Posted on 03/17/2017 11:17:24 AM PDT by NobleFree
The leader of a key group of conservatives on Friday said the House healthcare reform bill still doesn't have the votes to pass the lower chamber despite changes.
In an interview filmed for C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said there are at least 40 House Republicans who are opposed to the legislation and another 20 to 30 who are undecided. If every member votes and all Democrats vote no, GOP leaders can't afford more than 21 defections.
The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus made his comments before House GOP leaders announced Friday they are making modifications to the ObamaCare repeal and replace bill that had been sought by the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC).
A Freedom Caucus source Friday afternoon said, "The Freedom Caucus remains opposed to the [legislation] in its current form. Today's announcement of the RSC's support for the bill doesn't change that. If the bill were brought to the floor today, it would fail to get enough votes."
During the interview — which will appear on C-SPAN Sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. — Meadows suggested he knew changes were coming, but indicated they wouldn't be enough to get his support. For example, he expressed major reservations with the voluntary Medicaid work requirements in the revised bill, which he described as "a step backward."
The RSC has 172 members, while the Freedom Caucus has about three dozen. However, it remains to be seen how many RSC members will back the altered legislation. Earlier this month, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) guaranteed that the House would pass an ObamaCare repeal and replace bill.
The legislation is scheduled to hit the House floor Thursday in what will likely be one of the most dramatic votes since Republicans won the House in 2010.
Meadows said he has had more meaningful discussion with the White House than with House GOP leaders on repealing ObamaCare. He also pointed out he is working with GOP senators and trying to find "the sweet spot" — a bill that can pass both the House and Senate.
Meadows has been huddling with Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), but declined to name "moderate" senators he is conferring with. At least a dozen GOP senators have problems with the House GOP legislation, Meadows said.
Other topics Meadows addressed in the interview:
* Primary threats. Meadows disputed speculation and a media account that the White House is considering punishing Republicans who vote against the healthcare bill by endorsing lawmakers' primary challengers, saying it "goes against who the president is and not something he's done or happened in a reported meeting."
* Entitlement reform. Meadows said President Trump is adamant about not reforming Medicare and Social Security, which he promised not to touch on the 2016 campaign trail. The North Carolina lawmaker believes entitlement reform is essential to saving Medicare and Social Security, but said until conservatives "make a more compelling case, he's not going there."
* Steve Bannon. While Meadows maintains he has a good relationship with Trump's senior adviser, Bannon is "not our secret path into the White House because his loyalty is undeniably with the president." He also said Bannon "is not the most interactive, talkative guy" because he only gets involved at "critical stages."
* Ryan. Meadows, who played a leading role in pressuring John Boehner (R-Ohio) to resign in 2015, said he gives Ryan "a good grade" as Speaker. He said Ryan is "engaging" and "asks for input," but added, "I will say there was real concern with the way this [bill] was rolled out." He described leadership's initial push for the measure as "this way or the highway." He added, "This is a telling time ... with the most important bill we will vote on in this Congress."
* The April recess. If the timetable for passing healthcare reform slips, Meadows said, "I'm hopeful that the president calls on us to stay in session for the next 100 days other than religious holidays. You just stay here. Get it done and don't go home until this is done."
In a recent interview with Ryan, Tucker Carlson of Fox News pressed the Speaker on why the House will be in session for eight days in the month of April. The House is scheduled to be in recess for two consecutive weeks in the middle of next month in recognition of Easter and Passover.
Kill it, then set it on fire, then bury it. Make sure it is dead.
Republicans have trouble with spelling (along with honor, honesty, integrity, and having balls).
What part of “repeal and replace” do the never had real job losers not understand?
Good grief, they have the simplest job in the multiverse.
And the screw it up.
Kill the unconstitutional bill. Repeal obamacare and replace it with freedom or let it go bust on its own.
Ha. Forgot all about his ability to keep them in session...
“...he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them...”
Obamacare ain’t going anywhere
Meanwhile the Democrats are laughing their asses off.
President Trump is right. Let’s get this solved. We don’t need it to keep repeating as the issue in all future elections to decide who to vote for. This issue is a loser for Republicans.
The thing what kills all ‘save for the future’ ideas is inflation. I did save for the future when I first got married. First children were twins. Paid for Doctor and Hospital out of savings and the Doctor ‘on time’. The Doctor charged $35 per visit [for each child] and the hospital was a few hundred bucks. Hate to think of what I would pay today. Of course today’s starting pay is 20 times what it was after WW II.
Make a deal. Right now GOP is strongest.
They don’t want to actually repeal anything.
They want to rearrange it.
There is one solid reason the pubies can’t come up with a plan.....they know the president won’t VETO it! Bunch of *@#’s and need primary opponents.
Pretty exciting that the head of this Freedom group (that I’d never heard of 5 yrs ago) is clearly aligned with the idea of finding a way to get the bill through the House and the Senate.
I’d like to remind folks of 2 things. First, the Supplemental War Funding bills of the early 2000s. The far left wing DEMANDED that their Dem Senators obstruct it via filibuster and refuse to fund the war they hated.
They never, not at any point during the process, failed to support a supplemental for GW Bush continuing the war in Iraq. The left wing demanded it. The Dem Congress people ignored them. The reason: Americans would die.
Expect EXACTLY the same thing if Obamacare requires ongoing funding. It’s not going to die, implode, explode or any other word you can invent. It will be funded to avoid American deaths, unless repeal and replace is enacted.
Second thing to remind folks of is a guy named Ben Nelson. He was a Dem Senator from Nebraska in 2010. Reid could not lose a single vote to get his 60 and get bills in place (that he later used as the basis of Reconciliation). Reid made it happen with special projects and addendums to send Federal offices and various funding to Nebraska. All to get Ben Nelson’s vote. It’s why the Omaha district is not all that red anymore.
You can rest assured McConnell will do the same thing to get GOP Senators to vote moderate their amendments and vote for the final product. Kentucky’s Rand Paul represents his state and McConnell (also from KY) will have no trouble sending extra projects to his and Paul’s state.
Expect a big Rose Garden ceremony celebrating the Do Something Congress and the F**** Big Deal of Repeal and Replace — which can secure those non conservative, former Obama voters in the Rust Belt for Trump in 2020, without whom there can be no victory.
Exactly. If they actually try to legislate, then they own the consequences.
Not "the" bill (the AHCA), but "a" bill - he wants a bill conservatives can vote for, which the current bill ain't.
REPEAL Slavery AND REPLACE with Slavery
Not!
Amen, Jim! Shame to see some FReepers saying "make a deal."
Nobody is locked in. Any bill that can pass Reconciliation will be a winner. This guy is aligned with the goal of repeal and replace.
It’s going to be work, but pretty much everyone knows it needs to happen.
Y’all are utterly the same as the left wing base in 2010. The votes will be there. Any Senator reluctant will be persuaded, and his state will get some nice new office buildings.
Meanwhile the Democrats are laughing their asses off.
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Yes they really are. It must be fun to be a dem and watch the silly Repubs try and pass a bill as bad as ObamaCare. If not worse.
It would not surprise me if some Rats crossed over and voted for RyanCare in the House and Senate. Just to watch Trump sign it. Then own it.
Then we have RINOCare. ObamaCare 2.0. Or TrumpCare as it will be known for.
Which will suck as bad as the original health care plan shoved down our throats.
That had occurred to me as well.
I think they are so anti-Trump, they wouldn’t vote for anything he backed right now.
I could be wrong about that though. We’ll see won’t we.
Sad to see some FR quislings preemptively surrendering on Zerocare repeal. Our Founding Fathers would puke.
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