Remember when we were going to repeal every word of Obamacare because we controlled the entire government? To quote a dated meme, Pepperidge Farm remembers.
The GOP couldn't even pass a light repeal, which would have removed the individual mandate but without a clear replacement plan; fulfilled campaign promises to defund Planned Parenthood but only for a year; would have attempted to please everyone but ended up, per usual, pleasing no one. It's fine. We're all fine here.
I get it. Congress isn't supposed to move expeditiously. No one expects politics to be smooth or campaign promises to be perfectly fulfilled. However, I do empathize with people's frustration. The GOP doesn't have a clear, market-based replacement plan after seven years of hollering about Obamacare's failures.
And trust me, those failures are numerous. Multiple people actually lost coverage and watched their premiums rise significantly under the Affordable Care Act. The ACA didn't salvage hospitals in rural areas since 2010. When resources are redistributed over a large number of people, cuts have to be made somewhere. Sometimes, this means people lose easy access to healthcare. So much for the saving grace of Obamacare.
Sometimes, the realities of socialized medicine are heartbreaking. The events of this week should have showed us that government healthcare is harmful. Democrats should probably admit their ideas are flawed.
Before you rejoice about the failed Repeal vote, please consider that plenty of people have died because of socialized healthcare. People were hurt by Obamacare. Scream about the privileged and the hard-hearted conservatives all you want, but your plan is not as effective as you thought it would be. And yes, it is okay for people to be disappointed that a better plan has not been introduced.
I may not always be happy with the GOP, but the Democratic cry of, "THEY'RE MURDERING THE POOR PEOPLE!" isn't an accurate description of what a market-based healthcare plan would do. I promise, I can think of absolutely no conservative politician with a deep-seeded desire to let the lower class rot in their own sickbeds. But most of us are also wondering where the highly-touted replacement plans might be.
A healthcare plan pleasing to moderate and far-right Republicans is totally implausible. A Congress that achieves its goals quickly is also impossible (and generally a good thing, just not in this case). And y'all are always going to find some reason to complain about Congress because complaining is pretty deeply embedded in American political culture. But it is totally okay to be frustrated when people have promised to repeal and replace Obamacare for seven years, and have achieved zero results with a unified government.
