“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the GOP's Senate bill would leave 22 million people without insurance coverage, a toll surpassed in its cruelty only by the House Republican bill, which the CBO said would cost 24 million Americans their coverage.
Those unattractive options help to explain why national approval ratings for Obamacare rose above 50 percent after Trump's election and have continued to rise as the public learns what the possible alternatives could be.
What went wrong for repeal? Three problems stand out.
One, after almost eight years of promising repeal and repeatedly voting for it — only to be repeatedly vetoed by President Obama — congressional Republicans neglected to come up with an alternative health care program until after Trump's election meant their repeal vote actually could be enacted.
Two, that failing exposed deeper fissures: Polarization within the party and the reduction of moderates to an endangered species has left the GOP too divided within its own ranks to reach a consensus on the best way to cure Obamacare's ills.
Third, President Trump is too inexperienced in government and too clueless about how Capitol Hill works to provide the leadership and arm-twisting that get important bills passed. That's left even more heavy lifting for McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan without much help from the president, beyond his cheerleading tweets.”
Obamacare wins again as GOP adds to its list of stalled legislation
In addition to Republicans having no viable plan, a divided GOP, and an inexperienced, clueless Trump, conservatives’ failure to repeal the ACA demonstrates the right’s contempt for sound, responsible governance, and that Republicans are indeed incapable of governing at all.
Those unattractive options help to explain why national approval ratings for Obamacare rose above 50 percent after Trump's election and have continued to rise as the public learns what the possible alternatives could be.
What went wrong for repeal? Three problems stand out.
One, after almost eight years of promising repeal and repeatedly voting for it — only to be repeatedly vetoed by President Obama — congressional Republicans neglected to come up with an alternative health care program until after Trump's election meant their repeal vote actually could be enacted.
Two, that failing exposed deeper fissures: Polarization within the party and the reduction of moderates to an endangered species has left the GOP too divided within its own ranks to reach a consensus on the best way to cure Obamacare's ills.
Third, President Trump is too inexperienced in government and too clueless about how Capitol Hill works to provide the leadership and arm-twisting that get important bills passed. That's left even more heavy lifting for McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan without much help from the president, beyond his cheerleading tweets.”
Obamacare wins again as GOP adds to its list of stalled legislation
In addition to Republicans having no viable plan, a divided GOP, and an inexperienced, clueless Trump, conservatives’ failure to repeal the ACA demonstrates the right’s contempt for sound, responsible governance, and that Republicans are indeed incapable of governing at all.