Healthcare is an important issue to many Americans for obvious reasons. If health coverage is unavailable or substandard, that can leave people without treatment and cause them undue suffering. For this, the simple fix for Democrats was to massively increase federal involvement in the industry. While some of these ideas may sound good in theory, the reality of the situation is that the more government doesn’t equal a better society. In terms of Obamacare, this has been demonstrably true.
In the several years since Obamacare’s passage, Republicans have made this issue their number one pledge and it has been a big winner for them on the campaign trail. Repeal of Obamacare has been one of the few things moderates, conservatives and libertarians of varying stripes have generally been able to agree on. The roadblock has always been Democrats in positions of power or Republicans with weak numbers.
This all seemed to change when Republicans shocked America by gaining firm majorities in Congress and with Donald Trump winning the Presidency. With Republicans in control, it seemed as though a seven year pledge would finally be fulfilled. Obamacare would finally be history.
It’s been almost a year since the election and nine months since the Republican takeover began. While undoing Obamacare would understandably be difficult, many didn’t expect to be facing the possibility of repeal not happening at all. This is where the Republican Party stands now.
It’s arguably not for a lack of trying. Numerous attempts to repeal have come forward in various shapes and forms, but all have failed. The legislation crafted by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is the latest attempt and appears doomed to fail. The blame game has begun with President Donald Trump placing the blame on Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), and his supporters are following suit.
With that said, is it really Senator Paul’s fault that this legislation, barring a miracle, will ultimately die?
As of September 24th, Sens. Paul and John McCain (R-AZ) are the only firm votes against the Cassidy-Graham Bill. This leaves Republicans with zero wiggle room. One more person signals they will vote against and the legislation is dead. With that said, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) has indicated she’s likely due to be against and her colleague, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), is widely expected to join her. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made a similar statement, and says that Mike Lee (R-UT) is with him.
So why would it be Senator Paul’s fault?
Paul is one of the few Republican lawmakers actually demanding that Republicans keep their campaign promise to enact a clean repeal. Republicans have said for many years that the law is bad and it needs to be scrapped. Now, Republicans are trying to cling to the law they rallied against and refuse to give it up.
And in the process of trying to save Obamacare while re-branding it as their own, they’re blaming Paul for it still existing. Disgusting, but what else would you expect from the swamp?
Conservative and libertarian voters need to take a hard look at the Republicans they elected. Is Obamacare Lite what you voted for? Paul believes the promise was for better repeal and less government, not for Obamacare re-branded as a Republican product. It’s time for Republican voters to stop settling and start demanding more out of their elected officials.
