Ohio Governor John Kasich said Sunday the collapse of the Republican healthcare bill in the U.S. Senate was a “good thing,” but was adamant the policy debate was not over.
“I’m happy to say I actually think it’s a good thing for this reason,” the former GOP presidential candidate told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace. “I think Republicans looked over the cliff and I think they saw that there were going to be a lot of people who were going to be hurt, particularly people who don’t have much of a voice, who the machine and the system grinds down, and they pulled back.”
Kasich said he understood there would be Senate hearings held into the health insurance exchanges, but warned that a bipartisan effort from rank-and-file members of Congress was required to pass comprehensive reform.
“They have to work on it and this is where they should call the Democrats in and they should demand Democrat participation,” he said. “I don’t think we’re done with it yet. We can’t be done with it yet.”
Kasich admitted he was worried about the future of our country, but said he was hopeful the White House’s personnel shake-up will be a fresh start for the Trump administration.
“What we need, and I think perhaps the president can get there, I sure hope so, is sort of the sense of unity, of hopefulness, not of division but of lifting. And I think we’re not seeing enough, we’re not seeing that right now,” he said. “I would also tell you, Chris, it’s also Congress. If we’re not going to get this direction out of the White House, then we need to get it out of the Congress.”
