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politics and politicians Title: Many GOP lawmakers furious at Freedom Caucus over healthcare bill Rank-and-file House Republicans have had enough of the Freedom Caucus' opposition to the way GOP leaders and President Trump propose to repeal the Affordable Care Act. One day before the bill is set to hit the House floor, the majority of the decidedly conservative caucus remains unwilling to yield to entireties from the Trump administration and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to support the legislation. That, leaders and more and more of their Republican colleagues say, cannot stand. Inaction is not an option. And if they torpedo the bill Thursday, it is argued they will embarrass the party and Trump. "I just feel like that this is our moment to move forward — no it's not a perfect bill [but] we have a chance to be united in moving forward in a major way," said Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., who leads the Republican Study Committee — the largest bloc within the House Republican Conference. "The tax reform, the infrastructure — we want to get started doing those," Walker told the Washington Examiner. "But right now this seems to be an impediment." Most the Freedom Caucus members who are against the bill say that leadership is rushing ahead and that there is plenty of time to hash out a better bill. They reject the notion that repealing Obamacare is "now-or-never" proposition and do not see Thursday as a defining moment for the party. "I don't know that I can sit here and spin out of that enough to say, 'oh it's not that big a deal,'" Walker said about the ramifications of failure. "It hands the president a big defeat, and that should concern all of us." Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, said Republican lawmakers' choice is back their president or buck him. "My record shows I'm among the most conservative members of Congress and for me it's pretty simple," he told the Washington Examiner. "Donald Trump got 76 percent of the vote in my district running on repealing and replacing Obamacare. "When the president looked me in the eye and said: 'This is my plan and my No. 1 legislative priority and I want your help.' As a guy that got 76 percent of the vote in the district, it was pretty easy to support it." Ratcliffe agreed that the entire GOP agenda is at risk. "We're not just talking about healthcare reform, with respect to this," he said. "We're talking bout tax reform and Dodd Frank [repeal], regulatory reform, ultimately, next year welfare reform. What I mean by that is we're either going to have the political capital or we won't. "We've got to prove to the American people that given the keys to the car, we can get it out of the driveway." Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., who is close to Trump, seconded the idea that letting Republicans tank the legislation sends the wrong signal to voters. "We have to learn to govern as a majority," Collins told reporters Wednesday. "These folks still think that we have President Obama in the White House. They still think that they're trying to vote on shutting down the government. "We have a Republican president. It's time to learn how to govern with all the levers, and that means compromise and that's what this is. A good compromise bill —living up to our promises." One rank-and-file Republican suggested that some of the most outspoken Freedom Caucus members care more about getting on cable TV and appeasing outside groups, such as Heritage Action, Club for Growth, Freedom Works and Americans for Prosperity, all of which are urging Republicans to vote against the bill. And those groups care more about raising money through appeals to fight this-or- that than actually seeing Republicans harmoniously governing, he said. Collins, who is on the whip team, threatened to hit dissenters where it hurts most —in their campaign war chests. "I told the NRCC chairman not to even ask me to write a check for a member who votes 'no tomorrow," he told reporters Wednesday. "Somebody votes 'no,' we should relook at what committees they serve on. It's that simple … Committee assignments partially have to do with being a hard-working, loyal member of our conference," he said. Collins offered an olive branch to conservatives who return to the fold. "Now if we get it passed, all is forgiven," he said. "We can be very generous and magnanimous if it passes." Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: Gatlin (#0)
This article was published on the Wednesday the 22nd, not on Friday the 24th. What's wrong, running out of GOPe articles to libel the brave Freedom Caucus with? LOL
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