Free Republic

Levin called it “actually outstanding” and likened that leadership style to former President Dwight Eisenhower. “I thought the president’s comments today were actually outstanding,” Levin said. “And he showed enormous humility. And this guy doesn’t give up. I mean, he said OK, we’ll fight another day. In essence, he said that events will reach a point where this is going to have to be resolved. And when it reaches that point, I’m. ‘Mark, that’s not leadership.’ But it kind of is, actually. I’m not making a comparison. It is the sort of way that Dwight Eisenhower managed. When things reach...

Bannon Tells Trump: ‘Keep a Sh*t List’ of Republicans Who Opposed You Trumpcare is in trouble and if it fails, Steve Bannon has pledged to remember who defied the White House. If TrumpCare dies, the White House won’t forget who killed it — and plans on keeping a “sh*t list” of Republicans who stood in their way. According to multiple Trump administration officials speaking to The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity to talk freely, the president is angry that his first big legislative push is crumbling before his eyes—and his chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon is advising him...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator and physician Rand Paul released the following statement after U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the American Health Care Act from a floor vote for the second day in a row: “I applaud House conservatives for keeping their word to the American people and standing up against Obamacare Lite,” said Dr. Paul. “I look forward to passing full repeal of Obamacare in the very near future.” Earlier this month, Dr. Paul introduced the Obamacare Repeal Act (S. 554), which is the same legislation, with an updated timeline, to repeal major components of Obamacare that...

Senator Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz pushed the House Freedom Caucus to remain firm in opposition to President Trump. Having successfully defeated his opposition, Senator Paul pulls out the UniParty dance music and proposes solutions that can go no-where. As you watch this, remember the House and Senate schedule spring break is next week…. Ergo Paul says “legislation should be brought up next week” blah-blah-blah. This is a familiar UniParty ‘controlled opposition‘ trick. Go public and make the solution something you know has absolutely no chance of even being explored. Makes the abuser look great, and keeps the...

CTH has fought this for years. The best thing we can do now is to try and assist people with information that will help them make forward decisions. It isn’t Paul Ryan’s fault and I’ll explain on that later. First the foundations: All DC Republicans and all DC Democrats are the DC UniParty. The DC UniParty is fueled by special interest donor lobbying money. The DC UniParty created Obamacare and the DC UniParty wants ObamaCare to remain in place. For six years we have attempted, and failed, to educate people on the UniParty. There is only one political party in...

President Trump predicted Friday that pressure on Democrats will compel them to work with Republicans to pass a healthcare reform package after Obamacare collapses. "When it explodes, they come to us and we make one beautiful deal," Trump told the Washington Post's Robert Costa in a phone interview shortly after House leadership pulled the American Health Care Act in the face of conservative opposition. Trump said he believed Republicans came within "five to 12 votes" of passing the AHCA. They needed 216 votes to send the legislation to the Senate.

Health Reform: Friday's decision to pull the American Health Care Act from the House floor because it lacked enough votes to pass was a culmination of months of bad decisions, poor planning, and terrible messaging by the GOP leadership in the House. This failure undermines not only the party's credibility, but President Trump's purported ability to "make great deals." Worse, it emboldens the left-wing "resistance." Back in early December, we warned in this space that the Republican's ObamaCare repeal effort was "off to a bad start." That was when House Speaker Paul Ryan was talking up a "repeal and delay"...

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders, facing a revolt among conservatives and moderates in their ranks, pulled legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act from consideration on the House floor Friday afternoon in a spectacular defeat for President Trump on the first legislative showdown of his presidency.

Does it make health care more affordable? Does it give consumers more choices? Does it provide Americans more control over their families’ health care?

Republican officials in Congress and the White House are now openly discussing finding a GOP replacement to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as Speaker of the House, after Ryan failed to pass the American Health Care Act out of the House and misled the public and President Donald Trump when he promised repeatedly the bill would pass. Ryan was caught on an audio file from October—obtained by Breitbart News and published a couple weeks ago—saying he is “not going to defend Donald Trump—not now, not in the future.” While the audio file does not make the comments clear, Ryan’s staff later...

With the likely failure of RyanCare on the horizon, the landscape of the Republican party may drastically restructure itself. Ryans heathcare bill was supposed to be a full repeal and replacement of ObamaCare, but many conservatives have abandoned Ryan’s bill, citing it keeps many of President Obama’s policies intact. As a result, President Trump modestly went to Capitol Hill and urged congress and threatened their chances of reelection if they fail to launch. Paul Ryan barely received an endorsement from Donald Trump given Ryan’s stigma of being a Republican In Name Only. Enter Trey Gowdy, the man who publicly lambasted...

Paul Ryan failed miserably in his first important task for the Trump agenda. Since 2009, the Republicans have campaigned in the elections of 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 that they would repeal and replace Obamacare. One would think that given this history, the Republican leaders, such as Ryan, would have a well thought out plan to repeal Obamacare. Ryan probably did not believe that Trump would win and was unprepared to lead the fight to repeal Obamacare. Ryan did not support Trump during the primaries and did his best to damage Trump. Moreover, since Trump's election in November, Ryan and...

For strategic reasons, I have signed onto liberal newsletter eblasts, so that I can know what the enemy is doing in my state. After Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the American Health Care Act (ACHA), every Democratic lawmaker, candidate, and special interest group exulted in their victory: “Your calls made the difference!” “We did it!” “You saved health care.” Uh … no. Because Obamacare remains intact, healthcare remains in morbid free-fall. Doctors are still quitting the medical field, with premiums rising, health insurance exchanges failing, and hospitals closing. Democrats did themselves no favors in fighting against reforms. Obamacare is still an...

AHCA was pulled from the floor yet again this afternoon, and it now is probable that Obamacare will be the law of the land for years to come. This is an utter disaster for U.S. health care, not to mention individual liberty, and the responsibility rests squarely on shoulders of a small cadre of political opportunists with the effrontery to call themselves the “House Freedom Caucus.” These people held out for the impossible — full repeal of Obamacare in one fell swoop — and have thus destroyed the only realistic opportunity their party will have in the near future to...

Whether you are cheering the principled holdout for a better bill or lamenting the circular firing squad led by the Freedom Caucus, the fact is that the first attempt to put a bill through the House to repeal and replace ObamaCare has landed short. Something of a civil war has broken out among various camps of The Party That Finally Has to Govern. Conservative critics called the American Health Care Act "RyanCare" when they were polite, "Obamacare Lite", "Obamacare 2.0" and other names not fit to print when they are feeling less so. Why the hysteria? With Republicans firmly in...

Friday during a news conference, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) offered remarks on his decision not to proceed ahead with a vote on the American Health Care Act, which would have according to Ryan began the process of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, also know as Obamacare. During the question and answer session, Ryan was asked about the prospect of another stab at repealing and replacing Obamacare, to which he said, “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” Partial transcript as follows:

Full Title: "Exclusive — Discussion About GOP Replacement to Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House Intensifies in White House, Congress" Text: Republican officials in Congress and the White House are now openly discussing finding a GOP replacement to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as Speaker of the House, after Ryan failed to pass the American Health Care Act out of the House and misled the public and President Donald Trump when he promised repeatedly the bill would pass

It is hard to overestimate the damage the Freedom Caucus has done to the fledgling presidency of Donald Trump, and to the country. By blocking the American Health Care Act of 2017, the conservative group has guaranteed that Americans will struggle forward under the burden of Obamacare. In the next few months insurers will announce their premium hikes for the coming year; chances are, given the continuing withdrawal of major companies from the marketplaces and the ongoing failure of the bill to attract enough young and healthy participants, the new rates will not be pretty. Last year premiums went up...

Look at the upper right side of this page and you will note the self-described affiliation of our group “The Last Refuge”. That name specifically chosen because we broke away from political identity framed around arguments of personality; frustrated because no one was focused on the real hands behind the networks. We have been fighting “The Big Club” for years. President Trump is the first political entity in our lifetime that not only comprehends the faces of the false arguments (the personalities of false choice), but more importantly sees the architects behind the Potemkin villages represented by those faces. When...