Observations From the Back Row: Obamacare Stands....Like a Drunken Sailor

By Rich Kozlovich

Well, it's clear - O'Ryancare will not replace Obamacare and the news is throbbing with excitement.  Some are comparing this with the explosion of the Hindenburg for Trump and his administration.  Some are saying this was wonderful, one woman saying ""Yessssss,"  "I'm excited, I think it's a good thing," others just being happy this didn't pass - on both sides of the aisle - and for different reasons, but one thing is absolutely clear - at least to me - O'Ryancare was doomed from the start.  And that's what we need to focus on  - why?

Trump jumped on board and even threatened those in the House who didn't vote for it.  I have serious doubts it would have passed the Senate, but that's neither here nor there now.  Trump has got to understand one foundational fact that is incontestable.  As an able negotiator he sees compromise as a win, and in many situations in the future, that will be true.  However he's now dealing with elected members of the House and Senate who've been forced to compromise for decades, and they now understand and fully realize they don't and won't compromise on some things at all any longer.  And Obamacare was one of them.  

Trump and all the Republicans ran on one absolute imperative - we will repeal Obamacare immediately after taking control of the Congress and the Presidency.  That was a lie for most of them, and they knew it.  Most of them don't have the guts or the fortitude.  Sure, the Republicans passed a number of bills repealing Obamacare while Obama was President, but that was a safe vote because they knew they couldn't overturn a Presidential veto, and so it wasn't going to happen.  This way they could proclaim to the world - see, we're doing our job, but we can't succeed without the White House.....in short.....it's not our fault!

The news is saying Trump is sorry he didn't start with tax reform, as if this is going to effect that effort - this failure of O'Ryancare will not impact that at all.  The conservatives know tax reform has to be an effort in negotiations and compromise, along with all other efforts to drain the federal swamp.  They will support the President - more heartily than the O'Ryancare Republicans - on all of these efforts.

So what's the difference?  Obamacare is now and has always been a moral issue beyond compromise for conservatives, and Obama is responsible for that himself.  There was no openness or negotiation, or compromise.  It was imposed by a radical and stunningly corrupt Democratic Congress and administration.  

An outright repeal is a moral imperative for conservatives, and they will not allow the Republican Party, who've treated legitimate conservatives as pawns for decades because there was no where else to go, to continue to do so.  Conservatives have the numbers, and they are solidly supported by far more Americans than the power brokers like.  The conservative movement in the Republican party is growing.  They're going to be joined by more in 2018 and 2020.  The face of the Republican Party has changed and will continue to do so.  Those who don't like it will join the Democrats, Independents, or perhaps the Transhumanist Party.  But on thing is clear - conservatives have made their bed and they're fully prepared to lay in itwithout fear. 

This was a conservative shot over the bow of the Republican Party saying - stop the lying, stop the corruption, and stop playing political games with the future or else!