The big mistake in the Obamacare repeal fiasco

I am really surprised that the Republicans could make such a fundamental mistake in their approach to getting rid of Obamacare.

 I thought that they must have been to one too many cocktail parties and been given too many drink tickets. What Washington means to be held “accountable” is to only receive one ticket, rather than two or three. 

While almost all of the Republican members would vote for a repeal, not that many wanted anything to do with the replacement part. That was the problem.

What they should have done if they had had any sense was to first vote on repealing Obamacare, but not the replacement part.

Once signed into law, there would be a one year countdown as to when the Obamacare repeal was effective.

Second, after the repeal the Republicans could work to replace it if they wanted, knowing that the Democrats would be forced to compromise as to the bill’s contents, as something is better than nothing.

In addition, as the next election was years away, the American public would have long forgotten about Obamacare and since we will be have so many crises in the meantime, it would be old news. Very old news.

Further, if the Democrats refused to “compromise,” the Republicans could use that to persuade the public not to vote them back in as “…they wouldn’t provide “better health care for the public.” ” whatever that means.

So breaking the repeal and replace into two bills, would have fixed the problem.

A few years ago, I gave a speech where I asked the audience why there are two major political parties in the US, Republican and Democratic. The audience answered with the philosophical positions of both groups.

While they were correct, I said that the real reason was that when it all went wrong, one side could blame the other. And when it all went right, the ruling party could claim all of the credit.

Perhaps we’ll see the Republican party develop some sense and take another swing at repealing Obamacare, but this time do it the correct way? We’ll see.

Perhaps they all need just a single drink ticket.