Free Republic

President Donald Trump believes that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not do everything possible to pass an Obamacare replacement bill. When reporters asked Trump why he continued to batter McConnell despite support for the Senate Majority Leader from his Republican colleagues, he replied shortly, “Don’t make anything of it, we should have health care approved.” He hinted that McConnell should have threatened to remove Sen. John McCain, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, or Sen. Susan Collins from their chair positions in the Senate to force them to vote for the health care bill. “He should have known that he had a...

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The long August congressional recess, which Republicans hoped would begin a conversation about tax reform and must-pass budget measures, has so far seen another round of angry town halls focused on President Trump and the stalled effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Over just one day, in three small towns along Georgia’s Atlantic coastline, Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.) spent more than four hours answering 74 questions, many of them heated. Just three focused on tax reform; nearly half of all questions focused on health care. “We did our job in the House,” Carter said...

Rep. Jim Jordan said Friday that he’s pushing a clean Obamacare repeal bill in the House in an end-run move around leadership. “It’s the same exact legislation we passed 18 months ago — we all voted for, the Senate voted for. We want to bring this to the floor. Our leadership won’t do that. So the only way to go around them is to start what’s called a discharge petition,” Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said on Fox News. Mr. Jordan said he plans to begin gathering signatures for the petition Friday, and...

The conservative House Freedom Caucus on Friday is planning a move to try and force a vote on an ObamaCare repeal bill. A spokeswoman for the group said members plan to file a "discharge petition," which would force a vote on a repeal bill if it gets signatures from a majority of the House. The move is usually used to go around leadership and try to bring up a measure to the floor for a vote. The plan comes as the Freedom Caucus, and some other Republicans, are pushing to keep the repeal effort alive, despite the Senate's failed vote...

Republican donors are protesting GOP lawmakers' failure to repeal Obamacare by withholding donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. At least $2 million in contributions originally promised to the NRSC have not materialized, CNN reported Tuesday. The failure of Republicans to fulfill a central campaign promise particularly concerns some donors because it could disillusion core voters heading into the 2018 midterms. The uncertainty could put the Republicans' majority—especially in the House of Representatives—at risk.

Two of the Senators who singlehandedly derailed the skinny repeal of Obamacare were awarded a sit down interview with the admiring Dana Bash Friday on CNN.

Two of the senators who singlehandedly derailed the skinny repeal of Obamacare were awarded a sit down interview with the admiring Dana Bash Friday on CNN. The bright faced journalist applauded Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) for having the “cajones” to vote against the Republican bill when they knew half the country would view them as heretics. Collins admitted it was an “uncomfortable” vote. But, they both insisted it was the right thing to do, which is why they did not fear backlash from GOP leadership, or even intimidating tweets from the Oval Office. Both women said...

There's nothing like the sight of Republicans and Democrats working together and scrambling to save big time government aid to super-rich corporations. Whether it's a bailout for major banks, tax credits for Big Oil, or big subsidies for large agriculture businesses, this kind of crony capitalism seems to anger almost everyone but nobody really does anything about it. Now, we're about to witness another scramble to provide our hard-earned taxpayer money into the pockets of an industry that's already raking in the big bucks. The Senate Health Committee is going to hold hearings in September to find ways to keep...

Bob Heghmann, 70, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court saying the national and Virginia Republican parties and some GOP leaders raised millions of dollars in campaign funds while knowing they weren't going to be able to overturn the ACA, also known as Obamacare. The GOP "has been engaged in a pattern of Racketeering which involves massive fraud perpetrated on Republican voters and contributors as well as some Independents and Democrats," the suit said. Racketeering, perhaps better known for use in prosecuting organized crime, involves a pattern of illegal behavior by a specific group. The lawsuit lists as defendants...

Republican donor from Virginia Beach sues GOP, accusing the party of fraud over failed Obamacare repeal.( Full title) .. A retired attorney in Virginia Beach is so incensed that Republicans couldn't repeal the Affordable Care Act he's suing to get political donations back, accusing the GOP of fraud and racketeering. Bob Heghmann, 70, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court saying the national and Virginia Republican parties and some GOP leaders raised millions of dollars in campaign funds while knowing they weren't going to be able to overturn the ACA, also known as Obamacare. The GOP "has been engaged...

A retired attorney in Virginia Beach is so incensed that Republicans couldn't repeal the Affordable Care Act he's suing to get political donations back, accusing the GOP of fraud and racketeering. Bob Heghmann, 70, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court saying the national and Virginia Republican parties and some GOP leaders raised millions of dollars in campaign funds while knowing they weren't going to be able to overturn the ACA, also known as Obamacare. The GOP "has been engaged in a pattern of Racketeering which involves massive fraud perpetrated on Republican voters and contributors as well as some...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) revealed that he spoke with President Donald Trump on Monday and told the president that he can take executive action to allow organizations to offer more affordable group health insurance plans. Rand Paul, one of the Senate’s leading conservatives, told reporters that Trump will consider taking executive action to address the many problems with the healthcare system after Sen. John McCain tanked an Obamacare repeal bill last week. The Kentucky senator’s proposed changes would allow groups such as AARP, which represents retirees, to form associations to allow individuals and small businesses to form larger groups to...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A group called Indivisible Kentucky is garnering attention for the billboard it put up in Louisville. The billboard sent a loud and clear message to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): “You make us sick. #DitchMitch2020.” According to WDRB, the sign went up on the side of I-65 and can be seen from the southbound side. The message went up at a time when Republicans in the U.S. Senate attempted and failed to pass a so-called “skinny repeal” of Obamacare under the majority leadership of McConnell, this after years of preparation time and Obamacare opposition. McConnell called the failure “a disappointment.”

President Trump took to Twitter Monday to ask why insurance companies and Congress are not being hurt by the failings of Obamacare just as the American people are being hit. Trump started the day by noting that the unpopular healthcare law is “hurting people” and asked why it isn’t also hurting insurance companies, and also why Congress is exempt. Trump had previously threatened to end what he called “bailouts” for insurance companies and Congress after the failing of the GOP-led Senate to pass either a healthcare reform bill, a flat-out Obamacare repeal, or a so-called “skinny repeal” of Obamacare. The...

President Trump on Saturday threatened to end health care “bailouts” for insurers and lawmakers in Washington as he continues to push Congress to pass legislation repealing ObamaCare. “If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!” Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn said Monday that the Senate needs to “show some spine” and help fix the heath insurance problem. “President Trump, I believe, is looking to solve the problem. The problem is we’ve got the Senate who cannot seem to — you know they like to work in gangs. We’ve had the gang of seven or eight. I want the gang of 51. I want the Senate to show spine and fix this problem,” Ms. Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, said on CNN. Mr. Trumptweeted over the weekend to slam the “bailouts” for members of Congress buying insurance on the Obamacare...

The very premise of Obamacare was flawed, and in fact, it was never even designed to work for an extended period of time. But now that Congress has failed to do away with it, the president is going “Full-Tilt” in his plans to make the “No” voters pay. On Saturday, he Tweeted: If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon! At first, it may just seem reactionary, but this is a major threat that will hit the Democrats right where it hurts: in the demographics!...

President Trump is spoiling for war against the health insurance industry, and his administration made two threats over the weekend that insurers say would wreck the markets: On Twitter, the President threatened to end so-called "bailouts" for health insurance companies — referring to payments the government makes to insurers so they can make insurance less costly for low-income people (as they're required to do). Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price suggested on ABC's "This Week" that he might make more people exempt from the requirement to buy health insurance. Insurers say this could make premiums even costlier. Why this...

Paul Nehlen, a Wisconsin businessman who challenged Speaker of the House Paul Ryan for his congressional seat last year, and is challenging again in 2018, says he is disgusted with the conduct of the Republican Congress. “With a few exceptions, we have a Congress full of spineless jellyfish, unwilling to fulfill their oath of office to protect and defend this country from enemies foreign and domestic,” he told WND. “Illegal aliens, whether from visa overstays or illegal border crossers, cannot be effectively deported without a means to keep them out of the country. The border wall proposed by candidate, now...

NEW YORK (AP) — Weary Republicans in Washington may be ready to move on from health care, but conservatives across the United States are warning the GOP-led Congress not to abandon its pledge to repeal the Obama-era health law — or risk a political nightmare in next year’s elections. The Senate’s failure this past week to pass repeal legislation has outraged the Republican base and triggered a new wave of fear. The stunning collapse has exposed a party so paralyzed by ideological division that it could not deliver on its top campaign pledge. After devoting months to the debate and...