PLAN TO REPEAL OBAMACARE DEAD
US president says death of plan to repeal Obamacare not end of the world for Republicans
WASHINGTON— US President Donald Trump tried to put on a brave face after his most stinging political setback yet, declaring that Obamacare would collapse and vowing to develop a “great” replacement.
“Obamacare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!” the Republican said on Twitter.
But it was far from clear how soon Trump and fellow Republicans would be willing to wade again into the perilous political minefield of health care reform after failing to repeal Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
Trump was holding unspecified meetings on Saturday at a golf club in Virginia.
Friday’s defeat was more than a small stumble—Trump had thrown his full political weight behind the measure, the first big legislative test of his nascent administration.
The bill’s failure marked a second major policy setback for Trump, after courts froze his efforts to block travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries.
The real estate mogul-turned-politician—who built his candidacy on his skills as a negotiator and deal closer—had very publicly twisted the arms of recalcitrant Republicans to rally votes, extending both carrots and sticks.
Freedom Caucus
But far-right lawmakers of the so-called Feedom Caucus mostly stood their ground, and every Democrat shunned the Republicans’ legislation, forcing the last-minute cancellation of a vote.
That raised questions about how Republican leaders would deal with the stubborn conservative bloc on major issues like tax reform and infrastructure spending, and how well Trump would be able to work with a divided party and a deeply polarized Congress.
It was a sobering lesson for the president on the differences between the top-down operations of a big company and the murky legislative process often compared to sausage-making.
“For Mr Trump,” said a New York Times editorial, “it is a rather brutal reminder that campaigning is the easy part.”
Trump declared himself “disappointed” and a “little surprised” by the defeat of the bill, placing the blame on Democrats and the “arcane” ways of Washington.
He said that “bad things [were] going to happen to Obamacare.”
“It’s imploding and soon will explode and it’s not going to be pretty,” Trump said.
His vice president, Mike Pence, said Friday’s events were “a victory for the status quo in Washington,” though “that vic- tory won’t last very long.”
Pence sounded as though the repeal-and-replace effort would continue unabated, telling a group at a small business in West Virginia on Saturday that “we will end the Obamacare nightmare and give the American people the world-class health care that they deserve.”
He acknowledged that “Congress just wasn’t ready ... We’re back to the drawing board.”
‘Obamacare nightmare’
While some parts of Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, have obvious problems, others are working well and have brought the country’s rate of uninsured people to a record low.
Eventually, he said, both parties would come together and “we will end the Obamacare nightmare.”
As a candidate, Trump had promised a “terrific deal” that would improve health care coverage while lowering costs.
Instead, House Speaker Paul Ryan conceded that Obamacare would remain for the “foreseeable future.”
Republicans had for years insisted Obamacare repeal was a paramount priority. While political analysts said the matter seemed dead for now, some conservatives urged Republicans not to throw in the towel.
Philip Klein, managing editor of the conservative Washington Examiner, called the setback “the biggest broken promise in political history,” concluding that “failing and then walking away on seven years of promises is a pathetic abdication of duty.”
“The Republican Party is a party without a purpose,” Klein said.
Friday’s setback sparked a flurry of finger-pointing among Republicans—both publicly and behind the scenes—as they weighed the damage to their credibility and sought a path forward.
A who-is-blaming-whom graphic on The New York Times website looked a bit like an octopus, with Trump publicly blaming Democrats, and other factors, while privately fingering Ryan.