June 7, 2017

Obamacare Repeal Is Right on Track

Erik Mcgregor/Pacific Press via ZUMA

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This is just a placeholder post to make sure everyone is on the same page about the progress of Obamacare repeal. After the House failed to pass Trumpcare 1.0, we all thought it was dead. When Paul Ryan revived it, we figured it was still dead. There was just no way to reconcile the various wings of the GOP. Then, in a sudden rush, with no hearings, no time to read the bill, and no CBO score, Trumpcare 2.0 passed.

Some lefties said: Maybe this is for the best. Let it pass in the House, chew up time in the Senate, and then fail there.

Well, now it’s in the Senate. Until today, it looked doomed. Republican senators all had hangdog expressions. They said it was impossible to reconcile the various wings of the GOP. As late as this morning, pundits were theorizing that Mitch McConnell just wanted a “body”—a bill that would fail, but which would show that at least he tried.

Now, suddenly, after a motivational lunch, everyone is feeling chipper. Maybe they can pass something after all! And they’ll do it with no hearings, no time to read the bill, and no CBO score.

I sure hope everyone is taking this seriously. It could happen. If there’s one thing that can unite the Republican Party, it’s showing up a bunch of smug Democrats. As for all those “moderates” who supposedly will never agree to a bill that takes away insurance from millions, just remember what happened in the House: after voting against Trumpcare 1.0, the moderates negotiated an even worse bill and then went ahead and voted for it. The thinnest reed on the planet is a Republican moderate.

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