For more than seven years, Republicans obstructed and rallied their base with the idea that Obamacare was “America slouching toward socialism.” What's more, Republicans promised they would repeal and replace President Obama's signature legislation with a better way. Repeal and replace was a great message, but GOP leadership failed to craft serious replacement legislation. And now we've learned that their rallying cry was only that — a good campaign mantra.
To be fair, there were plenty of draft bills. In fact, Tom Price, the current Secretary of Health and Human Services, was the lead author on one such bill. (Though it lacked the seriousness needed to replace the current law.) And the House of Representatives in the 114th Congress voted nearly 60 times to repeal Obamacare. This week, however, Republicans are struggling to lead — with an incoherent rollout of their signature piece of legislation since winning in November — and reassure Americans that their plan is better. At least nine GOP senators have expressed grave concerns about the draft bill, coming from both moderate and conservative wings of the party. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton pleaded with the House leadership to “pause, start over. Get it right. Don't get it fast.”
