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MaximilianUltimata

A post-mortem on the GOP healthcare bill

As much of a threat that healthcare bill was, it didn't have a chance to begin with. If they tried to stealth it through Congress, it might have had a chance, but people (most of them) got informed about the details of the bill too quickly. It was further exacerbated by protests and bickering from... well all sides, but most notably the more fringe and extreme right that believed the already skyrocketed premium costs and tax cuts for the rich (which this was a loose veil for) in this bill didn't go too far enough.

Despite the majority that the Republicans have in Congress (and every other branch of government at the moment), they (at least the more sane ones) knew voting for this thing after the media aired it out for almost several weeks would be career suicide. It booted tens of millions of people off of the healthcare they now have, booted even more people off because fuck you, it was a very transparent front for a massive tax cut for the rich (during a time when the Entropy just added even more money to the already overbloated runaway military budget, proposed cutting dozens of important social and safety programs, and Republicans went on TV to claim that we had no money), and anyone who might still have healthcare (read: those who don't need it at the moment) would be paying out the ass for it, even more so if they went without it for any period of time.

All the projections about what this healthcare bill would do were universally negative, and everyone knew it. The Entropy and the right tried to claim the numbers were fake and rigged, and the White House made their own projection, which turned out to be even LESS flattering. That was about the time everyone started pointing fingers and trying to distance themselves from it as fast as possible like it was a live grenade.

It is the opposite of what happened with Obamacare. The reason why we call the Affordable Healthcare Act "Obamacare" was an attempt by the Republicans to tag his name to the bill for if and when it failed. Since that never happened, and in fact worked despite the technical hiccups (and Obamacare not being single payer/universal healthcare, but that's a separate issue), they were very quick to try and disassociate him with it.

The fact that no one wanted to tag their name to this speaks volumes. As if that wasn't enough, the Republicans tried to forcefully tag each other with the bill, namely Paul Ryan and even the Entropy himself. They were setting up not just one of their own, but the Numbers One and Three in the administrative pecking order (if anything bad happens to the President and Vice President, the Speaker of the House inherits those executive powers, making them the Number Three in terms of importance in our government) to take the fall for this shitty bill.

The fact that it was pulled before it could even reach the House floor speaks even more volumes, and was only good news for the party's continued survival as a majority (and possibly as a party); it would have been better for us if it did come to a vote. Win or lose, voting for this was a Morton's Fork. Voting yes meant the constituents would know who voted yes for this terrible bill, even if it failed, meaning they would likely lose their seat in the midterm elections next year. Voting no meant the rest of the Republican Party (and more importantly their donors) would know who voted no, and disloyalty to the party like that is not good, which would mean they'd lose their donors, have future political campaigns aimed to destroy them (if you can't carry out the party's and our donors' wishes, we'll find someone who can!), and the party would lose whatever cohesion it currently has, which is already spotty at best because of the Entropy being as unstable as he is and the endless rallies across the country. It was a Mexican Standoff (what terrible and delicious irony) over this bill, so it was best for the GOP to not hold the vote.

I wouldn't consider this much of a victory. The GOP will likely try this again in the near future, possibly be even more sneaky about their true agenda (which would be difficult considering how everyone and their dog is now savvy to their motives, and the fact that the GOP and the Entropy are about as subtle as a nuclear bomb), but at least it staves off a worse catastrophe than the current one we're in. For now.
Viewed: 36 times
Added: 7 years ago
 
ColeDragonKnight
7 years ago
Seeing as they rolled back Obama era protections for privacy, i doubt this is much of a blow for them, now they can legally make millions selling our shit from the source.

That being said, Turnips meltdown is always funny
mouse24
7 years ago
Yup, even the south park people gave up on making fun of him. Every time they came up with something absurd he hasn't done, he went and did it.
MaximilianUltimata
7 years ago
Like I said, if it went to a vote, they would have destroyed themselves. It's just one small skirmish that we won (and it wasn't really much of a win to begin with) in a much larger conflict that we're currently losing.
KevinSnowpaw
7 years ago
i honestly saw this one coming, the majority of politicians did not support the trumpcare bill on either side.

I have been very vocal about not being a fan of Obamacare. I think the product is flawed and it's execution was poor and I despise being told that i have to BUY a government product regardless of weather or not a want it, basically at gun point. (your fined if you dont) thats fucking wrong.


that being SAID my issues with the affordable care act, are not with affordable healthcare or even the act itself just the way the Obama administration handled it.

I was an opponent of the trump care bill, it's easily just as flawed as Obamacare if not far worse, and it fixes next to none of the issues with Obamacare.. so im glad to see it die on the floor. Lets hope if trump resurrects it, he does so with massive reforms to it.


honestly theirs plenty of people on both sides of the party line that want to reform, but not replace, Obamacare. I would be fine with this. cut out the fact that it's mandatory and make a few tweaks here and there and honestly, it's not that bad a piece of legislation.
TerraMGP
7 years ago
I really hope the attempt to sell us out to ISPs and ad execs ends up shot down by the Supereme court... but as for the health care bill, I actually admit I am shocked.

I suppose there is a point where the GOP finally decides they can no longer risk the votes of the masses for the sake of corporations. I mean sure, they will kill EPA legislation to ensure we suffer the end result of pollution and ruin our education to keep kids dumb, but I guess damning even more people to a slow death is not in the party interests?

ACA was bad too, and I do wish Obama had just pushed a baseline for standardized health care off the bat which could be fixed later rather than simply focusing on something getting in the door. But good god Ryan just decided to write out every Randist fantasy he had to help make the GOP bill didn't he?

Honestly the biggest issue for me right now is how this validates some of the worst elements in our society.

Not just Trump, but many of these lawmakers get in though Gerrymandering and sell themselves to the private sector while their supporters blame 'big government' for the people they vote in taking bribes and working in corporate interests rather than that of the people. We now arguably have a minority-run system pushing in every bit of toxic legislation they can including the death of needed institutions all to make their corporate masters more money. I spend most of my days wondering how it has come to this.
MaximilianUltimata
7 years ago
It might, it might not. I think it would come down to how much that violates the 4th Amendment, and how much the Supreme Court would decide that a corporation would be allowed to do that (which is arguably worse than the government doing it, especially if it's with the government's blessing).

" I suppose there is a point where the GOP finally decides they can no longer risk the votes of the masses for the sake of corporations.


It was either piss off their voters or piss off their donors. No matter what, they were dancing with career suicide regardless of the way they voted, and this was felt throughout the entire House. To ad-lib a famous movie quote, "The only winning move is to not play." If only they did; I think that would have been better for us.

" Not just the Entropy, but many of these lawmakers get in though Gerrymandering and sell themselves to the private sector while their supporters blame 'big government' for the people they vote in taking bribes and working in corporate interests rather than that of the people. We now arguably have a minority-run system pushing in every bit of toxic legislation they can including the death of needed institutions all to make their corporate masters more money. I spend most of my days wondering how it has come to this.


That's probably been the biggest lie and scheme of all. This goes back decades, long before any of us were born, this effort to buy out gradually more of the government so the richest of the rich could hoard even more wealth and exclude themselves from the system. There's no greater conspiracy, there; just pure greed that has only gotten more ravenous over time. Over the years, it became so institutionalized that at this point, most of a politician's time spent right now is fundraising for their next campaign to get re-elected, and not actually doing anything related to what they were elected for.

That's also why I constantly use the term "Kabuki theater politics", because most of what happens in our government, especially when it comes to party clashes, is just a song and dance before they make a half-assed settlement that was usually determined beforehand... like the ACA. You also have the thread of politicians who are like Paul Ryan and Grover Norquist, who have bought into the idea of a corporatocracy so thoroughly, their objective is to make the government as inefficient as possible by not just sabotaging it, but also perpetuating a narrative that governments are inherently plagued with infinitely terrible leadership, people, ideas, methods and executions (if not outright evil, in which case they'll just point to Nazi Germany) for decades until people forget what an efficient and properly working government body ever looked like, while promoting the idea that corporations are almost synonymous with divinity. As of this minute, they nearly succeeded; talking with anyone my parents' age or older and they are almost absolutely thoroughly defeatist when it comes to politics.

"Nothing changes"

"Nothing ever gets done"

"Government can't not do nothin' right"

"Government only takes away your freedoms"

Except now that narrative is being lost right now, thanks to the Internet, pushback from people like me and from the newer generations, who are a quintillion times beyond sick and tired of the defeatism and fatalism and the endless ocean of lies, which were all created in the first place in the name of greed. Just in time to fight back against everything the GOP ever wanted finally coming to fruition.
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