This Time, Calls For Bipartisanship Should Be Met With Some "Tough Love"

In the aftermath of the failure of Trumpcare, Republicans are now calling on Democrats to work with them on a bipartisan solution to address the weaknesses that currently exist in Obamacare. Trump virtually begged the Democrats to come to the table in his speech immediately after Trumpcare. And Republicans Charlie Dent, Peter King, Senator Bob Corker, and Reince Priebus have all spoken out in favor of trying to reach some bipartisan solution in the last two days.

And some of the ideas being floated seem eminently reasonable. Kevin Drum offers up a hybrid solution of Trumpcare and Obamacare. His plan reduces ACA subsidies by one-third but then adds in the Trumpcare tax credits but at a flat $500 per person and not scaled by age. He adds a compromise on the age-based ratio of rates at 4:1, from the current 3:1 and the Trumpcare 5:1 ratio. Lastly, the GOP would drop the court case against the insurance cost-sharing funding, ensuring its continuation.

Steven Waldman offers up a compromise leveraging off a proposed by Christopher Ruddy, owner of Newsmax, of all people. Ruddy’s solution relies on Medicaid becoming “the country’s blanket insurer for the uninsured.” Ruddy prefers to use Medicaid rather then Medicare primarily because it has proven more effective than even Medicare in keeping costs down. Waldman uses this idea as his launching point, allowing anyone to buy into Medicaid with premiums tied to income. He then adds allowing all veterans and their immediate family to buy into VA health care. The last prong, to use the GOP terminology, of Waldman’s plan is adopting the Democratic policy of allowing Medicare buy-in at age 55.

There are plenty of other solutions out there, even I’ve offered up some. And I’m sure many of them are great ideas that would greatly improve the ACA. But frankly every one of these, even my own, just sticks in my craw. Once again, Democrats are being asked to be the adult in the room and just “do the right thing”. Republicans spent seven long years lying about the ACA, railing about its impending collapse, and making no effort to improve Obamacare. And now, having failed spectacularly to not only repeal the ACA but also destroy Medicaid at the same time, all in pursuit of massive tax cuts for the wealthy overlords, and without any input from Democrats, Republicans want to talk about a bipartisan solution. Obama and the Democrats spent months trying to build bipartisan consensus for the ACA. In the end, Republicans would not provide a single vote. And yet, even to this today, the GOP claims that Democrats simply rammed Obamacare through without any input from Republicans. That’s just pure BS.

And it’s not just Obamacare. Republican Senator Jeff Flake wrote an editorial in the Arizona Republic the other day in praise of Neil Gorsuch and imploring Democrats to vote for his confirmation. In that piece, Flake had the nerve to say this, “Even President Obama’s two Supreme Court nominees were recognized for their ability to do the job and confirmed without incident. Unfortunately, it appears that Judge Gorsuch will not be afforded the same courtesy and respect. Senate Democrats’ decision to filibuster Judge Gorsuch is a sad commentary on this institution and reflects the breakdown in comity that once characterized this body.” Notice the elephant in the room that’s missing from that analysis. That’s right, Obama’s third Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, who never was given a vote or a hearing and whom some GOP Senators refused even to meet with.

I’m sorry, Democrats can not be expected to always be the adult in the room every single time that children in the Republican party act out. Bill Clinton raised the country from the recession left by G.H.W. Bush and the policies of the Reagan administration with virtually no Republican support. He left behind a budget surplus. Republicans stole the 2000 election, allowing G.W. Bush to take that hard-earned surplus and give it all and more to his wealthy cronies. Bush engaged in two massively expensive wars in both life and money and his policies created the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s. Again, with no Republican help, Obama helped us dig out of the financial morass and also provided the greatest extension of healthcare since LBJ in the 1960s. With James Comey’s and the Russians’ help, Republicans then stole the 2016 election and proceeded to try to undo the healthcare gains that Obama and LBJ created. And every step of that journey, when the GOP fails spectacularly or the Democrats get screwed, Democrats are called on to come up with the bipartisan solution, to be the adult, to let bygones be bygones.

Republicans had a mantra of “tough love” for decades and it is high time for them to experience exactly what that means. If they want a bipartisan solution on the ACA, then first they need to go out and repudiate almost everything they’ve said about it for the last seven years, to admit to their supporters that they lied to them about Obamacare. If they don’t want Democrats to filibuster Neil Gorsuch, then admit that they are stealing this Supreme Court seat.

The GOP will never do this because they have gotten away with destroying the norms of our democracy and lying to the American public for decades. It has actually worked wonders for the party as they now control Congress and the White House. This time, however, they will finally have to answer for what they do. And when the GOP and the media comes running to the Democrats to be the adults again for the good of the country, as is happening now with Obamacare, Democrats should simply declare it is time for some “tough love”.

Rant over.