Rep. Thomas Massie: 'Obamacare 1.1' Will 'Cause a Quicker Death Spiral'

Libertarian-leaning congressman slams the Better Care Reconciliation Act on Kennedy

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), the self-described Tea Party libertarian who is so cantankerous that he won't even join the House Freedom Caucus despite sharing many of its views, was always one of the most outspoken opponents to the Freedom Caucus-approved American Health Care Act (AHCA). After that bill first failed the House, Massie warned in an interview with me that "We don't really have 218 conservatives here [who] meant what they said when they said they wanted to repeal Obamacare." And just before his Freedom Caucus pals wilted under glare of President Donald Trump, the congressman snarked: "The AHCA is like a kidney stone—the House doesn't care what happens to it, as long as they can pass it."

So what does Massie think about the new Senate attempt to modify the Affordable Care Act? Not much. Our pal Kennedy had the congressman on the show last night, and he dubbed the Better Care Reconciliation Act as "Obamacare 1.1," warning that it may "cause a quicker death spiral." He then added more fuel to the Hot Potato Theory of the Republican Party's motivation for rushing through a bad and unpopular bill: "At some point I realized they didn't care what happened to the House bill as long as they could get it out of the House," Massie said. "The Senate probably just wants to get it out of the Senate." Whole segment here:

Re-read Peter Suderman's critical analysis of Obamacare Lite.

Comments

[Calidissident]

This is such a shitshow.

The GOP is trying to please a bunch of different constituencies enough to get something passed, and in the end they're not really pleasing anyone. Part of the issue is contradictory views among voters. For example, the individual mandate is unpopular, but the guaranteed issue and community rating regulations that make the market unworkable without a mandate (not that there's no problem with it there, of course, especially given that it's relatively light compared to the cost of insurance) are popular.

[notJoe]

And in the end the whole mess will still collapse, even if they do pass their inane "reconciliation act" (which fortunately is a serious long shot). Only because they got their greasy fingerprints all over it, *they'll* be the ones considered responsible for Healthcare Armageddon, not the libs who rammed through the original bill.

They're not called the Stupid Party for nothing.

[Abu Nudnik]

It's so simple. Governments should do what only they can do and only that. Inferior governments should do what they can and only they can do. The people should do what they and only they can do.

Vote farming for power involves bribing people to empower themselves with other people's money.

Most people feed, clothe, and house themselves. There is way too much talk about politics and looking for messiahs for what most people do by themselves.

[PurityDiluting]

Massie 2020!

[BYODB]

Well, at least Massie voted against it in the House which is more than most Republicans can say. You can't accuse him of not practicing what he preaches in this regard.

[Robert]

So, wait...Massie would rather retain the penaltax to slow down the death spiral?!

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[anuj2017]

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[anuj2017]

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