Gloating over 70-year-old Donald Trump’s defeat of the GOP’s Obamacare replacement bill, 77-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf..) showed why Democrats have little to celebrate. Trump pulled the plug on the GOP health care bill, telling House Republicans March 24 they either vote for House Speaker Paul Ryan’s new bill or live with Obamacare. Pelosi’s pyrrhic victory over the 40-member Freedom Party caucus refusing to vote for the bill shows Pelosi’s hubris. Pelosi should thank Trump for giving Rep. Mark Meadow’s (R-N.C.) Freedom Caucus an ultimatum yesterday: Either vote or live with Obamacare. Senate Majority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) showed why he has no class, taking a cheap shot at Trump. “In my life, I have never seen an administration as incompetent as the one occupying the White House today,” said Schumer with glee.
Schumer and Pelosi know that the bill’s failure had nothing to do with Trump but deep divisions inside the GOP. Freedom caucus members thought Ryan’s bill was “Obamacare-lite,” not doing enough to end health care government subsidies under the new plan. Blaming Trump for the defeat of Ryan’s bill continues the same post Election Day sour-grapes that have Democrats convinced that Trump couldn’t have possibly won the election without Russian President Vladimir Putin’s help. Partisan investigations into Russian influence in the 2016 election fan today’s new Russian hysteria sweeping Washington. Fueled by statements from FBI Director James Comey, there’s zero evidence that Trump colluded or coordinated with Russia to hack the Democratic National Committee’s emails to discredit the campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Trump’s decision to push the Freedom Caucus to fish-or-cut-bait on the GOP’s health care bill was his way of saying let Obamacare stay the law of the land. House Speaker Ryan made it clear yesterday that Obamacare remains in place. When you consider the many flaws to the GOP’s replacement bill, it’s a good thing to let things stay the way they are. “They can’t write policy that actually makes sense, they can’t implement the policies they do manage to write, they can’t get their stories straight, and today we’ve learned that they can’t close a deal and they can’t count votes,” said Schumer, rubbing it in. Instead of quietly accepting the results, Pelosi and Schumer have to gloat, perhaps prompting the Freedom Caucus to eventually jump to support Ryan’s Obamacare replacement bill. Taking cheap shots at Trump, Pelosi and Schumer show why they harm the Democratic Party.
Former President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act forgot to install price controls against insurance industry price-gouging. Trump’s main objection to Obamacare involves the rapid escalation in premium costs, with increased deductibles making it more difficult for subscribers to access benefits. Instead of the big hullabaloo of reinventing the wheel with a replacement bill, the GOP and Democrats should have got together to fix Obamacare. Obamacare’s loophole for employers with over 50 employees to deny employer-based health insurance unless the employee works over 30 hours a week, should be reversed. No large employer should finance health care on the backs of American taxpayers. “So much for the Art of the Deal,” said Schumer sticking the knife a little more. Schumer doesn’t help his party pounding his chest at Trump’s expense.
Trump’s problems with the GOP during the campaign and since Jan. 20 stem from entrenched interests that don’t want real change. Trump has many enemies on Capitol Hill led by Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), both of whom are determined to sabotage his attempt to improve U.S.-Russian relations. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, seeks nothing short of impeaching Trump. Without any evidence, he insists Trump campaign officials colluded with Russia to sabotage Hillary’s campaign. Schiff’s the first to call Trump a liar for his March 5 tweet accusing Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower. Schiff and mainstream media outlets call Trump a “liar,” even after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) notified Trump his staff has been under FBI surveillance for months.
Boasting about a great victory on the defeat of Ryan’s Obamacare replacement, Schumer and Pelosi went over the top jumping up-and-down. “Today is a great day for our country,” said Pelosi. “It’s a victory. What happened on the floor is a victory for the American people—for our seniors, for people with disabilities, for our children, for our veterans.” Pelosi and Schumer did nothing to claim victory other that watch the GOP self-destruct, with the Freedom Caucus sabotaging Ryan’s bill. While Trump told the Freedom Caucus they must now live with Obamcare, they could come crawling back, handing Ryan the votes needed to pass. “I think the losers are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer because now they own Obamacare. The own it. 100 percent own it,” said Trump, giving it back to the Democrats. Apart from rate or deductible hikes, Obamacare looks here to stay.
