Must read: 'GOP cave on Obamacare repeal is the biggest broken promise in political history'

This is hands down the best article I've seen on the failure of the AHCA (aka 'SwampCare', aka 'RyanCare', aka 'TrumpCare', aka 'ObamaCareLite', aka 'Renege & Repair') by Philip Klein of the Washington Examiner.

Here's part of the article - you can and should read it in full here.

GOP cave on Obamacare repeal is the biggest broken promise in political history

Broken promises are as old as politics itself, and there are many famous examples of them in modern history. President George H.W. Bush's "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge comes immediately to mind, as does President Bill Clinton reneging on his middle-class tax cut, and President Barack Obama never closing Guantanamo Bay. But in each of those cases, those were promises that were made in a given campaign by a given politician. The promise of Obamacare repeal is much different.

Republicans ran on repealing and replacing Obamacare for seven years, over the course of four election cycles. They won the House majority in 2010 in large part because of the backlash against the passage of Obamacare — and the vow to "repeal and replace" Obamacare was part of their "Pledge to America" campaign document that year. The botched rollout of Obamacare helped them win the Senate in 2014. House candidates, Senate candidates, gubernatorial candidates, and even state legislative candidates ran against Obamacare — and won.

Though President Trump was always an unorthodox candidate on healthcare (vacillating between praising single-payer and touting a free market plan), he consistently campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare, and exploited news of spiking premiums in the weeks leading up to the presidential election.

Republicans were always moving the goal posts on voters. That is, during campaign season, they made boasts about repeal, and then once in office, they talked about procedural complications. In 2010, they campaigned on repeal, but by 2011, they said they needed the Senate. In 2014, they won the Senate, but by 2015 they said as long as Obama was in office, nothing would become law. In 2016, they told conservative voters, even reluctant ones, that if they voted for Trump despite any reservations, they'd finally be able to repeal Obamacare. In November, voters gave them unified control of Washington. And yet after just two months on the job, they have thrown in the towel and said they're willing to abandon seven years of promises.

There are a lot of people who want to conveniently lay the blame for this stunning failure on recalcitrant members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. If only these conservative hardliners were willing to give way, we'd be on the road to repeal, defenders of leadership would like to have us believe. This is convenient, both because there are always people in Washington eager to take aim at conservative purists, and also because it has the makings of a great ironic hot take for journalists: "How conservatives saved Obamacare."

Now, let me be clear, in past fights, I've never been reluctant to criticize hardliners when I thought that they were being unreasonable or irresponsible. For instance, I disagreed with the hard-line position on the debt ceiling, didn't think forcing a government shutdown to defund Obamacare would work, and supported the deal that made most of the Bush tax cuts permanent (as opposed to letting them all expire). But I don't think it's fair to scapegoat Freedom Caucusers here. They are being blamed for making the naive mistake of assuming that Republicans wanted to do what they were promising to do for seven years.

In this case, the hardliners were playing a productive role by pointing out the real policy consequences of the piecemeal approach being pursued by the House leadership. Though we'll never know for sure how the numbers might have looked if a vote had taken place, it's clear that many centrist members of the Republican caucus were also prepared to vote this bill down. House conservatives, if they could be blamed for anything, it's for having the audacity to urge leadership to actually honor seven years of pledges to voters to repeal Obamacare. If anybody was moving the goal posts, it wasn't Freedom Caucusers, it was those who were trying to sell a bill that kept much of Obamacare's regulatory architecture in place as a free market repeal and replace plan.

Sure, I know, Republicans had a narrow majority, and they could only pass something through the Senate by reconciliation, which imposes limitations. But the thing is, Republicans don't hide behind the vagaries of Senate procedure during campaign season. Trump did not win the Republican nomination telling rallies of thousands of people, "We're going to repeal and replace Obamacare — as long as it satisfies the Byrd rule in the judgment of the Senate parliamentarian!"

What's so utterly disgraceful, is not just that Republicans failed so miserably, but that they barely tried, raising questions about whether they ever actually wanted to repeal Obamacare in the first place.

Read the full article at the Washington Examiner (they really need to tone down the popup ads, though...).

House Freedom Caucus wins, ObamaCare "Repair" pulled

Prominent Freedom Caucus members who led the fight against the AHCA
L-R: Chairman Mark Meadows (NC), Justin Amash (MI), Thomas Massie (KY), Raul Labrador (ID), Jim Jordan (OH)

After a lot of drama and negotiations this week over the Affordable Health Care Act, U.S. House leadership pulled the bill and canceled a vote on the measure. The ObamaCare repeal replacement repair plan had taken heavy criticism from conservatives in both the House and Senate, but especially from members of the House Freedom Caucus.

Congressman Mo Brooks (R-AL) of the Freedom Caucus called it “[O]ne of the worst bills I have seen in my 30 years as a county commissioner, legislator, district attorney and now congressman,”

After seven years of promising to "repeal and replace ObamaCare", Speaker Paul Ryan and President Trump came up with a lame excuse of a healthcare plan, with no full repeal, no full replacement, and essentially just tinkering around the edges.

Earlier in the week, it looked like the bill would pass, with a lot of strong-arming from leadership and pressure from Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Even Oklahoma's Jim Bridenstine (a Freedom Caucus member) caved and lent his support late Wednesday night - although I imagine he might regret that decision now.

However, most Freedom Caucus members held firm in their opposition, and after the vote was postponed to today, then to this afternoon, other more moderate Republicans began to bail. Now, it appears that House Republicans may be moving on from healthcare reform altogether, rather than taking up the repeal bill passed with almost unanimous Republican support just last year that President Obama then vetoed.

From Allahpundit at HotAir: "So … that’s it? An ill-conceived two-month effort in the House falls short and Republicans throw in the towel on seven years of trying to replace ObamaCare? The White House doesn’t want to offer its own alternative? McConnell has nothing in the pipeline he might want to suggest?"

After the bill was pulled, President Trump told news reporter Robert Costa "No, I don’t [regret starting his agenda with healthcare], but in a way I’m glad I got it out of the way."

After posting that quote, Allahpundit continued: "You’re glad you “got it out of the way”? Republican voters handed them the House in 2010, the Senate in 2014, and the White House in 2016, and we got exactly 63 days of meaningful effort to unseat O-Care."

Here's what Erick Erickson said at TheResurgent about this:

The House Freedom Caucus just saved the Republican Party from itself and saved the United States from a Republican attempt to just do something on health care no matter how bad that something might be.

They stood on principle and are being assailed for it by the Republican establishment.

The legislation was deeply flawed and would have hurt a great many Americans. It would have made it harder for free market solutions to lower costs in health care and would have harmed senior citizens.

Obamacare is a terrible piece of legislation and Republicans promised for seven years to repeal it. The American Health Care Act embraced Obamacare and kept it. The House Freedom Caucus stood up both to the Republican leadership in Congress and President Trump and demanded promises made be promises kept. They also exposed Republicans as having no intention of ever really repealing Obamacare.

In 2015, Republicans passed a plan through Congress that would have repealed Obamacare. All the people who voted for it are still there. It passed the House and Senate. That should have been the starting framework. But like the dog that caught the car, Republicans did not know what to do once they finally had the House, Senate, and Presidency.

Their first reaction was to abandon their small government principles and free market beliefs to prop up a government run health care scheme. The only people who stood up for the free market and the people are members of the House Freedom Caucus. They are owed our thanks.

Lastly, I should note that the only reason we have a House Freedom Caucus is because John Boehner led an establishment coup of the Republican Study Committee. The once great organization converted into an organization that rubber stamps the agenda of leadership with elaborate kabuki theater to make it seem like the outcome was in jeopardy when it never was. Sadly, the RSC’s behavior in this proves the House Freedom Caucus is still needed.

Republicans need accountability partners, not yes men. Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, and the House Freedom Caucus are brave to shoulder the weight of accountability when others wish they would serve as yes men. They have done well today.

Like I said earlier this month, Republicans were elected to power based on the promise of full repeal. We expect nothing less than full repeal. Republican member of Congress need to keep their promise, and pass full repeal of ObamaCare.

If they don't follow through, then what is the point in electing them?

Bridenstine: I will vote “Yes” on AHCA

Statement on Obamacare Repeal

The vote on the American Healthcare Act is a very tough decision.  As the Representative of the First District of Oklahoma, my philosophy has been to fight for the most conservative option possible, and I often vote “No” to get to a “better Yes”.  Today, I decided the American Healthcare Act is the best “Yes” that the House is able to accomplish legislatively at this time.  Conservatives worked very hard to improve this bill, and while we hoped for a better bill, this is a dramatic improvement over Obamacare.

Obamacare is collapsing on itself with massive increases in premiums and deductibles so high that some families are effectively uninsured.  Many states have lost health insurance providers where companies cannot afford to offer Obamacare-compliant policies.  A third of all counties, including every county in Oklahoma, have only one provider on the exchanges this year and another third have only two.  Seven years ago, Obamacare took over nearly 20 percent of the U.S. economy, and unwinding that tangled system is extremely complex.

This bill effectively repeals the individual and employer mandates, cuts $1 trillion in taxes, and reduces the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars over ten years.  The bill fundamentally transforms Medicaid from an open-ended and unsustainable entitlement to a State-centered system which caps the Federal contribution and maximizes flexibility for the States.  The Medicaid reforms alone will save trillions over the long-term, help move millions of people onto private insurance, and preserve the safety net for the most vulnerable.

Most important to me, this bill prohibits funds from going to the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, and redirects federal funding to Community Health Centers.  This provision alone merits support even though the bill falls short of what conservatives wanted to accomplish.

I am disappointed that this legislation did not include provisions to repeal the Obamacare health insurance regulations which are the root cause of skyrocketing premiums and employers dropping coverage.  Fortunately, Tom Price, Secretary of Health and Human Services, will exercise his authority under the law to remove costly Obamacare regulations.  I also have great reservations about the bill’s refundable tax credit scheme, which is essentially a different version of the Obamacare subsidy program.

In my judgment though, this is the opening legislative salvo of the Trump Presidency, and we cannot let it fail when we do not have a shot at a better option.  Therefore, I will vote “Yes”.

ObamaCare: Nothing Less Than Full Repeal

U.S. House Republican leadership finally released their version of  ObamaCare "Repeal & Replace"....... complete with practically no Repeal, and more Repair than Replace.

President Trump is making it clear that he supports this plan. Vice President Pence, sadly, is out essentially telling House Republicans that the choice is either full-blown ObamaCare or this (which is ObamaCare Lite).

Republicans told us for seven years that if we gave them the House, they'd repeal ObamaCare. We did, and then they said "give us the Senate, and we'll repeal ObamaCare". We did, and then they said "give us the White House, and we'll repeal ObamaCare". We did, and now Republican leadership is balking.

In 2013, Mitch McConnell told CPAC attendees "Obamacare should be repealed root and branch." Paul Ryan and others repeatedly told us they would "Repeal and Replace" ObamaCare with conservative, free-market proposals. This strategy of simply amending portions of ObamaCare is not the answer.

Congress passed a repeal bill in 2015. There is no reason why they can't do it again. Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee, as well as members of the House Freedom Caucus, have re-introduced measures identical to that legislation.

This proposal is opposed by Heritage Action, Club For Growth, Americans For Prosperity, FreedomWorks, many members of the House Freedom Caucus (including Oklahoma's Jim Bridenstine), conservative Senators like Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul. Just about every trusted conservative organizations and member of congress is against this.

Republicans were elected to power based on the promise of full repeal. We expect nothing less than full repeal.

Keep your promise. Full repeal of ObamaCare.

Heritage Action slams House GOP healthcare bill

GOP PLAN FAILS TO MOVE PAST OBAMACARE’S PROGRESSIVE PROMISE

Washington — Monday evening, House Republican leaders released text of their long-anticipated American Health Care Act (AHCA). Despite widespread conservative criticism and the lack of score from the Congressional Budget Office, the proposal (committee summaries here and here) is being called the “health bill you’ve waited for” by Republican leaders and key committee chairmen. Heritage Action released the following statement from chief executive officer Michael A. Needham:

“In many ways, the House Republican proposal released last night not only accepts the flawed progressive premises of Obamacare but expands upon them. Ronald Reagan once said, ‘Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.’ The AHCA does all three.

“Many Americans seeking health insurance on the individual market will notice no significant difference between the Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) and the American Health Care Act.  That is bad politics and, more importantly, bad policy.

“Rather than accept the flawed premises of Obamacare, congressional Republicans should fully repeal the failed law and begin a genuine effort to deliver on longstanding campaign promises that create a free market health care system that empowers patients and doctors.”