Trump, Pence, McConnell call for full, clean repeal of Obamacare

Trump, Pence, McConnell call for full, clean repeal of Obamacare

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader [score]Mitch McConnell[/score] called for the full, clean repeal of Obamacare in late-night statements Monday.

The statements were released after four Republican senators backed away from the Better Care Reconciliation Act bill, which was designed to repeal and replace Obamacare in one fell swoop, leaving McConnell unable to reach the 50 votes required to pass the Obamacare rewrite.

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

“Regretfully, it is not apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure Obamacare will not be successful,” McConnell followed in a statement 31 minutes later, at 11:48 p.m., adding:

So, in the coming days, the Senate will vote to take up the House bill with the first amendment in order being what a majority of the Senate already supported in 2015 and that was vetoed by then-President Obama: a repeal of Obamacare with a two-year delay to provide for a state transition period to a patient-centered health care system that gives Americans access to quality, affordable care.

Republican Sens. [score]Rand Paul[/score], a Kentucky conservative, and [score]Susan Collins[/score], a Maine liberal, had opposed the Senate’s second repeal-and-replace bill early on. Paul, because he felt it left Obamacare in place; Collins, because she opposed repealing the welfare programs it entailed. They were joined in their opposition Monday by Sens. [score]Mike Lee[/score] of Utah and [score]Jerry Moran[/score] of Kansas.

“If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now,” Trump tweeted on June 30, referencing the first attempt to repeal and replace, “they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!”

The plan to pass a clean repeal bill was first heralded by conservatives, including Sen. Paul and Heritage Action, because they believed the horse-trading necessary to accomplish both repeal and replace at the same time would hobble the effort. Their plan was to push for a two-year window where congressmen and senators would be able to craft replacement legislation after Obamacare’s fate was set.

Democrats, who have vowed to torpedo any GOP effort to repeal Obamacare, might then be pulled to the negotiation table, enabling Washington to pass a bill with support from both parties.

The likeliness of bipartisan support is still low, given the atmosphere in Washington, the parties’ widely differing agendas, and the polarized mood of the parties’ supporters.

This report, by Christopher Bedford, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

LU Staff

LU Staff

Promoting and defending liberty, as defined by the nation’s founders, requires both facts and philosophical thought, transcending all elements of our culture, from partisan politics to social issues, the workings of government, and entertainment and off-duty interests. Liberty Unyielding is committed to bringing together voices that will fuel the flame of liberty, with a dialogue that is lively and informative.

Comments

For your convenience, you may leave commments below using Disqus. If Disqus is not appearing for you, please disable AdBlock to leave a comment.