I am also considering what will be the next legislation that the freedom caucus will decide is lacking in elements that they want to have included. Will they use the conservative label to claim superior motivation and oppose the Trump agenda? I am not a fan of Paul Ryan and if there is a better person in the House who can do the job of leader, let the HFC put their clout towards replacing him.
Well said @63
I did not like several things in the bill, but the one thing many here on FR fail to understand is how this bill would have let Tom Price take a chainsaw and a scalpel to Obamacare. THIS provision, using the language of Obamacare itself (as the secretary sees fit) was where the real dismantling of Obamacare would occur. On top of that, Trump would have time and a performance analysis on which to base the follow-on bills.
If it were up to us the government would completely be out of the healthcare business, but that won’t happen anytime soon. It had to start somewhere and putting forth an initial bill that could pass the Senate was a political necessity. Trump has earned enough trust with me to believe him when he said “it was a start.”
Adopting the attitude the Freedom Caucus did is a recipe for ending life single and bitter. There is some wisdom in Mr. Poes assessment - “We can no longer allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.”
If this bill was not good (and some parts were not) do you believe Trump would not want to fix it with one of the best equipped cabinet members to provide assessment? Tom Price understands the pitfalls of Obamacare better than most and he said it would be up to him to fix what he could after the door was opened so we could focus on the areas still needing to be addressed.
Those who believed repeal with nothing to replace was the best course ignore political reality. This bill was a starting point that did not leave those with Obamacare insurance in the cold. Smaller bills after this one addressing the areas that needed fixing would stand a far better chance.