Title: GOP congressman [Rep. Thomas Massie]: Trump could be one-term president if health bill passes Source:
CNN URL Source:http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/22/polit ... -erin-burnett-out-front-cnntv/ Published:Mar 22, 2017 Author:Jason Squitieri Post Date:2017-03-26 22:54:56 by Gatlin Keywords:None Views:836 Comments:7
As President Donald Trump makes his final push to seal the deal with Republicans before the House votes Thursday on its bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, one Republican congressman opposed to the bill has a dire warning for the President.
"We're afraid he's a one-term president if this passes," Rep. Thomas Massie said during an interview on CNN's "Outfront" with Kate Bolduan. "We are trying to save him."
"Electorally, voting for this is bad today and it's going to be really bad in two or three years when the changes start kicking in and health insurance prices start going through the roof," said Massie, of Kentucky.
The White House and House Speaker Paul Ryan have both expressed confidence they have momentum on their side, but Massie said he is not buying it.
"They're not telling you they have the votes because they don't have the votes," he said. "They're using a lot of euphemisms and they're sounding really optimistic, but I can tell you they're in trouble."
Massie said any changes that may still be made to the bill will not be enough to flip 30 conservative lawmakers he knows are opposed to the bill, and predicted there is only one way for that to happen. "I think we could get to yes, but I think it's going to take this bill going down tomorrow," Massie cautioned.
"They may pull the bill from the floor or they may push it to the floor," he said "If they do, I think it will fail."
Massie also gave Trump and Ryan advice on how to proceed if the bill is defeated.
"After this bill goes down tomorrow, we can go back to the drawing board and they can bring conservatives to the table instead of just trying to break their kneecaps and twist their arms after the bill is written, and then we can all take the credit for a good bill," he said.
Well, this isn’t the headline Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was hoping for as the GOP gets set to pick up the pieces after the AHCA failure on Friday:
The report comes from the Washington Post on Thursday on Ryan’s outreach to Rep. Don Young:
Leaders continued to plead with individual lawmakers to support the measure well into Thursday night, with the House Rules Committee slated to meet early Friday morning to consider the proposed changes.
Ryan got down on a knee to plead with Rep. Don Young, an 83-year-old from Alaska who is the longest-serving Republican in Congress and remains undecided.
