Putting ‘Dent’ in health care plan stalemate

He’s looking to put a “Dent” into what has now become a dead end in the Republican Party’s health care debacle. It’s not going to be easy. Rep. Charlie Dent is a Republican who represents the 15th Congressional District which includes all of Lehigh County and parts of Lebanon, Dauphin, Northampton and Berks counties including a section of Hereford Township.

He has rocketed to the head of the class of the moderate wing of the Republican Party. And how did he do that? Easy. He stuck his neck out, despite the dire warnings that he would be rewarded by having it chopped off.

Unlike some other moderates, most notably Republican Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7, Dent did not hedge his bets when it comes to the push by the GOP to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the American Health Care Act.

Before last week’s House vote, Meehan indicated he was still undecided when it came to how he planned to vote on the measure.

Meehan knew all too well the political price showing his hand too early would bring. Announce his support for the GOP plan, and all those protesters who had been showing up at his district office every week would be calling for his head; announcing he would vote no would earn him the wrath of Republicans and the White House.

So Meehan did nothing – and turned that mediocre hand into a winning parlay. Knowing they did not have votes, Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, who championed the measure, had to saunter into the White House and tell President Trump the party simply did not have the votes to win their first important legislative test. Only after the bill was deep-sixed did Meehan show his hand, indicating he would have voted against the plan if it came to that.

Contrast Meehan’s actions to that of Dent. He was out front early in the week, saying without any ambiguity that he would not be able to support this bill.

And Dent’s not going away, despite suffering the slings and arrows of some pointed GOP attacks in the wake of the health care bill fiasco.

Even more important, as opposed to the president, who now seems to have moved on to other legislative efforts, content to allow Obama to “explode” on its own and “letting the Democrats own it,” Dent is ready to roll up his sleeves, correctly realizing that the death of the GOP plan should not be translated to mean that Obamacare is perfect.

Remember rescue and repair? That hasn’t gone away.

But Dent has some novel ideas – for a Republican – about what needs to happen now. First, he’s ready to do something Ryan, Trump and other GOP leaders ignored – much to their own peril. Dent says any attempt to fix Obamacare must be done via a coalition of Republicans and Democrats. He’s also emphasizing the repair aspect. Obamacare is the law of the land, and is now likely to remain that way for some time. Dent sees another push to repeal as folly, and is instead suggesting it be fixed a little bit at a time.

Dent spoke at the Harrisburg Press Club this week and did not hold back when it came to the myriad mistakes Ryan, Trump and others pulled off while bumbling their first big foray into the legislative rabbit hole.

Dent pointed out that Ryan pushed a piece of legislation that was not ready; he did it too soon; and he did it without support or cooperation of governors and many in his own party. And just for good measure they tried to ram a piece of legislation down House members’ throats in a couple of weeks, while Obamacare was debated for more than a year.

We probably should have gotten some indication of how this was going to go when no less than President Trump announced “no one knew how complicated health care was.”

House Republicans huddled with Ryan Tuesday, the first time they’ve gathered since the health care defeat. They planned to discuss their agenda and where they go from here.

Trump is still vowing that Dems will come looking for a deal “as soon as Obamacare folds.” We hope Republicans listen – for once – to more moderate, more attuned voices.

Charlie Dent would be a good place to start.