Thanks to globalist U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.; shown) and two other Big Government-loving so-called “Republicans in Name Only,” also known as RINOs, the Democrats’ deeply unpopular ObamaCare scheme that swept GOP lawmakers into office across America remains firmly in place. In a 51 to 49 vote, the Senate rejected the “skinny” repeal of parts of the controversial healthcare takeover, setting the stage for further negotiations — or perhaps an implosion of the U.S. healthcare system already on the verge of collapse due to unconstitutional government meddling. But as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell claims it is “time to move on,” calls for him and other RINO leaders to step down are growing louder. Either way, Trump and liberty-minded lawmakers vowed to press on until ObamaCare is history.
The vote early Friday morning on the so-called “Health Care Freedom Act” was as close as can be. With one more vote in favor, the measure would have gone to a conference committee with the House of Representatives to work out a compromise bill. But due to 48 Democrats and McCain, who had earlier supported repeal, along with liberal “Republican” Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the effort was defeated — for now. “This is clearly a disappointing moment from skyrocketing costs to plummeting choices and collapsing markets,” McConnell said. “Our constituents have suffered through an awful lot under Obamacare. We thought they deserved better. It’s why I and many of my colleagues did as we promised and voted to repeal this failed law.”
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In a statement, McCain, apparently dishonestly, claimed he still supported repealing ObamaCare. “While the amendment would have repealed some of Obamacare’s most burdensome regulations, it offered no replacement to actually reform our health care system,” complained McCain, without noting that the the Constitution he swore to uphold grants no federal powers “to actually reform our health care system.” “We should not make the mistakes of the past that has led to Obamacare’s collapse, including in my home state of Arizona where premiums are skyrocketing and health care providers are fleeing the marketplace. We must now return to the correct way of legislating and send the bill back to committee.” Anti-GOP fanatics who days earlier were cheering McCain’s cancer celebrated him as a hero for the vote.
More than a few Big Government Republicans and Democrats have complained that if ObamaCare is repealed, millions of Americans would no longer buy Obama-approved health insurance. The reason that millions would drop out, of course, is that millions of Americans do not want it, and only buy it due to the federal threats, subsidies, and coercion. But without coercing young, healthy people to participate in the unconstitutional scheme, it collapses. And so, the crony Big Insurance industry and its swarms of high-paid lobbyists are desperate to keep ObamaCare’s architecture in place, in addition to securing direct access to American taxpayers’ wallets via a perpetual bailout fund. And the scheming has not gone unnoticed on Capitol Hill.
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), among a select group of lawmakers in Washington with loyalty to the Constitution, blamed crony capitalists and their lobbyists for trying to sink the repeal effort. “How did the GOP lose its nerve and run away from meaningful repeal? Look no further than the billion dollar insurance companies,” the liberty-minded senator wrote on the Rare.us website. “The insurance industry, titans of crony capitalism, whined and whined that repeal alone would cause premiums to rise. Insurers to drop out. Americans to lose coverage. Really? You mean exactly what is happening now under Obamacare?” In fact, because the repeal failed, Paul said the same thing would continue happening — premiums will “skyrocket,” insurers will jump ship, and Americans will have less choices.
But the insurance companies circling D.C. like vultures are not done yet. “What did the insurance companies want? Well, your money of course,” Paul explained. “It, apparently, is not enough to gouge us with the doubling of premiums; the insurance companies also lobbied, and lobbied hard, for a giant insurance bailout superfund. And, with compliant big government Republicans, they finally porked it up to nearly $300 billion. Obscene. The GOP pork-fest offered to exchange Medicaid dollars for insurance profits. No wonder the bill had a 20 percent approval by the public.”
While the clean repeal Paul supported was “not perfect,” it would have at least forced action on rolling back the damage wrought by ObamaCare. Instead, the healthcare crisis will continue, and Big Government Republicans will work with Democrats to “foist upon America more federal intervention into what should be a very private and personal matter.” “Libertarian enthusiasts and optimists will hope that technology and disruptive Uber-like forces will surmount the grip of pols who lack sufficient confidence in what made America great: freedom, freedom of choice unfettered and unchained,” Paul concluded. “We can only hope so.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), another of one Congress’ constitutionally minded lawmakers, was similarly fuming at the Senate’s failure. “I sadly feel a great many Americans will feel betrayed, that they were lied to, and that sentiment will not be unjustified,” said Cruz, a leading champion of getting rid of ObamaCare, after the Friday morning vote. “You cannot campaign against Obamacare and then vote for Obamacare.”
President Trump, who made repealing (and replacing) the unpopular ObamaCare a centerpiece of his successful campaign, was also furious, saying “3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down.” “As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal,” Trump wrote on Twitter, calling for an overhaul of Senate rules to facilitate getting rid of the scheme. “If Republicans are going to pass great future legislation in the Senate, they must immediately go to a 51 vote majority, not senseless 60.” Multiple sources reported that Trump remains determined to deliver on getting rid of ObamaCare, and negotiations are apparently ongoing. A number of lawmakers have also joined the bandwagon on reforming Senate rules.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a RINO who has repeatedly betrayed conservatives on everything from education to healthcare, also called for the Senate to continue working on a “repeal and replace” effort to undo ObamaCare. “We were sent to Washington to fulfill the pledges we made to our constituents. While the House delivered a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, unfortunately the Senate was unable to reach a consensus,” Ryan said in a misleading statement that did not point out how much of ObamaCare was kept in place under his phony House “repeal” bill. “I am disappointed and frustrated, but we should not give up. I encourage the Senate to continue working toward a real solution that keeps our promise.” The House, of course, will have to go back to the drawing board, too, if the GOP’s promises are going to be kept.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus, which includes a number of conservative and liberty-minded lawmakers along with others involved mostly for appearances, also blasted the Senate and demanded that lawmakers get back to work. Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) rejected RINO calls to work with Democrats in undoing the healthcare abomination they foisted on America, saying the GOP must lead the way. “In the end, we will prevail,” he explained in a TV interview. “I’m optimistic we can still get it done. People are losing faith but I can tell you we are still staying in.” Meadows also said he had spoken to Trump after the vote. “I can tell you who is staying in: The president is staying in on this fight,” the congressman said. “He is going to deliver. He made it clear this morning.”
Other members of the Caucus such as Representative Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who is being given a great deal of publicity by the establishment press as he runs for an Alabama Senate seat against conservative hero Justice Roy Moore, went even further, suggesting McConnell should consider stepping aside. “If they’re going to quit, well then by God, maybe they ought to start at the top with Mitch McConnell leaving his position and letting somebody new, somebody bold, somebody conservative take the reins,” said Brooks, who, with a 74 percent on The New American‘s Freedom Index, is one of Alabama’s most constitutional members of Congress. “It’s not necessarily anything bad about Mitch McConnell himself personally, but he’s got a job to do, and if he can’t do it, then as The Apprentice would say, you’re fired. Get somebody who can.”
On the other side, Democrats and even the Communist Party USA that boasted of “utilizing” the Democrat Party expressed relief that the imploding, deeply unpopular ObamaCare remained intact — despite the promises of virtually every federal GOP candidate to kill the scheme. Now, after imposing ObamaCare on America without a single Republican vote, top Democrats want “bipartisanship” to supposedly “fix” the disaster they unleashed. “We are not celebrating. We’re relieved… I hope we can work together to make the system better in a bipartisan way,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at a press conference after the repeal failed. “At the very beginning we should stabilize the system.” The United Nations has also chimed in to claim, absurdly, that Americans may not repeal ObamaCare because of “international law.”
Republicans have picked up almost 1,000 legislative seats since Democrats united behind Obama to foist the unconstitutional monstrosity known as ObamaCare on America without a single Republican behind it. But with Republicans now holding the reigns of power in both houses of Congress, the White House, and in a solid majority of states, the fact that ObamaCare remains in place is set to become a putrid albatross around the GOP’s neck if they do not fulfill their campaign pledges. Every day ObamaCare remains in place is another day that the healthcare system is further destroyed — and another day that voters lose more confidence in Republicans.
Tinkering with the unconstitutional fiasco known as ObamaCare will not be enough. Instead, Republicans should adhere to the U.S. Constitution they swore to uphold and get the federal government completely out of healthcare. That way, Democrats can try their failed Big Government ideas in the bankrupt states they control — at least until it all comes crashing down — and more liberty-minded states can try a free-market approach. There is no good reason or any semblance of constitutional authority for healthcare decisions to made in Washington, D.C. — period. Republicans must do what voters elected them to do.
Photo of Sen. John McCain being pursued by reporters after his vote against the “skinny” repeal of ObamaCare: AP Images
Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, education, politics, and more. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU or on Facebook.
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