Chaney letter: Labrador-Trumpcare

Congressman Raul Labrador’s April 4 commentary was interesting, and very lawyerly. He left out a few important things.

Republicans in the House of Representatives attempted to replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which provides a health care lifeline for many millions of Americans. They proposed Trumpcare, which would have thrown many millions of elderly and poor people under the health care bus.

The Republicans’ stated purpose was to pave the way for a trillion-dollar tax cut for the wealthy.

There was a huge public outcry. It scared the Republicans. To avoid a humiliating political defeat, they didn’t bring Trumpcare to a vote. Labrador’s Freedom Caucus was in the forefront of the opposition.

Labrador says he opposed Trumpcare because it didn’t go far enough toward making health care even more affordable. The Freedom Caucus opposed Trumpcare because it didn’t go far enough in cutting Obamacare’s health care benefits for millions of Americans.

The Republicans have not given up on Trumpcare. They are openly plotting ways to make Obamacare fail so they can make draconian cuts in health care funding to finance their trillion-dollar tax cut for the wealthy.

Better keep a close eye on Labrador. He’s very lawyerly.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Chaney letter: Labrador-Trumpcare."