My Mother, rest her soul, taught me many lessons including NEVER Point your Finger at anyone.
And the explanation of that admonishment was “remember, you’ve got three fingers pointed back at you.” … and so it is that Congressman Jason Lewis is pointing the finger at John McCain for Republicans losing the House … and he should be pointing his finger at himself.
ICYMI, Jason Lewis wrote an OpEd for the Wall Street Journal proclaiming
“The Republican Party lost its House majority on July 28, 2017, when Sen. John McCain ended the party’s seven-year quest to repeal ObamaCare.
House leadership had done an admirable job herding cats. On the second try, we passed the American Health Care Act in May.
McCain’s last-minute decision prompted a ‘green wave’ of liberal special-interest money, which was used to propagate false claims that the House plan ‘gutted coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.’ That line was the Democrats’ most potent attack in the midterms”
Congressman Lewis blames Senator McCain for voting against the House-approved H.R. 1628 American Heath Care Act of 2017 … but fails to acknowledged that the bill passed out of the House 217-213 with twenty Republicans voting NO.
In statements, Representatives Mike Coffman, R-Colorado, Frank LoBiondo, R-New Jersey, and Charlie Dent and Ryan Costello, R-Pennsylvania explained their NO votes on concerns over coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski also voted NO.
Also voting against the legislation were Minnesota’s two senators — Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar.
Clearly there was concern … but not to Jason Lewis … he wanted a scapegoat and targeted John McCain.
John McCain has since died and been replaced in the Senate … but the Republican leadership has not opted to bring the legislation forward for another vote (since Doug Jones has replaced Luther Strange in the Senate, the outcome most likely would have been the same … unless the legislation was changed to include provisions to satisfy those concerns over pre-existing conditions … but the Republicans didn’t do that.) Republicans had over a year to address the concerns expressed by Republicans, but they didn’t … not even after Senator McCain’s death.
Which begs the question, if Jason Lewis really felt that the problem was in the Senate, why didn’t he raise his finger and seek a seat in the Senate ?
Remember, the McCain NO vote occurred on July 28, 2017 … he may have considered Senator Klobuchar a difficult challenge to oust a popular Senator — even if she wanted to protect ObamaCare.
But then Senator Franken resigned, that should have been an easier contest. Remember in 2014, there was some talk of a Lewis for Senate campaign … when John Kline was representing the Second District.
Yep, it appears that Jason Lewis did not have the guts to step up for a Senate run.
Yet, that leads to the question of whether Jason Lewis is correct about the AHCA and pre-existing conditions.
Well, if there was any doubt that there were problems that needed to be addressed, some Republicans wouldn’t have been promoting their support for legislation emphasizing their concerns over pre-existing conditions.
Take for example,
H.R.1121 – Pre-existing Conditions Protection Act of 2017
H.Res.1066 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions should be retained in law regardless of further amendments to, or the repeal of, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
H.Res.1089 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a replacement for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should have certain features.
Yep, some Republicans were concerned … but Jason Lewis was not one of the sponsors.
Heck, even the reassuring sounding H.R.1121 – Pre-existing Conditions Protection Act of 2017 is lacking. Though H.R. 1121 prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, it does nothing to prevent insurance companies from charging people with pre-existing conditions more for coverage or reinstating annual and lifetime limits that insurers use to restrict the amount of coverage someone can use, and it does not preserve the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits, essentially allowing insurers to sell plans exempt from covering basic services like maternity care, hospitalization, and prescription drugs. Absent such protections, an insurance company could sell coverage to a cancer patient, but charge them more and drop their coverage once they reach their lifetime limit.
Congressman Lewis could have done something about this … but didn’t.
So he complains the Democrats and the Strib may have misled voters … but shouldn’t that have been the job of the Congressman to present his vision — in 2017 and throughout 2018?
Maybe some town halls to explain his views ?
Maybe then, he would have heard from voters and not learned what the KSTP-Survey USA poll reported. Turns out that Twin Cities voters wanted to keep and improve ObamaCare (48%) while only 23% wanted it repealed and replaced.
Yep, it appears that Jason Lewis is clueless.
But he can spin like with the best of the political class … complaining of “a ‘green wave’ of liberal special-interest money” … never acknowledging that $2.7 million was spent to attack his Democrat challenger, Angie Craig.
But here’s the good news … since Jason Lewis has lost his seat, his congressional staff will not be concerned that any pre-existing conditions will preclude them from getting health insurance since they are all losing their jobs.
Yes, ObamaCare will protect all the outgoing Republican staffs.
