The GOP Needs Points on the Scoreboard

Call me cynical, but I am dubious that Republicans are going to repeal and replace ObamaCare before an abbreviated August recess. Please note, I don’t think Congress should take a recess until ObamaCare and tax reform are on the president’s desk, but let me not digress here.

If Republicans don’t start getting some wins, Americans have every right to ask, “What good is it with you folks in the majority?”

It’s a fair question … a question we either need an answer to or we truly are proving that D.C. was not only built on a swamp, but the swamp has now encompassed it.

Americans – contrary to what much of the D.C. and New York press corps desire – want Congress to get some tangible conservative things done. If Republicans do not understand this basic fact, they will be seen as incompetent, do-nothing bureaucrats posing as Congresspersons who are spending all their time fighting Russian rumor accusations and hostile, progressive-led town halls.

So if by chance Republicans can’t seem to unite behind ObamaCare replace and repeal legislation to send to President Trump later this month, here is some practical advice to get some points on the scoreboard and show Americans that Congress can still work.

1. A stand-alone bill eliminating the individual tax/mandate on people who don’t want insurance. If some don’t want to get behind this common sense bill, include an amendment that if you don’t have insurance and a medical emergency requires you to visit a ER, then, like with student loans, it will be impossible to declare bankruptcy on this debt. Have it on the president’s desk in August. #Win
2. Eliminate the anti-competitive, job killing medical device tax. Have it on the president’s desk in August. #Win
3. Have House Speaker Ryan and Senate President McConnell invite all 50 governors and members of the congressional Democrat leadership to a working session. Close the doors and sit down to discuss and negotiate the Medicaid portion of an insolvent, past-hope program called ObamaCare. Have an actual working session on how to handle Medicaid, how to make it work for the states and taxpayers, and  — a really important fact — come to a resolution on how to pay for it. Those who have skin in the game should be at the table. #NowOrNever

No more drip-drip-drip in this slow waltz that is quickly turning into the Dance of Death, literally, for the millions who are beginning to look away from the city always meant to be a beacon of hope on a hill.

Time to rattle the chain and stop this process from being the standing joke on everyone’s tongues each morning at coffee shops from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine. Republicans and conservatives need to practice “adulting” and get some wins – for their electoral hopes and, more importantly, for the good of America.