Posted on 03/29/2017 9:58:10 AM PDT by Kaslin
Of all the muscles in the human body, none are perhaps more toned and strengthened than those in the index finger of moderate Republicans in Congress; particularly following the defeat of their high profile, “too-important-too-fail” health care legislation. There certainly was no shortage of finger wagging and pointing this week, following Speaker Paul Ryan’s decision to pull the GOP’s controversial “replacement” of ObamaCare due to lack of support within the ranks.
Supporters of the American Health Care Act, including the White House which demanded its passage “or else,” blamed everybody -- from the House Freedom Caucus to the Cato Institute to Democrats -- for its failure; except, of course, the moderates who cobbled together the faux repeal in the first place.
However, another – and far more accurate – way to look at defeating the AHCA by Republicans would be to say, “It’s about time!”
In national politics, on key issues especially, you rarely if ever, get more than one chance to pass something meaningful. If you allow the moderates/Establishment to convince you that you cannot let “the perfect to be enemy to the good” (a phrase I grew to loathe during my time in Congress after hearing it so many times from leadership), seldom does another opportunity come around; much less one to actually “get it right.”
Ever since George H. W. Bush pressed House Republicans to join in breaking his infamous “read my lips” no-tax-increase pledge, these have been the same empty promises force-fed to conservatives by moderates in Congress to goad them into supporting dreadful bills. And, almost always, conservatives are left holding the bag.
In this respect, conservatives were saying “No” because they wanted to stand up for what is right, rather than saying “Yes” just because House moderates wanted reelection material, or because an optics-obsessed White House could check off another campaign promise, regardless of what the end-product looked like. They were finally demonstrating what conservative voters have long wanted from Republicans in Congress – a willingness to stay true to the principles of the Party and the Constitution, even if it means going against Party leaders.
Standing up for these principles is not being anti-Republican, or not “living in the real world” as White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon suggests; it is simply refusing to be yet another rubber-stamp Congress similar to that which gave us No Child Left Behind, the USA PATRIOT Act, and the massively expensive prescription drug bill – just because a Republican president wanted such legislation passed.
In doing what they did last week, the conservatives sent a message to the Establishment that principles do actually mean something; and that at least a significant number of Republican members will stand firm in that regard.
The lack of “loyalty” by the Freedom Caucus that the President decried immediately following Ryan’s pulling the vote last Friday was in fact a welcome exhibition of “loyalty” to true Republican principles, and to the Constitution-based responsibility of the House of Representatives that is independent of the presidency even if the occupant of that office happens to be of the same political Party as the majority.
Hopefully, congressional leaders and the White House will come to understand this, and see it as an opportunity to begin actually reining in government rather than expanding it. One can at least hope.
Yeah but “Their principles” haven’t freed a single Obamacare slave. But the Obamacare slaves can feel proud that their suffering is taking one” for the Freedom Caucus resumes.
Then, when a group of them do, the same people bitch & moan AGAIN.
So much chest beating swagger.
We’ll see how loyal they are to principle on April 28th, when the present Continuing Resolution has to be renewed. If even a single Freedom Caucus member dares step forward to vote for the new CR and actually govern . . . it will prove they have no loyalty to principle.
Which is wise.
Go, Bob, GO!
There is always a balance between principle and pragmatism. The goal should be to find a solution. The GOP — the liberal wing and the conservative wing — are both way too interested in loudly proclaiming the righteousness of their position and none of them are good at the sausage-making that goes into legislative compromise. Compromise doesn’t mean conservatives approving a liberal bill. It does mean that both sides need to find areas of common agreement and come up with something that, overall, works and represents the Republican view of healthcare. I didn’t see many people doing that.
It took you how many years to learn that?
Let’s be more clear for the great unwashed out there.
A Continuing Resolution funds govt operations. All of them. It does so at current spending levels . . . or sometimes with an inflation bump up. It defunds nothing. It adds new spending on nothing.
You can propose those things, but you generally can’t get the votes if you try. CRs are a bit benign. You can get votes from both sides for just keeping on with what you have now, because that doesn’t look like an agenda change.
What you have now . . . is full Obamacare funding. That includes Planned Parenthood. That includes healthcare for illegals. No change to Obamacare. If it doesn’t pass, total shutdown (not to mention the debt ceiling soon thereafter must be raised).
It has become typical for some votes to refuse. Boehner went across the aisle to keep the system functioning on those occasions. But this is a different time. Dems are saying no en masse to ANYTHING Trump wants. To do otherwise would get them primaried.
There was an occasion when Boehner not only had to go across the aisle, but he passed the measure with more Dems than GOP voting for it. Because he had to govern. That may not be available for Ryan.
When you have the majority, you have to govern. If you don’t govern, you won’t have the majority.
I know, I know...
My GOP rep is very moderate (at best). Nobody publicly questioned HIS loyalty when HE announced that he would vote against the AHCA.
It’s about time! But we’re still waiting.
We got the house
and were told we needed the senate.
We got the senate
and were told we needed the president.
We got the president
and are told we either need to elect 218 moderates or 218 principled conservatives (and 60 of the same in the senate).
We’ve had crappy leadership in congress for years that even Trump wasn’t able to fix yet.
Hopefully, principles in congress will be used by all sides as a guide in working with others to come to the best possible deal on legislation - even though everyone will see problems with it, and most will see violations of one of their principles. When principles are used as an all-or-nothing decision maker, nothing gets done. And we need a lot done.
It’s up to Ryan to let all sides participate and express their principles and come to agreement on future legislation. If any group decides their principles are absolute and are more important than agreement, everyone should go home now and come back in December to pass another Omnicrap budget. Because that’s all we are getting this year and it’s not time yet.
"Effective as of Dec. 31, 2017, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such Act had not been enacted," the bill states.
Mo Brooks is a member of The House Freedom Caucus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ask your Congress Critter to co-sponsor the bill and sign the discharge petition for US Representative Mo Brooks's bill titled, "Obamacare Repeal Act"!!!!!!!!!!!
You can't pass the blame for Obamacare off on Democrats when Republicans have the power to reform it.
The AHCA was doomed once they included the projection for 20% increases in premiums over the next couple of years. That pretty much defeated the purpose of any health care reform bill. If that thing had been put to a vote I wouldn’t have been surprised to see 450 Congressmen vote AGAINST it.
Good for them; and godly principles!
Then, when a group of them do, the same people bitch & moan AGAIN.
Indeed.
Repeal. Don’t replace.
I could not vote for McAmnesty in 2008, Bob Barr got my vote instead.
Worshiping principles doesn’t help the people suffering under Obamacare. And a lot of so called principled people did everything possible to help Hillary get ellected last year. Please excuse me if I have very little trust in people who walk around talking about Muh Principles all day long.
That’s it, in a nutshell. As Obamacare continue to fail (which it will, in part thanks to Trump’s EO #1), more people are going to ask “why haven’t they fixed this?”. And guess who they’re going to be looking at - not the Democrats who started it, because they’re in the minority and can’t fix anything. Not President Trump, who tried but the President does not make law - Congress does.
We do not have a Conservative Party in the US, we have a Republican Party, which holds the majority in Congress. That’s who’s going to be blamed. And there’s an election in 18 months.
Principles are great. But voting strictly on principles get you permanent minority status. Governing requires compromise, if it didn’t work that way this nation would have collapsed many years ago.
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