The Art of the Fail

The Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act failed yesterday when the House of Representatives could not muster the votes necessary to pass the American Health Care Act replacement bill. It would be easy for opponents of the GOP plan to gloat over the failure but that would serve no more purpose than the seven years Republicans have wasted preaching vitriol about Obamacare and the need to repeal and replace it.

Obamacare is not perfect but it does improve access to healthcare for millions of Americans. Had Republicans spent the last seven years attempting to work in a bipartisan manner to fix the ACA's shortcomings imagine what could have been accomplished. Instead, GOP leadership dug in playing politics and pandering to special interests by refusing to acknowledge the merits of the ACA even if imperfect. Republicans held fast to an ill fated repeal and replace strategy as the only way forward. That partisan miscalculation has cost us all by squandering seven years that could have been used to to improve a tangible start.

Republicans demonstrated they had no idea the impact Obamacare had on citizens in their districts.  They were attacked at town halls and inundated with phone calls from constituents demanding they preserve the benefits Obamacare afforded. The outcry clearly took the GOP ivory tower by surprise and facilitated the series of defections by House members that eventually led to the AHCA's withdrawal. Republicans began their march to sell the AHCA tone deaf to the voters that put them in office and ended their push with an embarrasing failure. Instead of working methodically to legislate reform through a series of deliberative actions, Republicans tried to rush a poorly crafted bill that had little to do with improving healthcare and everything to do with party ideology.  Perhaps the failure will be a wake up call that reframes the conversation to allow for bipartisan cooperation on improving Obamacare. More likely, it will not if the GOP looks to President Trump to lead the way forward.

Let Obamacare explode. That was Trump's statement Friday after the Republican plan collapsed. In typical fashion, Trump's words sound like that of a five year old scorned because he didn't get his way as opposed to leader of the free world. If Trump truly believes Obamacare will explode, as President of the United States, it is his job to bring both sides together to forge and alternative. Yet, there is no plan B from the GOP. Trump and the Republicans have only been interested in winning a war of ideology. They've shown no interest or aptitude in actually governing an America of real people with real problems.

The AHCA was a terrible bill but its defeat is not for celebrating. The fact the richest and most technologically advanced democracy in the world cannot figure out how to provide quality, affordable healthcare for its citizens nullifies any victory lap over the fact Republicans didn't make matters worse. Obamacare does need help to become future proof but in the current climate that help is not likely to come without a serious dose of bipartisanship. There are slim odds of that becoming reality. The alternative is another two years wasted to wait out the results of the next congressional election.

Try not to get sick in the meantime.