Sasse to Trump: Repeal Obamacare Now, Work on Replacement Later
“We should keep our word.”
Congressional Republicans cannot agree on health care reform, which has caused frustration and anger among the American public.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) sent a letter to President Donald Trump with a suggestion in the event members cannot reach an agreement when they return from Independence Day break: Repeal Obamacare now. Work on the replacement later.
.@bensasse: I'm looking for maximum repeal and then a real replacement bill pic.twitter.com/goNhfRxouI
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) June 30, 2017
Sasse wrote:
The Senate will next be in legislative session on Monday, July 10. If we don’t get to agreement on a combined, comprehensive ObamaCare repeal and replace plan by that day, I humbly suggest that you publicly call on the Congress to do two things: (1) to immediately repeal as much of ObamaCare as is possible under Congressional budget reconciliation rules, and then (2) to cancel the scheduled August state work period and instead to spend that month working through regular order, six days per week, writing a health reform package with a vote to be scheduled on Labor Day.
Sasse remains realistic, writing, “it looks like Republicans will either fail to pass any meaningful bill at all or will instead pass a bill that attempts to prop up much of the crumbling ObamaCare structures.” He reminded Trump that the president and the Republicans in the Senate ran on the promise of repealing Obamacare and that they should all keep their promises.
He tells Trump how they can do that:
Therefore, on July 10, if we don’t have agreement on a combined repeal and replace plan, we should immediately vote again on H.R. 3762, the December 2015 ObamaCare repeal legislation that the Congress passed but President Obama vetoed. We should include a year-long implementation delay to give comfort to Americans currently on ObamaCare that a replacement plan will be enacted before expiration.
It looks like Trump agrees with him:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/880737163247267840
Sasse responded with his appearance on Fox:
Sounds great, Pres. @realDonaldTrump
We are agreed. We need to break the logjam.https://t.co/b9eLmMolcs https://t.co/GrzRt8VASH
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 30, 2017
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Comments
I find it interesting that this is the proposal that is emerging six months after inauguration. To me, it was the starting point.
Duh… Ya think?
The rats of the GOPe are the obstacle in taking back our country – not the minority of democrats.
Booting them out of office is job one.
Are you imagining that you can persuade Collins, Murkowski, and 8 democrats to go for a full repeal, or are you imagining there’s some way to repeal it with a simple majority?
The Senate can repeal the filibuster rule for all legislation, as President Trump has requested.
The motion to repeal the filibuster can be filbustered, though. It was different for the “nuclear option” because that was interpreting precedent, not eliminating an established rule.
Couldn’t precedent simply be re-interpreted again?
This. Yes. Do that!
This is what Rand Paul met with Trump about the other day. The real story is that Sasse wrote a letter to reinforce the message and provide another newsworthy exchange.
Doesn’t Sasse know Mitch McConnells email address?
If I was Trump, anything from #neverTrumper Sasse would go in the shredder.
Yes! This is what they should do!
If there is still major concern about low-income people and health insurance, they can add a means-tested tax credit. So much less expensive than the bloated superstructure and anti-competitive ACA, or even AHCA.
Trump has already called for repeal. And as there is no evidence that Trump would not sign a bill repealing Obamacare, if the Congress passed one [ as they have done twice before], why is Sasse discussing this with the President? It sounds like he should be discussing this with the Congressional leadership. More worthless political theater. This is getting boring now.
Touche Touche Touche!
RE: “It sounds like he should be discussing this with the Congressional leadership. More worthless political theater. This is getting boring now.”
Can we stick it to Sasse now?
THEY DON’T HAVE THE VOTES FOR REPEAL. Not even 50. Stop living in fantasy land people.
Bringing it up for a vote would at least be clarifying.
In reality, the libs won this war a long time ago. We can’t have a healthcare system that is part free enterprise and part socialism. Reagan warned about this in 1964 – when Medicare was being debated. He saw it coming and its here.
So that leaves only one realistic solution, no?
Get ALL Governments 100% out of all healthcare!
Except in Realityville, nobody wants that.
I take a pretty radical approach to licensing, for instance. I think CERTIFICATION is the proper approach, and it tends to kill rent-seeking by incumbent practitioners of whatever you name.
But as radical as I am, I don’t want just any-old-body practicing medicine, or filling prescriptions, or surveying land, etc. If they can pass a well-designed test to gain certification, swell. I don’t care where or how they obtained their competency. All I care about is what they know and can do.
Likewise, we don’t want Johnny Jakeleg opening a completely under-capitalized insurance company, anywhere, at any time.
So there is a role…or some roles…for governments to play in providing both health care and health care insurance.
Especially hairdressers and lawyers.
We should include a year-long implementation delay to give comfort to Americans currently on ObamaCare that a replacement plan will be enacted before expiration.
Translation: no change, just a promise of some unspecified change in twelve months. Which we can predict would, as usual, be postponed before anything actually happened.
Big deal. This is just kicking the can down the road. The only innovation is that it would be a legislatively official kick, rather than the leisurely go-with-the-flow default kicks they’ve been doing so far.
Whatever the situation of the ObamaCare train-wreck at any particular moment, it only becomes more hardened and more difficult to undo with the passage of time.
The GOPe only votes to repeal Obamacare when they know the president will veto it (Obama). Now that that certainty’s gone by the wayside, they’re mired in political bullshit.
The quicker path might be doing nothing and letting Obamacare continue to die a natural death. Change ‘repeal and replace’ to ‘bury and replace’.
If Trump and the RINOs won’t do what they promised, then I say Ben Sasse for President!