A 'Suicide' Mission: White House and GOP Leadership Fear New Obamacare Repeal Push

[DonViejo]

Source: The Daily Beast



‘I can’t believe they would be so stupid,’ one Democrat said. ‘That said, they often surprise me with how stupid they are.’

ASAWIN SUEBSAENG
GIDEON RESNICK
SAM STEIN

06.05.18 5:05 AM ET

Persistent chatter that congressional Republicans will take another swing at repealing and replacing Obamacare this summer has increasingly drawn the ire of leadership and the White House, where there is virtually no desire to walk down that legislative path again.

Numerous White House officials scoffed at the prospect of an actual Obamacare-repeal revival, saying that they can’t fathom depleting political capital on a project with virtually no chance of passage this close to the midterm elections. One West Wing official called it a “suicide” mission. A senior administration official said that the issue wasn’t being taken seriously inside the building because the president’s team has concluded “the votes aren’t there.”

With Trump and his aides eager to avoid revisiting one of their biggest legislative humiliations, the likelihood of Obamacare repeal and replace actually getting another hearing is incredibly remote. But that hasn’t stopped some in the party from fretting that the issue remains a political tripwire. In leadership circles, there is an emerging fear that those floating the idea of taking another whack at Obamacare repeal and replace are setting up a lose-lose situation in which GOP lawmakers look either feckless for ducking the issue or impotent for again failing to successfully pass it.

“All these people out there not responsible for elected real-life senators don’t seem to realize there are consequences for failed votes,” said one top Senate GOP aide. “We experienced them last summer. I don't understand why we would want to have that again.”



Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-suicide-mission-white-house-and-gop-leadership-fear-new-obamacare-repeal-push?ref=home

[relogic]

1. Imagine an electorate and rep body whose...

first impulse to cast a vote is not considered by political victory or power, but fortified by the conviction that compassion, justice and truth are paramount.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. Grover Norquist: Repealing Obamacare a 'Political Winner'

Even a plurality of the Trumpian faithful would have just enough brains to realize that they’d be getting screwed over if such a repeal became law.

[denvine]

3. Please, go ahead you morons!