Posted on 03/24/2017 8:05:54 PM PDT by ckinv368
The Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare—the American Health Care Act—finally came up for a final vote in the House. First put forward by Speaker Paul Ryan in 2009, it offered few surprises to Republicans. And the effort itself was very familiar, as Republicans had voted over 60 times to repeal Obamacare since its passage eight years ago. Yet, when the time came to exercise the prerogative of the majority and finally repeal and replace President Obama’s deeply flawed social program, Republicans came up short.
Over the past two weeks, moderate Republicans argued that they could not vote for a plan that did not keep certain fail-safe protections for the elderly in place. Conservative Republicans—many in the so-called “Freedom Caucus”—complained that Ryan’s plan kept popular portions of Obamacare on the books. They wanted a complete repeal, and many would accept nothing less. In the end, no-one got their wish. As Speaker Ryan admitted this afternoon, “we are going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” This, in part, because the Trump Administration refuses to have its agenda held hostage. It is sidelining healthcare and moving forward with tax reform.
Democrats are celebrating Republican missteps. And the collective finger-pointing within the Republican establishment has already begun in earnest. An early contender for sacrificial lamb is Speaker Ryan.
Without doubt, Ryan’s plan was far from perfect. As provisions were added, modified, and deleted, it became less a divination of policy genius, and more a Golden Corral smorgasbord of disparate measures designed to keep factions of the Republican Party moderately happy. Deficit reduction went down. Entitlements and complexity increased. Projections of coverage availability plummeted. Was it the plan any Republican in the House could fall in love with? Certainly not. Was it a plan that could get past a centrist-Republican Senate which had expressed significant doubts? Possibly.
Some have already blamed Ryan for failing to whip the necessary Republican votes to pass the bill. Indications were that he was as few as five votes short. With additional tweaks, pressure, threats, and a hard weekend push, the bill may have gotten across the goal line. However, that effort may have created so much ill-will that it could have hobbled the President’s policy goals for the next four years.
Conservative Republicans have been quick to point fingers at moderate Republicans, saying that these “RINOs” merely wanted to pass Obamacare-lite, without “real change.” However, the reality for Republicans in swing districts is that it’s politically difficult to remove insurance from a projected 24 million Americans over the next decade. Taking entitlements away is much more painful than granting them. And, it should also be remembered that moderate Republicans were much more willing to compromise in this effort than their hard-line brethren.
While pointing fingers, conservative Republicans in Congress should look in the mirror. Maybe these Republicans meant well, in a naïve sort of way. After all, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona (a dentist) told The Washington Post that he came to Washington “to do health care right.” Rep. Louie Gohmert said that “a no vote means we save Donald Trump from a Democratic majority in 2019.” Others vehemently argue that Obamacare should be immediately repealed, but that Congress should give itself until midterms to pontificate over a replacement (all, while millions of Americans lose health coverage). Unfortunately, none of this is politically feasible. Was the American Health Care Act exactly what the Freedom Caucus wanted? No. Did it offer conservatives the best healthcare deal they may ever get? Probably. The time had come to pass a plan that could receive 216 votes in the House, and 51 in the Senate. Conservative Republicans blew it big time.
By comparison, President Trump is nothing if not pragmatic. In an interview with Robert Costa of The Washington Post, he argued that his next efforts at healthcare reform will garner bi-partisan support once Obamacare premiums exponentially increase, coverage options decrease, and the program implodes. This is good politics. But, a bi-partisan effort guarantees that the Freedom Caucus will be locked out of negotiations, with the bill too centrist for their taste. Trump said so himself. When asked whether a bi-partisan bill would free him from having to court those farthest to the Right, he replied “a lot of people might say that,” opining that such a possibility would “end up with a better health-care plan. A great plan. And you wouldn’t need the Freedom Caucus.”
There is an old saying in Texas that seems particularly appropriate: "pigs get fat, but hogs get slaughtered." That colloquialism pretty much sums up the predicament conservative Republicans now find themselves in. By asking for too much, being too greedy, and demanding unrealistic provisions that had little chance of surviving a Senate vote, they may have shown themselves expendable. There’s little doubt in my mind that the healthcare debate is not over. But conservative Republicans and the Freedom Caucus may be left out of the fold the next time votes are counted.
For more commentary like this, please visit:
www.cameronkinvig.com
Then why did the FC vote for him? I’m dying to know the answer.
so, would the Jim Jordon Bill have passed ?
( It was almost a clone of the Price bill that Obama vetoed )
Will the House allow another bite of the apple soon ?
Thirty-something votes won’t elect anyone.
Sounds pretty tunnelvisioned to me. Trump doesn’t lose these things. Why on earth would you want to merely rename Obamacare to be Trumpcare? Is your problem with obamacare that the Democrats passed it instead of the Republicans?
Well, they do fund conservatives. I thought that article said over his career.
He took office in 1999, so that 130K is over 18 yrs? That would be 9 election campaigns. 130/9 = 14K/campaign.
No matter, they have said they want to oppose Trump’s populist agenda. The conversation is about anti trumpism.
And they did.
Why on earth would you want to merely rename Obamacare to be Trumpcare?
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That is exactly what Ryan’s bill was designed to do.
Convoluted attempts at reasoning, like those contained in this worthless screed, could only have been created through a haze of illegal drugs and/or hallucinogenics.
You seem to be pretty disgusted that this monster that would have put Trump's name on obamacare was defeated. You want Trump to be saddled with this tinkertoy socialism? He didn't want this thing to pass. He will get the one he wants but he has to let stuff collapse and fail first.
All America is the loser today. The whole of Obamacare should have been dumped and a new system put in place—It would have been painful—but, like pulling off the bandage quickly—its over fast.>>> a new federal system? really? A new federal system of insurance or healthcare. i don’t want the feds doing insurance which is an individual right to contract for services.
www.cameronkinvig.com
No thanks.
Get a clue. It’s not over. And it wasn’t going to be a great thing. It was obamacare lite that was just kicking the can down the road.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XQZUs0Om7s
What 'vote' are you referring to? This 'bill' got pulled before the GOPee embarrassed itself beyond repair. Put up a repeal bill, let US see how it turns out.
You got the wrong guy, I was agreeing with you.
You think any of that matters? You really don’t get politics at all...the problem with sites like this or comparable ones on the left is that really think that micro matters in the macro.. it rarely does.
If you think the majority of voters give a rats ass about the wonk reasons, you are deluding yourself. If your position is you have to explain why you didn’t accomplish the one thing you have promised to do for 7 years and the only reason it wasn’t down was you didn’t have enough control and now when you have complete control you didn’t do it.. you lost period.
The freedom caucus et al grossly overplayed their hand...just like Obama and the Dems did when they passed the thing to begin with.
It will come back to bite them, either through a bill coming along Dems are willing to vote for and they are locked out or through anger at this not happening and voter turnout depressed in protest. Either way they lose.
Very stupid. Ideological purity would have gotten us a Hillary Presidency..
I’ve read plenty of enlightened experts like yourself. Full of ........ never mind.
Move on.
Technically you are 100% correct, but I was referring to the vote count the speaker came up with. If I understand the news correctly, most POTENTIAL NO votes were from conservatives in House of Reps.
“if you believe every Conservative walks on water”
Beat that straw man.
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