Patterico's Pontifications

3/24/2017

Paul Ryan: There Is A Path To Repealing ObamaCare Without 60 Votes In The Senate

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:59 pm



OK, I admit it: I cheated a little bit in the headline, by quoting Paul Ryan from 2016, rather than Paul “We’re Done Here” Ryan from 2017. But the principle is the same, even if the GOP wants to pretend it’s now impossible:

“It’s no surprise that someone named Obama vetoed a bill repealing Obamacare,” Ryan said in a statement.

“But here’s the thing. The idea that Obamacare is the law of the land for good is a myth. This law will collapse under its own weight, or it will be repealed. Because all those rules and procedures Senate Democrats have used to block us from doing this? That’s all history,” he added. “We have now shown that there is a clear path to repealing Obamacare without 60 votes in the Senate. So, next year, if we’re sending this bill to a Republican president, it will get signed into law.”

It’s next year, Paul Ryan. It’s next year, right now. You have a Republican president.

Send him the same bill. He’ll have no choice but to sign it into law.

Thanks to commenter JoeofPa.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

75 Responses to “Paul Ryan: There Is A Path To Repealing ObamaCare Without 60 Votes In The Senate”

  1. He was lying

    Davethulhu (7d4953)

  2. Maybe, but it’s still fun to remind politicians of inconvenient things they said.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  3. Mitt Romney

    pervy Mitt Romney likes Ryan comma Paul cause of he’s so suggestible (it’s in his case file)

    i say Mitt come on dude don’t take advantage of him just cause of you like how his slicked-up abs shine in the candlelight

    and Mitt says to me

    happyfeet get your own slicked up sex poodle

    and I’m like wtf? why would you even say that? *you’re* the sex-poodle fetishist you big stupid ken doll looking freak

    this is why you don’t have any friends Mitt

    this is why everyone hates you and you’ll never be president

    and you know what Mitt says?

    maybe so, happy

    maybe so

    like he doesn’t even care about the ramifications of his ardent obeisance to his unbridled poodle-lust and unchristian perversions

    he’s so effing arrogant I can’t even handle him sometimes

    republicans used to have principles

    i miss that

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  4. There are no more than 20 votes in the Senate for a simple repeal.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  5. Me confused.

    Would this be Phase I? A? II? B? Puberty? Teething?

    As Captain Kirk taught us – it’s all about the phase(rs).

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  6. The majority of GOP Senators area not as foolish as some people think they are. A simple repeal would leave 5 million middle-class families without insurance and no clear way of replacing it. They will be LIVID and that many really committed, pissed-off people are enough to turn ANY election.

    Of course, you could add some things to a “repeal” to make a transition more gradually. Oh,wait, no you can’t because PRINCIPLED PEOPLE who have government-subsidized insurance of their own won’t stand for it.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  7. I may be hard on the principled people. A lot of bottom-feeding ward-healing Republicans, like Don Young, opposed it because the subsidies weren’t big enough. And some truly principled people, like Tom McClintock favored it.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  8. No way should I have an inferior plan to Justin Amash, or traitors mccain and ryan.
    The American people are so scared of these d.c. attorneys,they can’t think straight enough to fight back and end the careers of these hacks.

    mg (31009b)

  9. I love how President Trump goes around ryan’s boss donahue and speaks directly to Trumka and major business owners about Americans work disorders. Donahue is losing, and I thank God.

    mg (31009b)

  10. With all the deceit in d.c. by all these pervert lawyers, one would think most of them would be on a suicide watch.

    mg (31009b)

  11. ryan should be waterboarded, just for fun.

    mg (31009b)

  12. When the pitchforks make a showing d.c. lawyers will be the target.
    yea.

    mg (31009b)

  13. When do the doctors get a break? I have a few doctors I have to see regularly , they are devoted to helping people, and get b.s. the lawyers should be getting. Nurses as well have been more than great with me. The nurses I know hate the system they are forced to work in. Let the lawyers in d.c. continue to eff up everything medical. Maybe I am just lucky having doctors and nurses that give a darn.
    God Bless the doctors and nurses that have to deal with this crapola. ryan needs to go home, quickly.

    mg (31009b)

  14. President Trump has signed 36 meaningful executive orders in the same time ryan has passed 6 meaningless bills.
    wtf

    mg (31009b)

  15. How many liars/lawyers are in DC?

    NJRob (43d957)

  16. I used to think that Republican congresscritters were stupid, but I was wrong.

    They are treacherous too, and of the four ways to combine treacherous and stupid, they do them all.

    Fred Z (05d938)

  17. Of course, you could add some things to a “repeal” to make a transition more gradually. Oh,wait, no you can’t because PRINCIPLED PEOPLE who have government-subsidized insurance of their own won’t stand for it.

    Of course you can. Those principled people would have supported a compromise repeal. But that’s not what this is. This was an extension of Obamacare. It fixed Obamacare’s issues (except not really problem, but making it worse).

    Rand Paul had a good plan. Start there. Start anywhere but the middle. The biggest issue with the proposed bill was that the leadership wrote up a moderate bill and said “take it or leave it”, instead of starting from a great bill (that may never pass in that form) and allowing negotiation. They tried to browbeat the conservative wing to accept it. But they were elected on REPEALING Obamacare, not making it better.

    So the fault lies with the GOP leadership for their terrible plan and terrible bill.

    Patrick Henry, the 2nd (2ab6f6)

  18. The other big lie Ryan told is that the House would return to regular order and stop ramming leadership managed bills to up or down floor votes. This bill would have been an ideal opportunity for the minority party and the minority factions in the majority to be heard through a more open amendment process. Real regular order takes the pressure off the majority to hold together and puts it on the minority to get involved. It worked pretty well for over 200 years until the urge to do it fast overcame the need to do it right.

    crazy (d3b449)

  19. This is the guy that both Patty Murray and Biden stole his lunch in negotiatoons

    narciso (e1024d)

  20. This is the guy that both Patty Murray and Biden stole his lunch in negotiatoons
    narciso (e1024d) — 3/25/2017 @ 7:26 am

    *******************

    I’m not going to pretend I know much about healthcare basically because I am on military insurance–but–come on narciso!–how did Paul Ryan con Trump into that campaign rally in Kentucky in support of the bill?

    The reason the bill is such a great departure from everything forwarded before could be Trump.

    Say it’s like a math equation–what has been the HUGE change–or variable added to the Republican Party?

    Solve for “X”.

    X=Trump–the recent Democrat–who is now the most powerful Republican. So it’s like X–to the tenth power. X to the tenth had the most power and leverage to effect change. It’s crazy to think that Ryan did the bill without making sure Trump was on board and that he somehow Ryan conned Trump into campaigning for that same bill in Tennessee.

    Trump has stated in his own words that he hoped Democrats would vote for the bill. (You can see him say that in his own words on multiple videos.) Trump thought they would vote for it– and the bill was written to entice some of them to come on board.

    Now–did some Democrats give Trump false indications that they would vote for the first part–the bridge loan–to aid ObamaCare? That is a very real possibility.

    Perhaps Ryan tricked Trump? I kind of doubt it because as you say in your comment.

    But whatever happened Trump got his idea of working with Democrats out of the hypothetical and into the cold harsh reality of a plan–and now he knows–they will not even work with him to save ObamaCare. ObamaCare was something Trump might not have been against in principle– but was against in practice. Trump is on record- at one time- for backing single payer and The Donald subreddit and Pew Research are busy working together to spread the information that poor Republican Trump supporters are supposedly for single-payer.

    So again–the biggest thing that has changed in the Republican Party and the greatest actor on that change is–Trump–and Trump alone.

    Rae Sremmurd (2fd998)

  21. How many liars/lawyers are in DC?

    As a ratio? About 27.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  22. instead of starting from a great bill (that may never pass in that form) and allowing negotiation.

    Actually, there was a great deal of negotiation, but after the HFC got much of what they said they wanted, they added more demands.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  23. Ryan needs to “put a bit of stick about.”

    The HFC needs to lose a few chairmanships and committee assignments.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  24. I was speAking of his track record, we got the sequester which lashed defense and called it ‘winning’,

    narciso (d1f714)

  25. What lashed defense was a commander-in-chief who spent all the money on political correctness seminars and weapons boondoggles like the F-35.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  26. what lashed defense was our tatted-up semi-literate military flouncing around the middle east slaughtering people and making asses of themselves for no strategic purpose to the tune of untold billions of borrowed chinese dollars

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  27. I was speAking of his track record, we got the sequester which lashed defense and called it ‘winning’,
    narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2017 @ 10:08 am

    ********

    Okay–sorry I misunderstood.

    Rae Sremmurd (2fd998)

  28. The majority of GOP Senators area not as foolish as some people think they are. A simple repeal would leave 5 million middle-class families without insurance and no clear way of replacing it. They will be LIVID and that many really committed, pissed-off people are enough to turn ANY election.

    You seem to have bought into the argument that ObamaCare is a good thing. That it has helped people. And that therefore repesling it would be bad and would hurt people.

    Of course, you could add some things to a “repeal” to make a transition more gradually. Oh,wait, no you can’t because PRINCIPLED PEOPLE who have government-subsidized insurance of their own won’t stand for it.

    I don’t know who you mean. This reads like one of the Colonel’s passive aggressive comments that is stated generally but clearly directed at me. But it does not describe me. I have said over and over that I am good with transitional protections.

    Patterico (a4a3d0)

  29. Your constant refrain seems to be that the free market is of course going to hurt people and therefore is advocated only by people who are already in good shape.

    The concept that maybe I actually think it could be good for the poor — and that maybe I am also right about that — seems never to be considered.

    Patterico (a4a3d0)

  30. The concept that maybe I actually think it could be good for the poor — and that maybe I am also right about that — seems never to be considered.

    Patterico, do you realize how many years of propaganda and how many billions of our tax dollars have been invested to make people like this believe that capitalism is not the best way to lift people out of poverty and distribute resources? Obviously its worked.

    https://4.bp.blogspot.com/–UI_H35La7o/WNVkKgHZIhI/AAAAAAABHvQ/lgVCjV34sTQgoO9wj056HYkXnfTd9-xZACLcB/s640/C5TNznsXAAAXXpX.jpg

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  31. @21 Don’t overlook the fact that this legislation grew out of an election year effort by Speaker Ryan called A Better Way to get America back on track by addressing healthcare and 5 other major areas for reform. It was no secret. It was widely discussed around town and on the stump. Ryan appointed a task force for each area with committee chairs as the leads that prepped legislation (without public hearings) for the next president’s signature.

    This bill may have been tweaked for Trump but it was written for the no-way-she-can lose president or if she does it’ll never-be-Trump president. The dissenting factions would have felt the same about the too-much vs not-enough government debate but the dems would have largely supported this if the election had turned out the way just about everybody thought it would. The strategy Ryan chose for passage gave the dems and republican dissenters no way to fight for what they promised voters other than to vote no. Moving forward I hope he learned more debate in committee may be ugly and tiresome but is the only way out of the must-pass team R vs team D brinksmanship we’re stuck in.

    crazy (d3b449)

  32. now baby boy ryan’s just giving up

    him and his swipe-right wife, they’re exempt from the obamacares you see

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  33. here’s a picture of America

    it’s the town where Merce Cunningham was borned

    it’s oddly cheering for to see I think

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  34. The good guy Allies landed in Normandy and established the beachhead; the bad guy Germans failed to drive them back into the sea so the good guys are on the march to Berlin and total victory. Expect one last push back by the bad guys at the Bulge before unconditional surrender.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  35. You seem to have bought into the argument that ObamaCare is a good thing. That it has helped people. And that therefore replacing it would be bad and would hurt people.

    No. I live with it. It’s terrible, but it is the ONLY health insurance available to me. I wanted it replaces with something that had a LOT of improvements. Sitting on the outside in your ivory tower, you confuse your ignorance of the facts on the ground with wisdom and continue to recite your ideological cant that ignores the real world.

    Repealing Obamacare — and doing nothing else — would remove the only existing private insurance program from the market. MAYBE there would be something to replace it that would turn up. MAYBE my wife and I would qualify for it. But, at age 63, we REALLY want to see the new plan before we throw away the old plan. Even a terrible health insurance system is better than no insurance system. Cash payer rates are wildly inflated.

    The Ryan plan was a marked improvement. Anyone who is actually PAYING for Obamacaare would tell you that. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better.

    I don’t know who you mean. This reads like one of the Colonel’s passive aggressive comments that is stated generally but clearly directed at me. But it does not describe me. I have said over and over that I am good with transitional protections.

    No, actually is was directed at the Congresscritters. But if the shoe fits…

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  36. Patterico,

    I spent 10 years as a registered member of the Libertarian Party. I have read all their stuff and got the t-shirt. Then, as I grew older I came to understand they were just tilting at windmills. Any progress that will even be made will be made incrementally, and on the margins.

    So I abandoned the talk-talk folks and their constant hoping for some alternate universe to emerge, and joined the only party that even partly wanted to increase economic freedom.

    The Obama happened, and it will be long road back. Folks who block ANYTHING because they can’t have EVERYTHING are part of the problem, not the solution. They are effectively Socialists.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  37. But perhaps, someone would tell me how we get back to the old system without screwing people over. Like the Humpty-Dumpty problem, it’s not as trivial as you might think.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  38. the justin amash freedom caucus trash and the pervy mitt romney sex poodle squad

    they both promised to repeal obamacare

    they both lied

    and they made such terrible fools out of the people who voted for them

    such terribly ridiculous fools

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  39. You can’t reset the system back to default,that is the problem.

    narciso (8355e1)

  40. No, actually is was directed at the Congresscritters. But if the shoe fits…

    It doesn’t, but thanks for the insulting and false suggestion.

    Patterico (a4a3d0)

  41. It doesn’t, but thanks for the insulting and false suggestion.

    You were the one who assumed it was about you.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  42. Why are the koch bros allowed to threaten freedom caucus members with millions for donations and stuff?
    Why is donahue allowed to threaten ryan and his flock of hacks with millions for donations and stuff?
    We the people should be vewy, vewy mad!!!

    mg (31009b)

  43. Why are the koch bros allowed to threaten freedom caucus members with millions for donations and stuff?
    Why is donahue allowed to threaten ryan and his flock of hacks with millions for donations and stuff?
    We the people should be vewy, vewy mad!!!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC

    Davethulhu (7d4953)

  44. The bill’s the thing

    Wherein we’ll catch the conscience of the king

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  45. “‘Do not worry!’ Trump tweets, ‘Obamacare will explode'” — News Item

    Wonderful. He also has no idea who will get hurt.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  46. Somebody needs to drop that twitter machine into the porcelain throne…

    crazy (d3b449)

  47. 46… let’s take a look at who “donates” what to whom… https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?cycle=ALL

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  48. We will be single-payer soon. This charade was another sick ploy by the ryan-pelosi uni-party. One party single payer. Its what all these hacks wanted all along. Enjoy…

    mg (31009b)

  49. 100-1
    Tax cuts never happen because of the same b.s. When the koch bros need something they go to the republican freedom caucus, when donahue needs something he goes to ryan and his sheep. Whichever group of fools is needed acts accordingly. Pathetic.

    mg (31009b)

  50. One party single payer.

    Well, Medicare is single-payer now, for the most expensive cohort. Just multiply that payroll tax by about 5, and easy-peasy.

    /sarc in several respects, but it may be how they plan to “save” Medicare.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  51. I’m thinking we combine an xray machine with Dance Dance Revolution. You pay with tokens and a figure on the screen shows you proper positioning for your xray. If you perform adequately you can go up front and trade your tickets for oxycontin. The arcade manager is a Dr in India that you consult with via Skype.

    Pinandpuller (a5cd30)

  52. lol Pindandpuller. One question – How long for a total hip replacement?

    mg (31009b)

  53. You were the one who assumed it was about you.

    And apparently it was, based on the snide, nasty, and totally uncalled-for “if the shoe fits” comment.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  54. People who want to criticize me should have the guts to do it to my face rather than this passive aggressive “some people” bullshit.

    Am I talking about YOU? Well, if the shoe fits…

    Patterico (115b1f)

  55. if the shoe fits you’re ahead of the game shoe-wise i think

    i mean you still have all this crappy obamacare all up in it thanks to the freedom filth caucus

    but nice-fitting shoes go a long way

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  56. 4. Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/25/2017 @ 12:27 am

    There are no more than 20 votes in the Senate for a simple repeal.

    They did get the votes for that when they knew for sure that the bill was going to get vetoed.

    http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/262071-senate-approves-bill-repealing-much-of-obamacare

    12/03/15 08:23 PM EST

    ….The measure passed 52-47 after the Senate voted to significantly strengthen the bill originally passed by the House and brought straight to the floor by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Mitch McConnell…

    …The measure guts the law by repealing authority for the federal government to run healthcare exchanges, and scrapping subsidies to help people afford plans bought through those exchanges. It zeros out the penalties on individuals who do not buy insurance and employers who do not offer health insurance…

    …It repeals the expansion of Medicaid adopted by 30 states as well as many of the law’s tax increases, which the House bill left in place.

    It cuts funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund and eliminates risk adjustment programs from insurance companies that lose money because of the law.

    ..The Senate bill also repeals the over-the-counter medicine tax, the prescription drug tax, an annual fee on health insurers and the tax on indoor tanning services. It reduces the threshold of healthcare costs that can be deducted from 10 percent to 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.

    Because it did not simply repeal Obamacare, but kept things like the no exclusion for pre-existing conditions, and allowing children to stay on their parents’ policies till age 26, (things which only affect private entitities but do not affect federal spending) it was able to be passed through reconciliation.

    Sammy Finkelman (bd89d5)

  57. @55 mg

    So you get your hip replacement at Budget Brakes. It’s called deregulation.

    The new hip surgery is to go in and recondition the head of the femur and insert a titanium socket. Just like turning your rotors.

    Pinandpuller (ff0858)

  58. Some smart and funny lawyers need to start a podcast called How Did This Get Passed? Break down awful bills for entertainment and education.

    Pinandpuller (ff0858)

  59. Give me Mr. Goodwrench when it comes to hips!

    mg (31009b)

  60. They did get the votes for that when they knew for sure that the bill was going to get vetoed.

    And your point?

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  61. Patterico–

    I’m not having fun with this any more. I know your position, you know mine, I think I’ll give it a rest.

    I did not really mean to hit you as hard as you apparently think I did, so I’m just going to say “I’m sorry” and leave it at that.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  62. ryan and scales are two unipartiers that hate America and the people that elected them.
    OWTH.

    mg (31009b)

  63. scalise

    mg (31009b)

  64. The Speaker’s June ’16 Healthcare Task Force Report provides the details of the Ryan’s plan to reform the dem’s fedcare system while calling it repeal. It’s not hard to see how this could attract democrat votes if the strategy had been to build bipartisan support rather than run over opposition. Regardless, nothing meaningful will ever get done if leadership retreats every time a dem threatens to wreck the Senate schedule by talking until his bladder control wears out.

    crazy (d3b449)

  65. Looking ahead here comes Tax Reform. I wonder if this part will survive.

    crazy (d3b449)

  66. SF: “They did get the votes for that when they knew for sure that the bill was going to get vetoed.”

    Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/25/2017 @ 11:59 pm

    And your point?

    Well, Ryan was wrong even though you were wrong about him being wrong.

    Ryan said:

    We have now shown that there is a clear path to repealing Obamacare without 60 votes in the Senate.

    That is correct.

    So, next year, if we’re sending this bill to a Republican president, it will get signed into law.”

    That probably is also correct. Or he thought it was. Note the word IF.

    Actually, Donald Trump would have vetoed that exact bill because he didn’t want to repeal community rating (no discrimination in price with regard to pre-existing conditions) unless there was something else ready to take care of those people excluded. So Ryan was wrong about any Republican presidnet signing that bill that passed in 2016)

    There are no more than 20 votes in the Senate for a simple repeal.

    That is also correct – now.

    Back in 2015/2016 it was not true, because 52 Senators voted for it when they knew it stood no chance of becoming law. You probably didn’t know about this, because the news media tends to cover stories that may make a difference in the future (or that are interesting or follow up on a story have bene paying attention to) Since that bill was never going to become law, it was treated as unimportant.

    Sammy Finkelman (bd89d5)

  67. I knew he was lying then. One reason I thought electing Trump has an upside is that he and others like him would be finally shown up. I guess that makes me not any better off though, because apparently the GOP is superproud of not repealing ocare.

    SarahW (3164f0)

  68. we all know Paul Ryan’s an execrably pliable tool of notorious pervert Mitt Romney

    we all knew that’s where we were starting

    the freedom filth caucus had one job

    to pull the Ryan bill to the right

    they did that

    yay America!

    then they decided they loved yummy planned parenthood abortions even more

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  69. I’m not having fun with this any more. I know your position, you know mine, I think I’ll give it a rest.

    I did not really mean to hit you as hard as you apparently think I did, so I’m just going to say “I’m sorry” and leave it at that.

    Fair enough, accepted. My apologies if I overreacted.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  70. ohnoes the freedom filth caucus is shrinking

    now how we gonna repeal the obamacares???

    happyfeet (28a91b)


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