Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why Aren’t Republicans Worried About Breaking Their Obamacare Promise?
Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | July 20, 2017 | Rush Limbaugh

Posted on 07/20/2017 1:38:50 PM PDT by Kaslin

RUSH: Let me go back to the phones in Shelby Township in Michigan. This is Paul. I’m glad you waited, sir. Welcome to our program. How are you?

CALLER: Wow, thanks Rush. I’m a Millennial and I feel a lot of compassion for what John McCain’s going through. But what makes it worse is if he’s on Obamacare like the rest of us, first, hopefully they actually cover his procedures. And even if they do, he’s probably gonna get stuck paying part of the hospital bill, part of the surgeries, on top probably months and months of high premiums.

RUSH: All right, now, Paul, you obviously know here that that’s not the case, right?

CALLER: Right. And it’s not fair.

RUSH: You know that Senator McCain is not going to encounter those kinds of problems in his treatment.

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: Because members of Congress are not subject to Obamacare. That’s your point, right?

CALLER: Exactly. And I’ll go a step further and say I hope my generation wakes up to the hypocrisy going on in Washington, because they have one set of rules; we have another set. They have one health insurance, and then they’re dumping whatever they want on us, and we’re gonna end up paying this huge tab started by Obamacare.

RUSH: Well, I’ll tell you, I think people are well aware of that. I think voters are fully up to speed on the fact that members of Congress exempt themselves from many of the laws they pass, particularly health care. In fact, in this latest, it was just last week or two weeks ago, whenever one of the most recent Obamacare bills was presented, it was learned that members of the House and/or Senate had exempted themselves from the very bill they were writing.

And people have known this for quite a while now. It’s been something that’s been frustrating and angering and I think it’s not really news. That factor, in terms of congressional support, popularity, approval rating, it’s well known that Congress does these kinds of things, exempts themselves. As far as Senator McCain is concerned, he’s gonna get the best treatment that there is. And in truth, folks, most Americans do.

This is the frustrating thing about all this health care. You look at the way health care is sold — this is another thing. Look at what Millennials and Generation Z types have been taught about the American health care system growing up. They’ve been lied to about that. They’ve been told that Cuba has the world’s greatest health care and that it’s free. And they’ve been told tall tales about the deficiencies of the American health care system and so forth.

It’s the best health care in the world. It’s where everybody who can afford it comes if they have a serious illness or need serious surgery, from Middle East oil potentates to Russian oligarchs to Asian theocrats, they all come to the United States of America for treatment of the most serious maladies known to exist. And yet this is another area where people have been treated by the media, the American left, Democrat Party, to news story upon news story about how rotten and unfair the American health care system is.

Just about the health care system, just about the doctors and the nurses and the scientists, the innovators, it’s the best in the world. What gums it up is the federal government getting involved trying to regulate it, price it, make cozy deals with insurance companies. The actual health care, the actual quality of the health care in this country, there’s none better, and Senator McCain is going to get the best. Plus he can afford it on his own, whether his policies with the government cover it or not.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: It seems to be a universal truth, a universally accepted fact that if the Republicans do not repeal Obamacare — forget replacing it — all they would have to do is repeal it. If they don’t do that, the assumption is that they are going to get creamed at reelection time, is it not? Everybody thinks this. Standard operating procedure. Traditional, theoretical belief. If the Republicans blow this, and they’re through. Even Trump, cracking wise with Senator Heller from Colorado yesterday, said, “Hey, you like being in the Senate. You want to come back, right?”

I mean, the point was if you don’t vote to get rid of this, sayonara. Isn’t it universally believed — do you believe it, Mr. Snerdley? Well, now, no, I’m taking this somewhere. I’m trying to establish, among those of you who think the Republicans are in fact toast, this is it, if they don’t do this, they’re finished. My question for you is, why don’t they think so? Remember what Senator Cruz said. He said it to me every time I’ve talked to him, and he said it again in the last issue of The Limbaugh Letter. It’s coming up soon. I interviewed him.

He said the first thing he noticed, first thing he learned when he first got to the Senate, 95% of the time there is spent on reelection. That reelection is the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth thing on the list of priorities. And these guys run once every six years. Fundraising, fund spending, attending fundraisers, meeting with the bundlers. It’s all about being reelected. And his point was, that’s what they primary care about first, second, third, fourth, and fifth, is being reelected.

Okay, given that, if you had to say today that the vote’s gonna take place, you would know that Obamacare repeal would lose in the Senate. The House has already voted. There may be some cover there. But why aren’t these senators afraid? If the top five most important things to them are being reelected, why aren’t they worried that not voting to repeal Obamacare will doom them?

Let me put it in another way. If repealing Obamacare and fulfilling the seven-year promise, and now with no excuses for not doing it, if that’s guaranteed to lose you your next election, why are they not afraid of losing their next election? Why are they willing to not vote to repeal Obamacare? Why are they not concerned at all that their non-vote will result in their losing their reelection bid? Why are they not concerned about it at all? (interruption) Well, no, no, no. Snerdley says it’s only four that are not too worried.

Wrong! I saw today that if it were put to a vote, it wouldn’t even get 40. Some senator said today that if the vote were today, after the meeting with Trump, it wouldn’t even get 40 votes. So there are 12 Republicans — now, they may not be up in two years, they may not be up in four, some of them may not be for six years. And when you start answering the question, okay, how many of them up are in a year and a half? How many are up in four and a half years, and then how many are not up until 2020 or 2022? You’d have to answer that, and you’d have to compare when their reelection efforts are.

I guarantee you the senators that don’t face reelection in 2022 are not going to be worried about losing reelection at all on this Obamacare, because they think by the time the time comes around you’re gonna have long forgotten this, and your emotion will have been spent and it will be replaced by something else that’s got you all worked up.

My point is this. There just doesn’t seem to be all that much concern in the Senate about punishment for not repealing Obamacare. We’re told it’s the most important thing in their lives, the number one, two, three, four, five priority, getting reelected. And yet not repealing Obamacare is guaranteed to lose. They are guaranteed to lose. Why are they not worried about it? I don’t pretend to have the answer. I’m just asking you, why are they not worried about it? The two don’t go together.

If they were scared to death of losing their jobs because of their Obamacare vote, I guarantee you they’d be voting to repeal it. But they’re not scared. Of you. They’re not scared of the voters. They might be scared of somebody else, but it isn’t you. Who else would have the power to frighten them? I can tell you. Donors, lobbyists, any number of people might scare them much more than you do.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I would remind you the Republicans have not lost a special election this year, either. Now, all those elections happened before this latest Obamacare debacle, but it was in the midst of happening. And another thing to keep in mind about the Republican electorate in 2016. Trump brought forth a bunch of people who had not voted in a long time. Pollsters couldn’t find ’em. Nobody knew they were there. Will those people show up and vote again after this debacle? I mean for members of Congress or will they wait and revote for Trump in 2020?


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 0bamacarepromise
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

1 posted on 07/20/2017 1:38:50 PM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Some are more scared of an unknown than they are of the voters.


2 posted on 07/20/2017 1:48:34 PM PDT by Parley Baer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

“Why Aren’t Republicans Worried About Breaking Their Obamacare Promise?”

Big Media has their back on this.


3 posted on 07/20/2017 1:48:45 PM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Why Aren’t Republicans Worried About Breaking Their Obamacare Promise?

Because they know full well Republican voters will keep electing them simply because they are not Democrats & very few will face meaningful primaries.

4 posted on 07/20/2017 1:49:30 PM PDT by gdani (Everyone is a snowflake these days)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I have a feeling that the GOP reps and senators do not want to go home in August and face and very angry electorate for not repealing o-care. (In fact, the GOP house and senate have not done much of anything the last 6 months)

I have a hunch that at least a repeal and replace will happen in the next week or two. The House may rubber stamp it too this month or next.


5 posted on 07/20/2017 1:49:35 PM PDT by TMA62 (Al Sharpton - The North Korea of race relations)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I hate these arrogant republicans who think they can just expect to be re-elected every six years. Screw them and the horse they rode in on. I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my entire life, but I just may if they thumb their noses at those of us who have sent them back to congress year after year.


6 posted on 07/20/2017 1:53:57 PM PDT by irish guard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Because voters are their product, not their customers.


7 posted on 07/20/2017 1:54:20 PM PDT by sourcery (Non Acquiescit: "I do not consent" (Latin))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

The reason the GOP establishment is not worried is that it doesn’t want Trump to have an significant victories, and it knows the Republican primary voters are too uninformed to remove the awful representatives and senators in their states. Also quite a few of the “GOP leaders” are closeted Democrats.


8 posted on 07/20/2017 1:54:32 PM PDT by Theodore R. (Let's not squander the golden opportunity of 2017.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sourcery

Exactly.


9 posted on 07/20/2017 1:57:05 PM PDT by Jagdgewehr (It will take blood.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
It's a good rhetorical question, but perhaps the Republican senators are triangulating between the voters and Democrat challengers. Are usual Republican voters going to jump ship and willingly put a Democrat into office?

You can say that you'll "primary them [the 'Pub senators] out of office," but that's a tough mountain to climb. The incumbents are raising money to knock any would-be primary challenger down. There might be one that gets through, but not many.

Would you "send a message?" Would you vote in a bunch of Democrat senators (and Congressmen), and allow them to dictate the show? The only thing worse than an inept McConnell and Ryan running the show would be a highly competent (from a political and legislative standpoint) Schumer and God forbid, Pelosi back in power. They will take Trump down, certainly he'd be impeached in the House. The spineless GOP in the Senate would probably throw a few votes, maybe get up into the low 60's, make it interesting...

10 posted on 07/20/2017 1:57:19 PM PDT by Lou L (Health "insurance" is NOT the same as health "care")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I agree, they are more beholden to donors and lobbyists than their constituents. They know that the majority of voter don’t pay a lot of attention to what they do in between elections, so they can tell them anything. Even now, when more people may be paying attention since their healthcare is involved.

Term limits!


11 posted on 07/20/2017 1:57:32 PM PDT by Rusty0604
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
The answer is simple enough:


12 posted on 07/20/2017 2:11:30 PM PDT by JonPreston
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gdani

“Because they know full well Republican voters will keep electing them simply because they are not Democrats”

Yes, the lesser of two evils idea.

For quite some time now, the dynamic has been that the democrats push the country three steps forward towards an authoritarian, socialistic, global governance, and then we’d get the republicans in, and they’d move it back one, or sometimes two steps. Now... especially with the current Congress, they’re not trying to un-do the dozen steps towards socialism the democrats have recently given us, but they claim to only desire to modify the socialism a bit. Sure, they’ve grabbed the low hanging fruit, but the reality is, with the exception of maybe a few, there’s no difference anymore between the republicans and the democrats except for their talking points, and even those lines have become blurred. They’re a Uniparty anymore.

We elected Trump because we’re tired of the Uniparty, and they’re fighting him on every single thing he does. It has become obvious that the so called Republicans do not care about their constituents. They and their families get all their medical covered under platinum insurance plans while the average citizen gets a crap sandwich.


13 posted on 07/20/2017 2:12:45 PM PDT by Carthego delenda est
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Because they work for corporate donors. Everyone else can go screw.


14 posted on 07/20/2017 2:14:46 PM PDT by headstamp 2 (Ignorance is reparable, stupid is forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Parley Baer

Those office holders who are sitting on their hands are more in fear of the money people than they are of the wrath of the voters.

Term limits would at least force the money people to shift support to different people every few years, and lessen the reliance for seniority to become a factor in retaining an incumbent.

Vote the rascals out. The new rascals just do not have as much seniority.


15 posted on 07/20/2017 2:21:01 PM PDT by alloysteel (The difference between Illinois and Venezuela, is that toilet tissue is still available in Illinois.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Parley Baer

Remember just after Obama was immaculated in 2008?

The Democrats hauled Tom Daschle up to Capitol Hill to
testify on something or other. He showed up in an Armani suit and a top-end Rolex.

Message delivered and understood. Life for you as a former member of Congress can be very, very sweet if you are willing to play ball with the Establishment.


16 posted on 07/20/2017 2:21:39 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: alloysteel

This country does need a national Fire Your Congressman movement.


17 posted on 07/20/2017 2:22:47 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Buckeye McFrog

Everyone wants the bums thrown out. Just not their own bums.


18 posted on 07/20/2017 2:27:16 PM PDT by Old Yeller (Auto-correct has become my worst enema.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Parley Baer; Kaslin

19 posted on 07/20/2017 2:31:28 PM PDT by ptsal ( Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - M. Twain)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Every Establishment Republican in Congress needs to face a stiff Primary challenge this year or next (depending on when their state’s primary takes place). The GOP and RNC need to be kicked in the ribs, HARD and repeatedly, until they start keeping their word. They clearly have NO intention of doing so, until they are made to do so. It is up to US to take advantage of this singular opportunity, because this window may no longer be open in 2020.


20 posted on 07/20/2017 2:46:59 PM PDT by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson