After a debate in the House today, multiple news outlets have reported that a planned vote on the GOP's alternative to the Affordable Care Act will not be happening, following the "president's" decision to pull the bill after apparently realizing that the Republicans didn't have the votes to pass it—something that had been previously explained to him but today seems to have finally sunk in.
"This is a disappointing day for us," Paul Ryan told reporters this afternoon, and said he was "proud" of the AHCA, which makes one of us! Meanwhile, my Twitter feed right now is full of jubilant Democrats enjoying the sweet, sweet, long-missed taste of schadenfreude. And so they should. This is a clear victory for Democrats and those who oppose the Trump administration, and an embarrassment for the "president" and the Republican party, though arguably a better outcome for them than a failed House vote.
The bill was pulled after a floor debate in the House where the bill's opponents really brought their best. Your
Representative Earl Blumenauer said, "Trumpcare will cost more for people who need it the most... [it] will destabilize health insurance." He also said that it would lead to the eventual demise of Medicaid.
Rep. John Lewis of Georgia spoke powerfully, framing the AHCA as an immoral bill that would hurt society's most vulnerable. "Health care is a right," he said. "My heart breaks for the disabled, for women, for seniors, for working families... We can do better."
But while the Democrats clearly identified what the bill was lacking, they had the easier job. Their Republican colleagues floundered to frame a coherent argument for their flawed bill. Oregon's Greg Walden called argument against AHCA "scare tactics," which was pretty fresh coming from a member of the party that pushed the myth of "death panels" to discredit the Affordable Care Act.
"Today is a great day for our country," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters in an appearance with other Democratic leaders after the AHCA was pulled. Leader Pelosi called it a win "for seniors, for people with disabilities, for children" and for those who stood to lose coverage under the AHCA.
Rep. Jim Clybourn of South Carolina invoked Martin Luther King Jr. in his comments about the bill. "King used two words: He said it was inhumane but he also said it was egregious," said Clybourn. "Egregious and inhumane. Nothing can be more egregious in my opinion than saying to a child born with diabetes, 'You can never get insurance on your family's policy.' Nothing is more inhumane than saying to a man with prostate cancer or a woman with breast cancer, 'You have run out of treatments.'"
Pelosi also said that she and her colleagues had been "deluged" with calls from constituents in opposition to the AHCA and in support of the Affordable Care Act. "Let's breathe a sigh of relief for the American people that the Affordable Care Act was not repealed," she said.
