Fred Upton's cynical reversal on repealing Obamacare shows why people distrust R

Source: Washington Examiner | May 2, 2017 | Philip Klein

Fred Upton’s cynical reversal on repealing Obamacare shows why people distrust Republicans

If you want to gain an understanding of why it’s so difficult for many people to trust Republicans on healthcare, look no further than the cynical decision of Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., to abandon his long-standing support for repealing Obamacare.

For years, when nothing Upton proposed had any chance of becoming law, he helped lead the campaign to fully repeal Obamacare as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In fact, even as I write, his website reads, “I support full repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).”

But now that a Republican is in the White House instead of President Obama, and that what he votes on actually does have a chance of becoming law, he has decided that he cannot support even partial repeal of Obamacare. As my colleague Kimberly Leonard reports, Upton told a local Michigan radio station, “I’ve supported the practice of not allowing pre-existing illnesses to be discriminated against from the very get-go. This amendment torpedos that and I told leadership I cannot support this bill with this latest provision in it.”

To be clear, the latest proposed amendment to the legislation would still require insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions, but allows states to opt out of the requirements that all insurance policies cover certain categories of benefits and the mandate that says insurers cannot charge more based on health status. (Critics say that’s effectively the same, but that particular debate is not the focus of this post.) What is undeniable is that Upton not only called for full repeal of Obamacare with the passive knowledge that these regulations were a core part of the law, but his committee put out a report that specifically attacked these regulations for driving up premiums.

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It’s hard to escape the conclusion that Upton cynically played conservatives and that he was never serious about wanting to repeal the law in the first place. Because, after all, how serious could he have been about fully repealing Obamacare if giving states the option of partially repealing it is now too much for him?

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  • Consistent #15473

    EVERYDAY #15478

    Well, he’s not the only Republican who will renege on the promise of repeal. At least he has let his true intentions be known. His fellow Republicans continue to call these sham proposals “repeals.” They are nothing of the sort.

    We have all been lied to on the subject of repeal. Sadly, Republicans will continue to lie to us and we will continue to vote for them, only because we have been duped into believing they are “better” than the Democrats. Of course, they aren’t.

    slhancock1948 #15485

    Nothing the republicans do surprises me any more. Now we know fully what they are…democrats. Liars, in other words! I have left the republican party for the Federalist party. It will take time to grow, but like JD Rucker says, we really need to start at the grassroots level and start taking over the local communities, and state senators and reps. We must reeducate the populace on what America means and show what we’ve lost. Most are truly clueless. Absolutely clueless, even many who claim to be conservatives!

    Pray for righteousness to be restored and for the peace of Jerusalem

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