bill that passed the Assembly last year. Legislative leaders said they would try again to pass such protections early next year.

Republican Sens. David Craig of Big Bend and Chris Kapenga of Delafield joined Democrats in rejecting the legislation after the rest of the Republican caucus refused to support revisions to the bill from Craig and Kapenga that would have created a high risk-sharing insurance pool.

Most Republicans opposed the language as being too similar to the Affordable Care Act while Democratic senators voted against the bill because the legislation allowed insurers to impose lifetime caps on coverage.