Sadly, “conservative” pundits have joined the mainstream media in calling RINOCare 2.0 a repeal of Obamacare. It is not such thing. While it takes on some issues of Obamacare, it continues to allow a vast majority of Obamacare to remain in place and adds new socialist principles. In fact, truth be told, it could be said to be a “reform” of Obamacare, but the results are still big government and exchanging money from some people to others.
With that in mind, many are labeling these Republicans as those who voted to “save Obamacare.”
- Andy Biggs, Arizona
- Mike Coffman, Colorado
- Barbara Comstock, Virginia
- Ryan Costello, Pennsylvania
- Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania
- Dan Donovan, New York
- Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania
- Jaime Herrera Beutler, Washington
- Will Hurd, Texas
- Walter Jones, North Carolina
- David Joyce, Ohio
- John Katko, New York
- Leonard Lance, New Jersey
- Frank LoBiondo, New Jersey
- Thomas Massie, Kentucky
- Patrick Meehan, Pennsylvania
- Dave Reichert, Washington
- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida
- Chris Smith, New Jersey
- Mike Turner, Ohio
The claims that they voted to save Obamacare is laughable. Several of these representatives voted against it because it is still unconstitutional. Yes, I know it’s hard for conservatives and liberals to believe that there are a few that actually want to follow the Constitution’s restrictions on what they can legislate and what they can spend money on. America would be better off if all congressmen did this.
One of those people was Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). He called the bill “a bad bill” in an interview with Glenn Beck.
“Some people said that I let perfect become the enemy of the good,” Massie said. “I tell them this was not a good bill.”
Massie said that at least three in the list above voted against the bill for conservative reasons: Walter Jones, Andy Biggs, and Massie. He then went on to explain why he voted against it.
“The reason that I voted against it is just last year, as Republicans, we were arguing that mandates were unconstitutional, subsidies would bankrupt our country, and that bailouts were immoral,” he said. “And this bill has all those things in it. What happened to our arguments? We have forever enshrined now the notion in the Republican platform, in the Republican Party in DC at least, that all these things are legitimate, and I reject that completely.”
In responding to President Trump’s claim that the bill is great for America and pontificating as though he knows even what is in it, Massie said that Republicans are attempting to play a “game of Jenga” with Obamacare by pulling out certain portions of it while thinking it will make it stand up straighter without repealing the entire thing.
“That’s not going to happen,” said Massie. “It’s going to collapse on us, and you can’t repeal certain mandates and keep other mandates. That’s wishful thinking.”
“The pool of people that are covered by the individual insurance plan is going to get unhealthier as the healthy people leave when they realize they can sign up anytime they want,” Massie added.
Massie applauded the Freedom Caucus for getting a bit in the bill that would allow states to receive waivers of certain portions of Obamacare mandates, but pointed out that those waivers are only temporary, and at the discretion of the Health and Human Services Secretary at the time.
Massie conceded that this is just another step in pushing us toward a single payer system. In other words, as I’ve told you before, Democrats play us on one side and then Republicans play us on the other. The Democracts gave us Obamacare. Republicans refuse to get rid of it. They have at least two simple bills (here and here) which would repeal the entire thing, but they won’t advance those. So they “jenga” Obamacare, so that when it fails, it will have their fingerprints all over it and Democrats will say, “Look, we tried it our way, and we’ve tried it the Republicans way, the only solution is single payer now.”
And don’t be so naive and to think establishment Republicans don’t know what they are doing here. They know exactly what they are doing! And Trump doesn’t get a pass either because, in the end, he took an oath to the Constitution, which grants no authority for any of this criminal legislation.
Massie reiterated many of these points following his vote against the American Health Care Act in a Facebook post on Thursday.
As recently as a year ago, Republicans argued that mandates were unconstitutional, bailouts were immoral, and subsidies would bankrupt our country. Today, however, the House voted for a healthcare bill that makes these objectionable measures permanent.
The former Democrat Speaker of the House was rightfully derided for imploring Members to vote for a healthcare bill to “find out what was in it.” Yet today, we voted on a healthcare bill for which the text was available only a few hours before the vote. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office had no time to even provide Congress with a preliminary estimate of the full cost of this bill.
By repealing a small number of Obamacare mandates, while leaving others in place, this bill runs the risk of destroying what remains of the individual health insurance market. The option in this bill that allows States to apply for waivers from some Obamacare mandates is well-intentioned. However, it falls far short of our promise to repeal Obamacare. There also remains the risk that State legislatures, like our federal legislature, are unable to withstand the political pressure from lobbyists who defend Obamacare, and the pressure from those who receive Obamacare’s welfare handouts.
This bill should have included measures that allow Americans to take charge of their own healthcare and get the government out of the way. These measures include allowing the deduction of health insurance costs from income taxes, giving everyone the ability to purchase insurance across state lines, and allowing individuals to band together through any organization to purchase insurance.
In weighing my vote, I heeded the wise advice that “one should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” If this bill becomes law, it could result in worse outcomes, fewer options, and higher prices for Kentuckians who seek health care. In summary, I voted against this bill not because it’s imperfect, but because it’s not good.
The list above is about those who rejected a really bad bill, but the remaining congressmen who voted in favor of the bill are the ones who are really trying to save Obamacare.
Here’s a few that voted for the bill, but didn’t read it.
Mark Sanford, South Carolina
Chris Collins, New York
Tom Garrett, Virginia
Others didn’t read it, which I pointed out on Friday. Here’s all the Republicans who voted “Yes” to keeping Obamacare alive and well and breaking their promise to repeal it.
AL-1 Bradley Byrne
AL-2 Martha Roby
AL-3 Mike D. Rogers
AL-4 Robert B. Aderholt
AL-5 Mo Brooks
AL-6 Gary Palmer
AR-2 French Hill
AR-3 Steve Womack
AR-4 Bruce Westerman
AZ-2 Martha E. McSallyY
AZ-4 Paul Gosar
AZ-6 David Schweikert
AZ-8 Trent Franks
CA-4 Tom McClintock
CA-22 Devin Nunes
CA-23 Kevin McCarthy
CA-45 Mimi Walters
CA-48 Dana Rohrabacher
CA-50 Duncan Hunter
CO-4 Ken Buck
FL-1 Matt Gaetz
FL-2 Neal Dunn
FL-3 Ted Yoho
FL-4 John Rutherford
FL-11 Daniel Webster
FL-12 Gus Bilirakis
FL-15 Dennis A. Ross
FL-16 Vern Buchanan
FL-17 Tom Rooney
FL-18 Brian Mast
FL-19 Francis Rooney
GA-1 Earl L. “Buddy” Carter
GA-3 Drew Ferguson
GA-7 Rob Woodall
GA-9 Doug Collins
GA-10 Jody B. Hice
GA-11 Barry Loudermilk
GA-12 Rick W. Allen
GA-14 Tom Graves
IA-4 Steve King
IL-13 Rodney Davis
IL-15 John Shimkus
IL-18 Darin M. LaHood
IN-2 Jackie Walorski
IN-3 Jim Banks
IN-4 Todd Rokita
IN-5 Susan W. Brooks
IN-6 Luke Messer
IN-8 Larry Bucshon
KS-1 Roger Marshall
KS-2 Lynn Jenkins
KS-4 Ron Estes
KY-1 James Comer
KY-2 Brett Guthrie
KY-6 Andy Barr
LA-1 Steve Scalise
LA-3 Clay Higgins
LA-5 Ralph Abraham
MD-1 Andy Harris
ME-2 Bruce Poliquin
MI-1 Jack Bergman
MI-2 Bill Huizenga
MI-4 John Moolenaar
MI-6 Fred Upton
MI-7 Tim Walberg
MI-8 Mike Bishop
MI-10 Paul Mitchell
MI-11 Dave Trott
MN-2 Jason Lewis
MO-2 Ann Wagner
MO-3 Blaine Luetkemeyer
MO-4 Vicky Hartzler
MO-6 Sam Graves
MO-7 Billy Long
MO-8 Jason Smith
MS-3 Gregg Harper
MS-4 Steven M. Palazzo
NC-2 George Holding
NC-5 Virginia Foxx
NC-6 Mark Walker
NC-7 David Rouzer
NC-8 Richard Hudson
NC-9 Robert Pittenger
NC-10 Patrick T. McHenry
NC-11 Mark Meadows
NC-13 Ted Budd
ND-1 Kevin Cramer
NE-2 Don Bacon
NE-3 Adrian Smith
NJ-3 Tom MacArthur
NV-2 Mark Amodei
NY-1 Lee Zeldin
NY-2 Peter T. King
NY-19 John J. Faso
NY-21 Elise Stefanik
NY-23 Tom Reed
NY-27 Chris Collins
OH-1 Steve Chabot
OH-4 Jim Jordan
OH-5 Bob Latta
OH-6 Bill Johnson
OH-8 Warren Davidson
OH-12 Pat Tiberi
OH-15 Steve Stivers
OH-16 James B. Renacci
OK-1 Jim Bridenstine
OK-2 Markwayne Mullin
OK-3 Frank D. Lucas
OK-4 Tom Cole
OK-5 Steve Russell
OR-2 Greg Walden
PA-3 Mike Kelly
PA-4 Scott Perry
PA-5 Glenn Thompson
PA-9 Bill Shuster
PA-10 Tom Marino
PA-11 Lou Barletta
PA-16 Lloyd K. Smucker
PA-18 Tim Murphy
SC-1 Mark Sanford
SC-2 Joe Wilson
SC-4 Trey Gowdy
SC-7 Tom Rice
SD-1 Kristi Noem
TN-1 Phil Roe
TN-2 John J. Duncan Jr.
TN-3 Chuck Fleischmann
TN-4 Scott DesJarlais
TN-6 Diane Black
TN-7 Marsha Blackburn
TN-8 David Kustoff
TX-1 Louie Gohmert
TX-2 Ted Poe
TX-3 Sam Johnson
TX-4 John Ratcliffe
TX-5 Jeb Hensarling
TX-6 Joe L. Barton
TX-7 John Culberson
TX-8 Kevin Brady
TX-10 Michael McCaul
TX-11 K. Michael Conaway
TX-12 Kay Granger
TX-13 Mac Thornberry
TX-14 Randy Weber
TX-17 Bill Flores
TX-19 Jodey Arrington
TX-21 Lamar Smith
TX-22 Pete Olson
TX-24 Kenny Marchant
TX-25 Roger Williams
TX-26 Michael C. Burgess
TX-27 Blake Farenthold
TX-31 John Carter
TX-32 Pete Sessions
TX-36 Brian Babin
UT-1 Rob Bishop
UT-2 Chris Stewart
UT-3 Jason Chaffetz
UT-4 Mia Love
VA-1 Rob Wittman
VA-2 Scott Taylor
VA-5 Tom Garrett
VA-6 Robert W. Goodlatte
VA-7 Dave Brat
VA-9 Morgan Griffith
WA-5 Cathy McMorris Rodgers
WI-1 Paul D. Ryan
WI-5 Jim Sensenbrenner
WI-6 Glenn Grothman
WI-7 Sean P. Duffy
WV-1 David B. McKinley
WY-1 Liz Cheney
AK-1 Don Young
AR-1 Rick Crawford
CA-1 Doug LaMalfa
CA-8 Paul Cook
CA-10 Jeff Denham
CA-21 David Valadao
CA-25 Steve Knight
CA-39 Ed Royce
CA-42 Ken Calvert
CA-49 Darrell Issa
CO-3 Scott Tipton
CO-5 Doug Lamborn
FL-6 Ron DeSantis
FL-8 Bill Posey
FL-25 Mario Diaz-Balart
FL-26 Carlos Curbelo
GA-8 Austin Scott
IA-1 Rod Blum
IA-3 David Young
ID-1 Raúl R. Labrador
ID-2 Mike Simpson
IL-6 Peter Roskam
IL-12 Mike Bost
IL-14 Randy Hultgren
IL-16 Adam Kinzinger
IN-9 Trey Hollingsworth
KS-3 Kevin Yoder
KY-5 Harold Rogers
LA-4 Mike Johnson
LA-6 Garret Graves
MI-3 Justin Amash
MN-3 Erik Paulsen
MN-6 Tom Emmer
MS-1 Trent Kelly
NE-1 Jeff Fortenberry
NJ-11 Rodney Frelinghuysen
NM-2 Steve Pearce
NY-22 Claudia Tenney
OH-2 Brad Wenstrup
OH-7 Bob Gibbs
PA-12 Keith Rothfus
SC-3 Jeff Duncan
WI-8 Mike Gallagher
WV-2 Alex X. Mooney
WV-3 Evan H. Jenkins
