Rand-ing & raving at GOP

Paul rips O’Care secrecy

Trouble broke out in the GOP’s post-election paradise on Thursday, with Sen. Rand Paul blasting his Republican colleagues in the House for not letting him see a draft of their bill to repeal ObamaCare.

The Kentuckian stormed from the Senate to the House side of Washington with reporters in tow to demand access to the draft from a room that was under guard by the Capitol police, Politico reported.

It was unclear what was in the draft bill or whether it was still in the room when Paul got there.

But when he was told he could not see it, he railed against his colleagues for a lack of transparency during an impromptu news conference.

“If you recall when ObamaCare was passed in 2009, 2010, [Rep.] Nancy Pelosi said we’ll know what’s in it after we pass it. The Republican Party shouldn’t act in the same way,” Paul said amid what Politico described as “a circus-like atmosphere” out- side House leaders’ offices.

“This is being presented as if it were a national secret, as it if it were a plot to invade another country. That’s wrong. It should be done openly in the public. And conservatives who have objections that don’t want ObamaCare lite should be able to see the bill,” he said.

Conservatives have voiced concern over what they see as a lack of transparency in the process of fulfilling President Trump’s vow to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act.

During his address to Congress Tuesday, Trump tossed the ball into lawmakers’ court and said they had to work out the details, which to date have been scarce, despite the GOP’s repeated calls to kill the law ever since it was enacted.

Rep. Paul Tonko (D-Albany) also said he was not able to read the bill and was told it was not available.

“I want to read the bill because it’s affecting onesixth of the economy,” Tonko told Politico.