No, I did not jump up and high five myself at 11:48 PM PDT last night when Teri and I turned back to MSNBC from watching Iron Man to learn that the dread “Skinny Repeal” had died an embarrassing death. Although I did giggle a little bit. OK, I’ve been giggling pretty much nonstop since then, so sue me. I don’t do happy dances or victory laps, they tend to dent my fragile dignity. And I especially don’t do one now.
First of all, congratulations to Indivisible, and to every one of us. If the people of this country, each and every one of us, had been the same apathetic sheep that the politicians of Washington on both sides have come to know and love over the years, we’d have had a straight repeal of the ACA a long time ago. Whether we marched, showed up at town halls, e-mailed, wrote letters, or made a pain in the ass of ourselves over the phone as I did, it wasn’t Democratic opposition that sank this bill, it was constituent opposition and pressure, in every state and district that sent a stark reminder to every stuffed suit empty head in Washington, “You work for us pal, and don’t you ever forget it”. Take a bow, and a deep breath, all of us manned the ramparts to save the day, and we deserve the credit.
I have a question for Yertl the Turtle. How’d that whole pester a seriously ill 80 year old man to come back to Washington and pull your ass out of the fire thing work out for you? At long last, the Straight Talk Express pulled back into town, and the Ol’ Maverick rode in for one last rodeo. Mr. President? Who’s the hero now smartass? Fuck both of you. For all of his shortcomings, and as much as I disagree with the man on his politics and policy, he has one what neither of you will ever have, morals and dignity.
Here’s a message for Charles Shumer and Nancy Pelosi. You have been given the greatest gift a politician and legislator can receive, a golden political opening. A weakened opponent and a cause that is as hot as a grill table at Benihana’s right now. Use it to your advantage. It’s time to put up or shut up.
What was that I heard from the two of you a few days ago? Oh yeah, the Democrats are offering “A Better Deal”. Really? OK, show me. Better yet, show all of us, every last man jackin’ one of us. Don’t rub the Republicans nose in it, nobody likes an arrogant winner, and we all saw how that impromptu kegger in the Rose Garden looked, didn’t we? And besides, we didn’t actually win anything, we saved what we already had from imminent destruction. You want to retake both the House and the Senate in 2018? I do, and here’s how you do it.
Put up or shut up. Those five simple words again. Right now, everybody in the country knows what is wrong, both with the GOP repeal and replace plans, as well with the Affordable care Act. Acknowledge what’s wrong with the ACA, and then show us all how to fix the bloody thing! This shouldn’t be hard, you already know a lot of what’s wrong with Obamacare, it was wrong because it had to be built that way to pass reconciliation in the first place. You already know what’s wrong with it, you tried to fix it after the bill passed, but the Republicans wouldn’t work with you to make it function properly. Bring up those fixes right now, each and every one of them, with every refinement you’ve discovered along the way, as well as every fix to new problems you discovered after the law was implemented. You have a “Better Deal”? Show the substance, not the bumper sticker, and do it right now.
And please, do me a favor. K.I.S.S. No Washingtonese, make it so simple that even a Trump supporter can understand it, although I think we’re all a little better versed in the mechanics of Obamacare than we were back in 2009. Acknowledge the shortcomings of the 3-4 biggest chinks in the Obamacare armor, don’t overwhelm us with everything all at once, and then show in clear and understandable English just how it can be fixed.
Here’s the order of battle. Go home. Take the kiddies to Disneyworld. Fire up another shrimp on the barbie, and then get your asses out into the streets. Hold town halls, give speeches, keep the healthcare fight right in the crosshairs, chastise the GOP for their foolishness, and then immediately show how they can pay their penance by actually working constructively to help you fix this law and make it better for everybody. Believe me, you’ll get coverage, this issue is front and center right now. And while you’re at it, give the talking points to every Democratic candidate running to unseat a Republican next year, especially in GOP districts that Hillary won, and give them a few bucks to hold their own events. Let them put their opponents on notice that this issue is not going away for the next 15 months.
Right now, the Republicans in both the House and the Senate have two critical problems on their hands, Trump, and their own spectacular failure. Hair Twitler may huff and puff that he won’t own it, and the GOP won’t own it, but every GOP member knows that they owned it from the day they opened debate to repeal and replace it. Trump may bluff and bluster about letting Obamacare crash and burn, and then get a better deal, but his party knows that if they do that, their only political recourse will be to all emigrate to one of those stupid shipping container islands in the middle of the ocean that that rich, insane buddy of Trump’s wants to build, and set up their own banana republic. As they say in stores, “You break it, you own it”.
But the bigger problem for the GOP right now is the problem of failure. Forget Trump’s faithful Trombies, they have promised this Pollyanna to their own supporters for the last seven years now. For many, the promise to improve their healthcare by repealing and replacing Obamacare was the singly, load bearing member that their entire house was built on. Slogans won’t fix this. Their own constituents saw for themselves what their healthcare would look like under Republican stewardship, and they didn’t like it very much. If the Democrats actually have a plan to pull their fat out of the fire by actually lowering costs and improving healthcare, it’s up to them to decide whether or not to at least try to take some credit for helping to fix the problem.
I wold not be surprised to see leadership struggles go on in both chambers of congress fairly soon. Someone has to hang for this. And it was McConnell and Ryan, starting with Eddie Munster who hung them all out to dry in the name of Ryan’s college kegger fantasies. Ryan and McConnell were hoist on their own petard. In 2009, they got out in front and branded the ACA with death panels, spiraling costs, and government takeover, the Democrats never recovered and put a positive spin on the bill. In 2017, it was the Democrats who painted the GOP plans midnight black, and the Republicans who did a piss poor job of marketing, although putting lipstick on this particular pig would have won a Clio award for creativity. Ryan and McConnell sacrificed them by putting their names in black and white on votes they knew could cost them their jobs, and now the check may be due for that particular dinner.
Right now, the Democrats have the basic ammunition they need to take back both the House and the Senate next year. But they won’t do either if they just spend the next 15 months bashing Trump and lording the healthcare failure over the Republicans. People don’t want recriminations, they’re already sick of them, they want solutions. Don’t forget, what put Trump over the top in those critical states were people frustrated with inaction and words. If the Democrats can offer simple, easy as instructions on a pasta box solutions, and show how they can work, those people can be brought back into the fold. The GOP spent 7 years making promises without plans. We need to do the opposite, make promises based on simple, workable plans. The ball is in our court, let’s not blow it.