THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Getting the requisite 51 votes for the Cassidy-Graham Deathcare bill is showing itself to be a heavy haul. Andf over the weekend along with all the unpublicized threats to the holdouts, a shit ton of lipstick was applied to this pig to try and make it more attractive.

With time running short, the authors of the latest plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act shifted money in the bill to Alaska and Maine, which are represented by Republican senators who appear reluctant to support it.

The revised version of the bill, written by Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, would provide extra money for an unnamed “high-spending low-density state,” a last-minute change seemingly aimed at Alaska and its holdout Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, who has yet to say how she will vote. It would also send money toward Maine, whose Republican senator, Susan Collins, had said earlier on Sunday that she would almost certainly vote no.

Mr. Cassidy circulated a table on Sunday showing the state-by-state impact of the revised bill from 2020 to 2026. It indicated that Alaska would receive 3 percent more money under the bill than under current law, while Maine would get 43 percent more.

However, the numbers and the calculations could not be independently confirmed. Similar estimates prepared by Mr. Cassidy’s office for the earlier version of the bill differed significantly from estimates by the Kaiser Family Foundation and health policy consulting firms, which said that most states would receive less money than under current law.

Still, the aim seemed clear. Ms. Collins said on Sunday that she was all but certain to oppose the proposal, bringing to three the Republicans who have publicly voiced opposition — enough to end the bill’s chances this week as time runs out on a last-ditch effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

In addition, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said he had not yet been won over and suggested that Senator Mike Lee of Utah had the same stance. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the first Republican to come out against the measure, once again criticized the bill in blunt terms, despite pressure from President Trump to rethink his opposition.

“It’s very difficult for me to envision a scenario where I would end up voting for this bill,” Ms. Collins said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I have a number of serious reservations about it.”

The cascade of critical comments left Mr. Trump and Republican leaders on the precipice of failure in their 11th-hour attempt to fulfill the party’s promise to dismantle a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s legacy.

While there may be a smidgen of conscience involved, most of the holdouts are experienced politicians who can turn on a dime if the proper button is pushed. And until then what they see is a true stinker of a bill that loses more for their states than it gives them. We hope this can hold up against the very loud voice of Big, Big Money talking at them.