Posted on 05/04/2017 1:29:47 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Twenty mostly centrist House Republicans who represent swing districts voted against the GOP’s legislation to repeal and replace the healthcare law on Thursday.
Two more defections would have doomed the bill, signaling how tough a vote it was for many lawmakers.
Only one member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, freshman Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), voted against the measure because it didn’t go far enough to fully repeal the healthcare law. Two other libertarian-minded conservatives, Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Walter Jones (N.C.), also opposed it.
The defectors were primarily centrists who had trepidations about voting for the bill after the addition of an amendment to let states apply for waivers from key ObamaCare provisions that prevent insurers from charging sick people higher premiums and mandate which services insurance plans must cover. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) was the only co-chair of the centrist Tuesday Group to vote no. Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a leadership ally, and Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), who negotiated the state waiver amendment, supported the bill.
Dent said he thinks the proposal will increase health insurance costs for low- and moderate-income Americans, citing the original Congressional Budget Office report that estimated the bill would result in 24 million more uninsured people over the next decade.
“Too much time and energy has been spent on meeting arbitrary deadlines and artificial timelines, all to improve the budget baseline for tax reform. We must and can do better,” Dent said in a statement.
“It is my hope that cooler heads will prevail in the Senate,” Dent added.
Hardly any Republicans opposed the bill over the rushed process that brought it to the floor. Republican leaders scheduled a vote before waiting for an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimating its effects.
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) was among the few to cite the lack of a CBO score as a reason for why he’d vote against the bill on Thursday.
“I’m sympathetic to leadership’s challenge — getting 216 votes in this highly polarized environment isn’t easy. Also, as I have stated in the past, I’m certainly not going to vote on a bill of this magnitude that hasn’t been fully scored by the Congressional Budget Office and whose estimated price tag is unknown,” Coffman said in a statement hours before the vote.
Other centrists who voted against the bill were Reps. Barbara Comstock (Va.), Ryan Costello (Pa.), Dan Donovan (N.Y.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Will Hurd (Texas), John Katko (N.Y.), Leonard Lance (N.J.), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), Patrick Meehan (Pa.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), Chris Smith (N.J.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.).
All of the centrists except for Smith and Dent represent districts being targeted by the House Democratic campaign arm.
The remaining two Republican defectors, Ohio Reps. Mike Turner and David Joyce, are typically reliable leadership allies, but weren’t able to support the legislation this time.
“This bill will leave our most vulnerable citizens with inadequate health coverage. I cannot support a health plan to replace Obamacare that puts my constituents’ health benefits at risk,” Turner said in a statement after the vote.
Lies.
“Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) was among the few to cite the lack of a CBO score as a reason for why he’d vote against the bill on Thursday.”
That is so pathetic. The CBO predicted 24 million people on ACA and the actual number is under 10 million and decreasing. And this moron bases his vote on a CBO score.
I think they're wrong. Do they really think their new dem friends will vote for them? The Dems have been using this as a tool to defeat Repulicans by getting them to vote against their base.
Massie is a hero; Massie is a conservative icon in these parts and I’ve never disagreed with a word from his mouth.
Is this “a true overturn” or a gimmick bill?
Was Obamacare really repealed ???
makes no difference anyway to them as the senate isn’t going to pass it
Two other libertarian-minded conservatives, Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Walter Jones (N.C.), also opposed it.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum. No surprise here.
If mike coffman (RINO) voted against it, it must be okay then. coffman is an establishment coward. Colorado representatives and senators are POSs. They, well mostly gardner, are the reason I am now registered independent after 37 years as republican.
Joyce is more Dem the Rep so it doesn’t surprise me, but it isn’t a repeal it’s a bandaid until something better including cross state and tort reform can be done
Absolutists are people who want an end result but don’t want to walk the road that gets them there.
It’s a completely ineffective negotiating tactic.
Yep,more kabuki theater from “Hollywood for ugly people.”
My congress critter Katko voted against it. I’m not sure if that is good or bad on this vote. He generally disappoints me but less than the loon Maffei.
Will Hurd?
He spent millions here in San Antonio trying to get reelected. He barely beat out Pete Gallegos (D).
Will campaigned on how he will vote with Trump to repeal ObamaCare.
not yet. It’s my understanding there are still “phases”. We shall see.
Not my Rep., but I’m with Rep. Biggs.
It’s still smoke and mirrors. All they did was tweak pre-existing conditions in Ryancare’s Magic three-part bill...shine it up, and resubmit it. I hear no reductions in premiums/deductables until part 3...”later”.
I’m okay with these moderates defecting. It is likely that some are voting strategically - the GOP Whip told them we had enough votes and advised them to vote in a way that improves their 2018 election chances. I’m much less happy with those who negotiated this weak deal, which does not go nearly far enough. Still, I’ll take a partial win and hope we come back to chop more off of Obamacare in the fall or next year.
Our mission for the next four to eight years should be to improve our field position on every play. We don’t have to get big spectacular touchdowns on every possession, but we have to gain a few yards each time we touch the ball. Leave the Democrats with such terrible field position if they take the White House in 2024 that they have no chance of scoring and aren’t even tempted to try to regain the yards they paid so much for in these seven terrible years under Obamacare.
Yep, and I didn't see the details of the bill posted here before passage.
When I do a search for them usatoday , CBS news, NYtimes comes up.
The Obamacare repeal was rejected by the GOP once they got elected. Neither this bill nor the last one they put forth repeals Obamacare in the least.
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