The GOP gained a whopping 63 seats in the House of Representatives in 2010. They gained the majority in the Senate with nine victories in 2014. They won the popular vote outside of California in the 2016 presidential election. A result, in large part, of the 2010 passing of the affordable care act. Now it seems this political hot potato could be something that is jumping up to bite Republicans.
What in the world?
House Speaker Ryan had plenty of time to come up with a solution to the mess created by the Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately, the House GOP came up with a flawed replacement for Obamacare.
For example, Speaker Ryan says it gets rid of Obamacare's individual mandate, but people without insurance could be charged more for premiums if they've been without health care for a certain period. There were other mistakes with the GOP proposal, and thankfully there are some good politicians serving the American people in government. The House Freedom Caucus and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul stood against the House GOP proposal, labeling it "Obamacare lite." The bill couldn't pass even with a GOP majority in the House.
How do the people feel?
What does this do for President Trump and House Speaker Ryan politically? Well, for one, they now have egg on their faces. Democrats are essentially gloating about the GOP's inability to pass sensible healthcare reform when their party is the majority in both houses of Congress.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the withdrawal of the GOP healthcare bill was a "great victory" for the American people. Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton chimed in on Twitter, saying it was a victory for people who were at risk of losing healthcare coverage under the Republican plan.
Secondly, it was a failure of a promise made during several campaigns.
The Republicans won big in 2010, 2014, and in 2016 campaigning against Obamacare. Many of President Trump's campaign promises he's been able to keep, but this one should have been one of his most important accomplishments. Now it's entirely possible his constituents may no longer trust him or Speaker Ryan to get the job done they were put in power to do.
Surrounded by idiots.
The American people may no longer trust either political party representing them in the government. It's almost like the American voters are Dr. Evil in the first Austin Powers movie, and politicians are henchmen. Since almost all of Dr. Evil's henchmen have failed to accomplish the goal of killing Austin Powers, he pushes a button to throw each of them from their seats and through a trapdoor to be burned alive. He then asks, "Why do I have to be surrounded by idiots?!"
Just as Dr. Evil was able to throw idiots out of their seats, the American voters will soon be able to do the same. The 2018 midterms are next November, and if the Republican party may lose support from their base and be forced to deal with partisan voters from the left.
And that could be akin to the pain Mustafa had to experience after being "burned badly" in Dr. Evil's incinerator. With Trump's low approval rating, the GOP is going to need all the support from their base that they can muster up.
It's not that hard!
After the healthcare replacement failure, President Trump indicated that Obamacare "will explode" and that it's Democrats' fault. Well, technically he's right. After all, this mess the country is trying to work itself out of with healthcare is the legacy left behind by Barack Obama and his Democratic party, but let's remember who's in charge now. As Trump said, passage of the bill fell just short in the House by only ten or fifteen votes. But those votes were from principled conservatives unwilling to pass "Obamacare Lite." It should be easy for Trump and Ryan to come up with something conservatives can get behind. When will the GOP learn to stop being Democrats lite and start including conservatives in their legislation?
