Tag: mike johnson
​Johnson Retreads His Unpopular, Previously Rejected 'Ideas' For Health Care Reform

​Johnson Retreads His Unpopular, Previously Rejected 'Ideas' For Health Care Reform

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday suggested that the "ideas" Republicans are kicking around for how to make health insurance more affordable is basically just the Obamacare-repeal plan that the GOP tried and failed to pass in 2017, during Donald Trump’s first term.

“When I say that the Republicans have been working on a fix for health care, we’ve been doing this for years,” Johnson said Monday at a news conference on Capitol Hill after he was asked how Republicans were planning on addressing the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that, if not extended, will soon cause massive premium increases for millions of Americans.Johnson specifically pointed to the health care proposal he released when he was chair of the Republican Study Committee—a caucus of right-wing House Republicans.

"These ideas have been on paper for a long time," Johnson said. “There’s volumes of this stuff. Volumes of it.”

Of course, the reason they have been on paper but never passed is because the ideas in the RSC health care proposal are overwhelmingly unpopular.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, reviewed a newer version of that RSC health care proposal found in the committee’s proposed budget. That review found the plan would weaken protections for preexisting conditions, cut the tax subsidies millions of Americans receive to make their ACA premiums lower, and "would slash $4.5 trillion in federal investment in Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and marketplace coverage"—all moves that would likely cause millions to lose their insurance.

“These proposals would create an environment where people with health conditions would pay higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs for less substantial coverage than is currently available,” the CBPP report says. “Given the increase in costs, more people would enroll in subpar plans that leave them exposed to high costs if they get sick.”

That sounds a whole lot like the Obamacare repeal that Republicans attempted to pass in 2017. That bill failed spectacularly amid public outcry because it would have kicked millions off their insurance and weakened protections to cover preexisting conditions.

In fact, the repeal effort was such an unpopular boondoggle that it helped to sink the GOP in the 2018 midterm elections.

If this is the plan Republicans will try to pass again, it’ll likely be an equally unpopular mess for the GOP.

Polling shows that the ACA is popular, with 64 percent of Americans viewing it favorably, according to a KFF tracking poll.

GOP Senators Stammer And Cower Over Trump's $230 Million Taxpayer Shakedown

GOP Senators Stammer And Cower Over Trump's $230 Million Taxpayer Shakedown

Three GOP senators were caught off guard Wednesday when asked about President Donald Trump’s outrageous demand that the Department of Justice pay him $230 million in restitution for legal fees related to his many criminal prosecutions.

“Well, it seems odd,” said Thom Tillis of North Carolina—who is retiring from the Senate—when approached by CNN’s Manu Raju in the Senate halls. “I think he's in the difficult position where he's asking for something that he would approve. I think it's terrible optics.”

Sen. John Cornyn, meanwhile, opted for a tried-and-true among Trump apologists: pleading ignorance.

“I want to find out more about it,” the Texas lawmaker said. “Because I'm—I don't know what these details are.”

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy appeared particularly off balance, stammering, “Can I? You're telling me this right now—I mean, who—can I kind of track it down? So let me do—before I comment—let me, let me, let me read that on my own.”

This Republican trio joins House Speaker Mike Johnson in claiming they have only just heard the news, seemingly waiting to see how the convicted felon in the Oval Office responds to the predictable backlash before offering any substantive position on the matter.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Mike Johnson

Republicans Still Yearn To Kill Obamacare, But Fear 'Political Disaster' If They Do

The standoff over the federal shutdown has exposed deep fractures within the GOP, particularly around health care — a longstanding vulnerability for Republicans.

The New York Times highlighted in a report Sunday that while Democrats insist they will not support a spending deal without extending the expiring tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that safeguard coverage for millions, Republicans are split between ideology and electoral reality.

On one end, hard-line conservatives still press to eliminate the ACA outright; on the other, pragmatists recognize that wiping it out without a credible replacement could inflict “a political disaster” on their party, per the report.

The shutdown has forced the GOP into a public tug-of-war over what to do with a law they largely oppose but cannot realistically undo without major risk.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) insisted the dispute is not about health care, calling Democrats’ insistence on subsidies a “red herring” that distracts from the funding fight.

At the same time, top Republicans such as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) pledged to vote against extending the credits, arguing they would “bail out insurance companies,” even as many recipients live in GOP-held districts.

At least 14 House Republicans and several senators signaled they would support a renewal of the credits through 2027, recognizing what some advisers called “a potential political catastrophe for the G.O.P.” if coverage were lost.

The report noted that the broader dynamic reveals why the party remains stuck. Even though Republicans have long pledged to “repeal and replace” the ACA, they have repeatedly failed to articulate what “replace” means in practice. The 2017 Senate health care bill collapsed amid conservative-moderate splits, leaving GOP leaders without an alternative mapped out.

According to the report, Democrats "have forced the G.O.P. to wrestle publicly with its divisions about what to do with the health care law, which most Republicans revile but many recognize would be impossible to unravel without bringing political disaster to their party.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet


Danziger Draws

Danziger Draws

Jeff Danziger lives in New York City and Vermont. He is a long time cartoonist for The Rutland Herald and is represented by Counterpoint Syndicate. He is a recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons, a novel and a memoir. Visit him at jeffdanziger.com.

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