McConnell Needs Magic to Repeal and Replace Obamacare

To this observer of the political scene, it does not quite seem that the Repeal & Replace effort has yet been clinched. I have already opined on the House of Representative’s passage of their repeal legislation, which was passed for reasons unrelated to healthcare. Remember, how smoothly that process went? I wonder what ‘techniques’ were utilized to convince a few wavering House reps to choose wisely? Hopefully, these methods do not constitute torture, at least as defined by the Army Field Manual.

The world’s most deliberate body, The United States Senate, has not distinguished itself with the same task these past few weeks. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was attempting to defy gravity by promising passage, let alone a vote, on a horrendous bill that was rejected by factions within his own party. Hence, he delayed the vote until after the July 4^th recess hoping that there will be a providential act in the coming days that will cause the legislative lions to lie down the lambs. In other words, prayer may be McConnell’s only recourse and hope for success. So far, the Almighty has remained silent.

Can McConnell Pull a Rabbit Out of a Hat?

It’s hard to fathom how the calculus could change over the coming days and weeks. It’s a tough math problem when he has only a bare GOP majority to rely on. If he seduces a Republican moderate by changing a punctuation mark in the bill, then he may lose a conservative who demands that the semicolon be reinstated. What a fun time to be the leader!

The fundamental failing is that the House and Senate bills fail the country. While many GOP politicians disagree with me, I don’t measure success by the mere passage of a bill. Shouldn’t the content of the bill determine its value and not simply its passage? Most of our legislators and most of us do not believe that these bills would deliver on their promises of better health care, increased access and lower costs.

As readers know, I have penned at least a dozen posts opposing Obamacare. I wondered then, and still surmise, that its true purpose was to transition us to a single payer system – a model that the Sanderites and Warrenites now unabashedly champion. Many folks want ‘Medicare-for-All’ where the government controls all. I have more faith and confidence with the private market playing a role, admitting that much reform of the system is still needed. Which business model and performance do you admire more, Google or the Division of Motor Vehicles?

Can McConnell pull a rabbit out of a hat next week? Or, will he shift blame elsewhere? Will his threat to bring in a few Democrats into the process spook wavering GOP senators into submission?

Or, should we repeal the repeal effort and start over?

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