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NOT backing down: Freedom Caucus stands strong amid attacks from the President
Conservative Review ^
| 03/31/2017
| Chris Pandolfo
Posted on 03/31/2017 8:44:27 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Though the Freedom Caucus is under assault from all sides, some of its members who have spoken to the media or made public statements are standing strong — insisting that they are willing to work with President Trump to keep the GOP’s promise to repeal Obamacare.
The media has used the failure of the American Health Care Act — Republican leadership’s phony repeal bill — as an excuse to attack conservatives in Congress. The Tea Party members of the Freedom Caucus, who opposed the legislation on grounds that it would not improve the American health insurance market, have been labeled “hardliners” who are unwilling to “compromise” or “get things done.”
President Trump has expressed his frustration with the health insurance bill’s failure in a series of tweets, first suggesting that the Freedom Caucus saved Planned Parenthood funding and Obamacare, and later announcing that if conservatives don’t hop aboard the establishment Republican agenda they will be fought in 2018.
“The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!” the president tweeted.
Some members of the House Freedom Caucus are pushing back on President Donald Trump’s threat to “fight” conservatives in the 2018 midterm primary elections.
"It didn't take long for the swamp to drain [Trump]. No shame, Mr. President. Almost everyone succumbs to the D.C. Establishment," Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) tweeted.
Freedom Caucus ally Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) also joined in.
So did Rep. Labrador:
Other Freedom Caucus conservatives are being less confrontational. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) reiterated his support for “actual repeal” of Obamacare, and said he shared the president’s “frustration” with recalcitrant Republicans in Washington D.C.
"The Freedom Caucus is trying to change Washington. This bill keeps Washington the same, plain and simple," Rep. Jordan said on Fox News Thursday.
"We appreciate the president; we are trying to help the president. But the fact is, you have to look at the legislation. It doesn't do what we told the voters we were going to do, and the American people understand that. That's why only 17 percent of the population supports this legislation."
“We want to help the president get a bill that rises above 17% in the polling,” Congressman Dave Brat (R-Va.) told Conservative Review. He said the Freedom Caucus is looking for a bill that will lower premiums by repealing the insurance regulations and mandated health benefits that are driving up the cost of health insurance.
Brat also criticized the mainstream media narrative that the Freedom Caucus sunk Obamacare repeal. “The narrative by the elites and the D.C. cronies and the mainstream media is that ‘we can’t get to yes.’”
“On the facts that’s false,” Brat said. “We voted ‘yes’ 50 times for repeal. And the 2015 bill was unanimous, basically, with Republicans in the House and the Senate.”
Rep. Brat argues that the Freedom Caucus has compromised from voting for that 2015 full repeal of Obamacare to nearly supporting the American Health Care Act, “kind of an Obamacare federal structure that maintains the basic architecture of Obamacare.”
This is not what the conservative base in the Republican Party voted for in 2016. Then again, actually it is.
“The idea that we haven’t moved considerably is just laughable,” Brat said.
Further, “it was clear to Leadership that more moderates were going to vote no if that bill came to the floor than the Freedom Caucus. But that narrative is not as convenient. Once that vote hit 22 ‘Noes’ it was going to go to 60 or 70, is the best estimate.”
Why then are moderates like Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Il.) claiming the Freedom Caucus killed Obamacare repeal?
“They’re just being politically shrewd,” Brat said. “The mainstream media, of course, goes along with that narrative that it's these conservative guys’ fault. It’s the usual D.C. narrative.”
A narrative that President Trump has bought into. But Freedom Caucus conservatives aren’t the only ones making Brat’s point.
Congressman Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) — who is not a member of the Freedom Caucus — told PJ media that “there were probably ten to fifteen members of the Freedom Caucus that were still a no.” However, Emmer estimated that there were “two-thirds to three-quarters of the Freedom Caucus [who] were yes on this bill.” A “vast majority.”
This media narrative blaming the Freedom Caucus is “intentional,” Emmer said.
It always has been this way. You've got to marginalize the conservatives as much as possible. I think this is done both by liberals on the Left as much as liberals on the Right, Walter. The more you can marginalize this group, the less influence they can have, right?...
Marginalizing conservatives is exactly what the moderate Republicans in the Tuesday Group have decided to do. Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who was the first member of Congress to endorse President Trump, told reporters today that the Freedom Caucus no longer has a seat at the table for negotiations on legislation.
These moderate Republicans refused to go along with a full repeal of Obamacare, and now they are pledging to work with liberal Democrats to pass bad bills rather than use the Republican majority to pass conservative legislation.
It’s compromise with Democrats. Screw the conservatives. Pass liberal legislation that will hurt people. And President Trump is fine with all of it.
This is not what the conservative base in the Republican Party voted for in 2016. Then again, actually it is. The Tea Party took this risk when they handed Trump the Republican nomination in 2016. Donald Trump was never a conservative. He was never anti-establishment.
Some conservatives knew that when they held their nose to beat Hillary Clinton.
Well, the Democrats are out of power and conservatives are still losing. So where do we go from here?
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: boohoo; conservativereview; cultists; fakes; freedomcaucus; healthcare; marklevin; nevertrump; obamacare; populists; reeeeeee; ryancarebillpulled; trumpfreedomcaucus; whining; wofc
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To: Just mythoughts
30 guys can’t elect a Speaker against 200+ RINOs.
Why has Free Republic become the RINO cheering section?
61
posted on
03/31/2017 10:30:08 AM PDT
by
Lurkinanloomin
(Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
To: pfony1
Mo Brooks has a repeal bill and the Uniparty eunuchs won’t let it come to the floor.
The purpose of Ryancare was to preserve as much of Obamacare as possible because of the enormous power Fedzilla derives from controlling all health care decisions and medical records.
Fedzilla has no business with my medical records.
62
posted on
03/31/2017 10:33:05 AM PDT
by
Lurkinanloomin
(Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
To: Basket_of_Deplorables
Yay HFC!!! Obamacare for life!!! Thank you!!! I can’t wait for them to sabotage tax reform. So much winning!
Do I need the /sarc tag?
63
posted on
03/31/2017 10:39:04 AM PDT
by
PJammers
(Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?)
To: Hugin
Yeah?
Replace Justin Amash with Paul Ryan in that quote and you’d be right on the money. No Republican congressman worked harder to get Hilary Clinton elected than Paul Ryan. The same Paul Ryan who again weaseled out and tried to give us Obamacare lite, aka Ryancare.
To: Lurkinanloomin
30 guys cant elect a Speaker against 200+ RINOs. Why has Free Republic become the RINO cheering section? They could have still voted against him. OR one of them could have run against Ryan. They had the 'freedom' to do any number of things. They stopped this bill from coming to a vote... I think their little 'pact' to stand together stripped them of their 'individual' conservative freedom...
To: Lurkinanloomin
Check out Dave Brat. We worked really hard to be rid of the weasel Eric Cantor. If we had not removed him in June 2014 the Uniparty eunuchs were planning to pass Rubios amnesty the very next day to clear that issue off the table for Yeb!. There would have been no President Trump. I have nothing against 'Dave Brat', per se... however, he should have never teamed up with this caucus that stripped him of his individual freedom to vote. Once that pact was made he lost his individuality and strength to speak freely.
To: Just mythoughts
In the first election after they forced out Boehner they tried to get an alternative and the RINOs prevented it.
In the second they were trying to be the team players that everyone is now screaming for them to be.
They also would have been subject to punitive measures like stripping of committee assignments where they could do some good.
We need more conservatives in Congress, not less.
67
posted on
03/31/2017 10:56:53 AM PDT
by
Lurkinanloomin
(Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
To: wiseprince
Trump is going to break the caucus.
Then he'll be a one-term POTUS. We did not rally for him in droves to break the congressman truly serious about the "repeal" part of "repeal and replace".
68
posted on
03/31/2017 10:58:05 AM PDT
by
so_real
( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
To: Responsibility2nd
Lets all remember it could be worse. We coulda had that drunk falling down old hag. We did have it worse before - Bush I and Bush II
One GREAT example of perfect being the enemy of good? for your mind to ponder
69
posted on
03/31/2017 11:01:42 AM PDT
by
DanZ
To: Lurkinanloomin
That turkey from MI is a member of this caucus and there is nothing ‘conservative’ about him... Sanford, conservative? It only takes one bad apple to spoil the barrel.
To: Just mythoughts
i>I have nothing against 'Dave Brat', per se... however, he should have never teamed up with this caucus that stripped him of his individual freedom to vote. Once that pact was made he lost his individuality and strength to speak freely.
Spraining trash like this "stripped him of his individual freedom to vote
, just goes to prove that most on this site are no longer able to think
71
posted on
03/31/2017 11:04:20 AM PDT
by
DanZ
To: so_real
hahahah. Trump ran against 90% of Congress. The fact that he’s still against them isn’t going to make him a one term President. In any event, if he is, that’s more terms than Meadows, McCain, Flake, Romney and Rand. Maybe in 2020 we can start moving back towards globalism and climate change because Trump is trying to get members of the FC to think for themselves and not as a “Community” of people (ironic).
To: SeekAndFind
Yeah, I don’t get why Trump is siding with Ryan to demonize a group who vote on principle?
To: so_real
Indeed, why not put that energy to going after McCain, a real RINO who hates Trump?
To: so_real
Indeed, why not put that energy to going after McCain, a real RINO who hates Trump?
To: Lurkinanloomin
Really?
Mo Brook’s bill was blocked by the Uniparty?
Did the Freedom Caucus give that bill a unanimous 30 votes?
No?
WHY NOT?
To start the “bill” rolling, you need to VOTE!
I’m sorry, but the HFC is starting to sound like a bunch of blame-shifting Democrats.
Enough BS! If the HFC can’t deliver unanimous consent to the bill they “claim” they want, we are truly “lost”,,,
76
posted on
03/31/2017 12:06:44 PM PDT
by
pfony1
To: Lurkinanloomin
‘30 guys cant elect a Speaker against 200+ RINOs.
Why has Free Republic become the RINO cheering section?’
You keep posting this, pushing the idea that the FC members were helpless bustanders. I have explained to you already that this is not true. Ryan demanded the FC’s support as a condition for becoming Speaker. They were not dragged kicking and screaming to support him; they gave him a super-majority, along with several enthusiastic endorsements, expressed publicly by individual members.
77
posted on
03/31/2017 12:15:54 PM PDT
by
Fantasywriter
(Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
To: Sam Gamgee
It should be that simple, shouldn't it.
78
posted on
03/31/2017 12:48:42 PM PDT
by
so_real
( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
To: pfony1
They can’t vote on something that the Uniparty eunuchs won’t let come to the floor.
79
posted on
03/31/2017 1:26:49 PM PDT
by
Lurkinanloomin
(Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
To: alloysteel
“But fact is, except for a couple rough spots, the system of payments for medical services delivered as it existed in early 2009 was probably the most equable in the world...”
I paid for healthcare with cash. The quacks and the thieving hospitals consistently charged me 300% to 400% more than the insured paid. Nothing equitable about that. These pirates expected me to sign a blank check, hand it over and they’d fill in the amount later.
Then try to sue these bastards for over-billing, double-billing and other illegal charges. Right. The shysters refused to take my case unless I paid them $10,000 up front.
Healhcare has been broken for years. Insurance does nothing more than hide the true cost of healthcare. Insurance companies, hospitals, quacks - they’re number one goal is to rip off the consumer, and they work together to carry out the thievery. Period.
80
posted on
03/31/2017 1:34:56 PM PDT
by
sergeantdave
(Cats are like potato chips - you can't have just one.)
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