Republicans blew it! Read all about it in my recent commentary.
Now, let's move on to the implications of the Republicans not being able to get the AHCA passed in the House, which the Democrats are celebrating. They are celebrating lies that helped them pass the UCA, and the outright lies used to discourage passage of the AHCA.
Failure to pass the AHCA means all the people whose health insurance deductibles and premiums have skyrocketed will see their rates continue to go up. It means all the thousands of counties that have only one insurer vying for business in their county will not get any more - assuming the ones they have now stay. It means that there will be no new health care exchanges opening up to give people false hope of being able to find affordable health insurance.
It means the doctors you couldn't keep and the plans you lost are gone! It means that people who have no insurance still can't afford to get it. It means the full time jobs some people lost because of the UCA remain gone.
All of these consequences will be with us for at least another year, while the UCA continues to implode. That's not something to celebrate.
Pulling the AHCA from even a congressional vote also means we will not know who would have officially voted against it. Maybe there's a vote coming. We don't know. That's why I say all of the Republicans failed us unnecessarily.
We knew that the fight in the Senate would be intense with such a narrow majority. But too many Republican senators talked against the AHCA before it even got to the Senate. We should have at least been able to get something passed in the House.
We also knew we could not expect a perfect bill to emerge, but I believe the AHCA was at least a good start. I wonder how many Republicans against it actually knew what was in it.
President Trump and members of Congress say that next on the agenda is tax reform. While that's an exciting prospect, I can't get excited about the prospects of it actually happening. That's because the president and the Republicans in Congress will always be fighting against the Democrats, the liberal media, false and misleading advertising, and even the Washington establishment.
Now we see what happens when you add to those negative forces the Republicans fighting each other. I'm not giving up on President Trump, Secretary Price or the Trump Administration. I just don't have a lot of positive enthusiasm for the Republicans in the House or the Senate right now.
At least they are moving on. We will wait and see what that looks like.
