OPINION:
Republicans are at least trying to remedy the health care fiasco that President Obama dropped into their laps. Debate began Wednesday on the Republican proposal to give people greater control over treatment and costs, but Democrats see no political upside to cooperation.
That’s a shame, because the reform package includes a provision from Rep. Kevin Hern, Oklahoma Republican, that lets the self-employed band together to enjoy access to the group rates that traditional corporate workers receive from employer-sponsored health care plans.
It’s a great idea that has passed the House before, only to quietly die in the Senate. Enactment is even less likely now that Democrats believe they won the recent government shutdown. Agitated liberals turned out in droves at the polls, handing socialist Zohran Mamdani the keys to New York City and electing child-murder-cheerleader Jay Jones as Virginia’s top law enforcement officer.
Get ready for a repeat in January. At the end of that month, the resolution keeping Uncle Sam’s doors open expires. Just before that, Obamacare recipients will find themselves falling off the “Obamacare cliff,” which refers to the huge premium increases that take effect at the beginning of January.
That’s all the proof needed to show the Affordable Care Act made nothing affordable. Instead, its failings have been concealed by time-limited, multibillion-dollar subsidies to health care providers.
Democrats are the ones who set the timer on that bomb, but they will likely get away with blaming Republicans for the explosion. Their incurious base will once again be energized by the fight to preserve Mr. Obama’s fundamentally broken scheme.
Allowing the country to continue down the path of socialized medicine would be a disaster. It’s probably not a coincidence that lawmakers in blue states such as Illinois and New York just approved assisted suicide legislation. Once the government completes its health care takeover and decides which medical procedures are acceptable, the only option for the gravely ill will be a one-way trip to the euthanasia chamber.
House Speaker Mike Johnson says in a statement that he is tired of the games Democrats are playing. “They voted to raise taxes, protect waste and fraud, and continue providing free health care to illegal immigrants. Democrats’ ‘affordability’ charade has gone on long enough.”
To pump up his base, Mr. Johnson teed up a bill from Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas Republican, prohibiting the use of Medicaid funds for performing cosmetic surgeries that give a boy the appearance of a girl, and vice versa.
No public money should be used for such purposes, regardless of age. Even in the District, a tattoo artist can face jail time for inking the arm of a 15-year-old, but the left has drifted so far from reason that it celebrates far more consequential operations for toddlers.
Unsurprisingly, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries opposes change. Using the classic tactic of accusing his opponent of doing what he does, he branded the Republican initiative an “extreme go-it-alone approach,” as if Democrats didn’t use every legislative trick to ram Obamacare through the process by themselves when they held the levers of power.
“All we need are four Republicans to partner with us. Let’s find a path forward, and we can extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” the New York Democrat said in a statement.
Therein lies the risk for the Republican Party. A weak caucus with a narrow majority might not have the fortitude to stand up in favor of alternatives that make sense.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.