The right-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board is slamming the Republican Freedom Caucus in Congress for, the paper said, blocking a practical healthcare bill that won’t get any more conservative than it is.
Several of the Freedom Caucus’ 30 members have taken a hard line on the healthcare bill that House Speaker Paul Ryan and the White House are attempting to pass and begin the replacement of Obamacare, calling the legislation “Obamacare-lite” and insisting that it doesn’t do enough to replace the existing law.
The bill was scheduled for a vote on Thursday but was pushed back to Friday and it is still uncertain whether it has enough Republican votes to pass.
“The delay is said to be a defeat for President Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan, but both men have done about as much as they can …,” the Journal said in an editorial published Thursday night. “The Freedom Caucus blocked incremental reform progress after the GOP took Congress under President Obama, and the question is whether they will indulge the same rule-or-ruin tactics now against Mr. Trump.”
News reports late Thursday said Trump has issued an “ultimatum” to congressional Republicans that if the bill fails on Friday, he is willing to move on to other policy issues and leave Obamacare in place.
“If the Freedom Caucus thinks a more conservative bill will emerge if this one fails, they have more illusions than the Hillary Clinton campaign. If Mr. Trump concludes he can’t win with the Republican majority, he may well try to negotiate with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and the cost of their votes will make the Ryan bill look like free-market heaven.”
