Obamacare
March 28, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
I guess so. Medicaid is considered an entitlement program, so Obamacare should be too. However, Obamacare (and Medicaid) differs materially from Social Security and Medicare, the classic entitlement programs. Everyone can get Social Security and Medicare if they reach a certain age. Moreover, because we pay into these programs, there’s a strong case that we are entitled to receive benefits. Obamacare is a welfare program. It provides free health insurance
»
March 28, 2017 — Scott Johnson
PolitiFact executive director Aaron Sharockman appeared for the first hour of Hugh Hewitt’s syndicated Salem Radio show this morning. Hugh invited Sharockman on to explore PolitiFact’s drive-by on Hugh himself, noted by us yesterday here and here. Hugh has now posted the audio along with the transcript of his interview. PolitiFact found Hugh falsely to have asserted that Obamacare is in a death spiral. I think this is a matter
»
March 27, 2017 — Scott Johnson
PolitiFact has updated its post rating Hugh Hewitt’s assertion of the Obamacare death spiral False. PolitiFact continues the argument by addressing Hugh’s tweets and reiterates its rating of his statement as False. As Hugh indicated to us, PolitiFact says it contacted Hugh yesterday at noon by email to Hugh’s booker. PolitiFact posts a screenshot of the email to Hugh’s booker in the update. Hugh responds: Glad to see they covered
»
March 27, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
From the Washington Post: President Trump cast blame Sunday for the collapse of his effort to overhaul the health-care system on conservative interest groups and far-right Republican lawmakers, shifting culpability to his own party after initially faulting Democratic intransigence. His attack — starting with a tweet that singled out the House Freedom Caucus as well as the influential Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America — marked a new
»
March 27, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Our friend Hugh Hewitt appeared on the Meet the Press panel of pundits yesterday. They naturally addressed the failure of the repeal-and-replace Obamacare bill in the House. In the course of the discussion Hugh asserted that Obamacare is in a death spiral. This is a point that conservatives and Republicans have frequently made. President Trump himself made it in his own way on Saturday morning. ObamaCare will explode and we
»
March 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
My take on the political implications of the House’s failure to pass the GOP’s repeal-and-replace bill differs a little bit from John’s. In my view, the Democrats have good reason to be pleased by that failure, as things stand now. The Democrats’ argument is straightforward. As Scott says, Republicans have been running against Obamacare for years — promising to repeal and replace it. Yet, with a big majority in House
»
March 25, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Pretty much everyone thinks the House’s failure to pass the GOP’s repeal-and-replace bill is a disaster for Republicans. The Democrats are giddy with glee, and Matt Drudge calls it a “catastrophe.” Perhaps they are right, but I doubt it. Obamacare is in a death spiral. It is rapidly collapsing, and steadily becoming more unpopular as it fails more and more Americans. Congress will now move on to other tasks, like
»
March 25, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Republicans have campaigned against Obamacare roughly since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. After the failure yesterday in the House, however, they’re going to get back to us on that. Or the check is in the mail. Or something like that. Tim Alberta looks “Inside the GOP’s health care debacle.” Philip Klein offers a gimlet-eyed assessment of what just happened in “GOP cave on Obamacare repeal is
»
March 24, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
for a few weeks. Then, something happens and perception changes. I agree with John that the failure of the House to pass Obamacare replacement legislation this week doesn’t necessarily mean GOP House members won’t be able to pass important legislation on other fronts. Health care legislation represents a special challenge because it is so complex, because the stakes are so high, and because Obamacare screwed things up so badly. However,
»
March 24, 2017 — John Hinderaker
It became apparent this afternoon that the health care bill promoted by Republican leadership in the House did not have enough votes to pass, and the bill was pulled by Speaker Paul Ryan, despite President Trump’s earlier insistence that a vote be held. Based on the Washington Post’s account, it appears that Trump acquiesced in the decision. “‘We just pulled it,’ he said.” Inevitably, commentators will play the perceptions game:
»
March 23, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
My mantra on health care reform has been that it’s more important to do it right than to do it fast. President Trump disagrees. He insists that the House vote on Speaker Ryan’s (and his) flawed legislation tomorrow. After negotiations broke down today, Trump delivered an ultimatum: Pass the bill tomorrow or I’m moving on from Obamacare repeal. Congress can repeal and replace Obamacare even if the president moves on.
»
March 23, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Normally, when a new president and a House Speaker engage in heavy-duty arm-twisting over a piece of legislation, and they have a big enough majority to withstand 21 or 22 defections, the legislation passes the House. That’s all the more true if the legislation pertains to a vital issue and the president and the Speaker reasonably perceive that its defeat will have major adverse political consequences for them and their
»
March 21, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Sen. Tom Cotton announced today that he will not vote for the American Health Care Act in its present form. He released the following statement: Despite the proposed amendments, I still cannot support the House health-care bill, nor would it pass the Senate. The amendments improve the Medicaid reforms in the original bill, but do little to address the core problem of Obamacare: rising premiums and deductibles, which are making
»
March 16, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Can an entitlement program be killed? That seems to me the question implicit in the unfolding drama over the repeal of Obamacare. With their majorities in Congress and Obama in the White House, Democrats forced the passage of Obamacare without a single Republican vote. The party discipline they displayed was impressive to observe. In the style of the Roman captives paying their respects to the emperor Claudius, the Democrats who
»
March 15, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Speaker Paul Ryan acknowledged today that his health-care proposal must change to pass the House, and said he is prepared to change it. As the Washington Post points out, this seems like a departure from Ryan’s earlier position that his proposal presented lawmakers with a “binary choice” and could not be altered significantly. According to the Post, Ryan did not say what changes to his plan are under consideration. Nor
»
March 15, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
I have written about how congressional Republicans are subscribing to the view that key parts of Obamacare cannot be repealed through “reconciliation” — i.e., without 60 votes. This view — reflected in the House “replacement” legislation — holds that the GOP cannot repeal the price-hiking, competition-destroying regulations that form the core of Obamacare because the parliamentarian, pursuant to the Byrd Rule, won’t allow such repeal through the budget reconciliation process.
»
March 14, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday’s CBO report on the House GOP Obamacare replacement plan caused me to wonder: What kind of a political party front-loads reform legislation with pain — in this case, higher premiums — and backloads it with benefits — here, lower premiums and budgetary savings? The answer is, a political party led by Paul Ryan. The Speaker believes in legislating to fix problems in the long-term and, while waiting for the
»
