Take it or leave it? We’ll take it!
By Sal Russo
The American Health Care Act (AHCA) is the first step in President Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan’s promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. Conservatives of every stripe should take this opportunity to support this phase of the process by casting what will be remembered as one of the most consequential conservative votes in decades.
Admittedly, this is far from a perfect repeal, and no conservative would propose this if it weren’t for the reality of the obstructionist Democrats in the Senate. But President Ronald Reagan had the right idea as he faced a Democrat-controlled House throughout his presidency. He would regularly say about working across the aisle:
“If they offer you half a loaf, what do you do? You take half a loaf and then you come back for more.”
— President Ronald Reagan
At this take-it-or-leave-it moment, conservatives must face that reality. This may be an imperfect bill, and we applaud the efforts of conservatives in the Freedom Caucus who’ve been able to successfully improve it with each ensuing amendment. But this just goes to show that the legislative process is working, and we are seeing improvements.
Now, it is time to pass the legislation out of the House and over to the Senate. The amending process is far from over, and there will be Senate amendments to consider too. We will continue to support the efforts of conservatives to improve this bill and advance the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. But regardless of the outcome of specific amendments, we must all keep President Reagan’s advice in mind and plan on going back for more.
President Trump has painted a vision full of bold colors that conservatives have applauded vigorously, including the promise of historic tax reform, border security, national security, strong constitutionalists for the Supreme Court, regulatory reform, finance reform and, of course, to repeal and replace Obamacare.
If this bill fails, those battles will only get tougher. We cannot afford for our friends within the conservative movement to insist on letting the perfect be the enemy of the good — which to many voters, is exactly what’s happening.
Tea Party Express has held hundreds of rallies across the country, which has enjoyed the participation of millions of Americans. Attendees enthusiastically voiced their opinions through signs, chants, and posts on social media.
But after organizing all these events, I don’t remember a single chant of “Get Everything or Do Nothing” or a sign that read “Reconciliation should include tort reform… or it should at least allow consumers to buy insurance across state lines.” And that’s not just because those would be terrible slogans, but voters don’t care about the legislative minutia, they merely expect their conservative representatives to deliver the goods.
General Patton once said, “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.” Politics, like war, is no place for martyrs. Voting “no” and losing on principle when substantial victory can be achieved makes no sense at this point.
Conservatives can and will be blamed if they overextend and fail to deliver. And it won’t just be one or two legislators, the entire conservative movement will suffer. President Trump is right in saying that we will lose key Congressional seats if we fail to deliver now.
The bill presented is not perfect, but it is an opportunity to repeal the mandates, reform Medicaid, and cut the nearly $1 trillion dollars of taxes imposed by Obamacare. Additionally, the bill will do all that while also proving to critics that the sky won’t fall when Obamacare is rolled back.
House conservatives should take this opportunity to accept a victory and move the American Health Care Act to the Senate. Then prepare for the next policy battle, as there is a lot more conservative reforms to be delivered.
Sal Russo is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategist of Tea Party Express.
