What's Next for the Obamacare Debate

On Friday, House Republican leadership, acting on the behest of President Trump, pulled the awful American Health Care Act from consideration, only minutes before a scheduled vote.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that Speaker Ryan, Trump, and the rest of leadership now seem to be running up the white flag on Obamacare repeal. Trump: “I’m glad I got it out of the way.” Ryan: “Obamacare is the law of the land…for the foreseeable future.”

Are you kidding me? They spend seven years campaigning for full repeal. They promise millions of voters that if their party just controlled the House of Representatives, Obamacare could be repealed. Then they just needed the Senate. Then, of course, once they had the Senate, Congress was no good unless they had the presidency as well. And now, after only two months and one half-baked, terrible bill that succeeded in uniting moderates, conservatives and Democrats in opposition, they’re giving up?

I don’t think so. Not if we have anything to say about it. The solution is simple: just pass the same damn bill Congress sent to President Obama in 2015. Don’t worry about the replacement for right now. Just repeal the mandates, repeal the taxes, repeal the regulations. Do what was literally the one thing every single member of the Republican conference was elected to do over the past four election cycles.

Go back to the drawing board. Talk to members. Lead. And repeal Obamacare, in full. Because if a solidly Republican Congress, working with a Republican president, can’t even achieve their single signature promise, then having a GOP majority isn’t worth a bucket of spit. And that, rather than actually keeping a core campaign promise, will be the one thing that could actually cost Republicans the majority in 2018.