Hers something that the retards on the republican and democrats sided should take to heart.
Repeal and Replace: What Would Reagan Do?
The GOP bill isn’t perfect. But much of the opposition from the right arises from opportunism.
By
Robert Pittenger
March 16, 2017 7:04 p.m. ET
Photo: Getty Images
Almost 30 years after leaving office, Ronald Reagan is widely considered one of America’s greatest leaders and the icon of the conservative movement. As a Republican member of Congress, I often speak at Lincoln-Reagan Day dinners and other events honoring his legacy.
Yet as I watch the debate over our House Republican plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, I’m struck by a question. Would President Reagan be acceptable to some of today’s conservatives? Does anyone remember that Reagan was a master of advancing his principles by looking for common ground and finding consensus?
For example, Reagan is rightly praised for ushering in unprecedented economic growth through substantial bipartisan tax cuts, including a mammoth $264 billion tax cut enacted in 1981, his first year in office. Few remember this tax cut included fewer tax breaks for businesses than he wanted, or that he also raised taxes 11 times during his presidency because of his strategy of simultaneously pushing against and compromising with Speaker Tip O’Neill, a liberal Democrat.
Reagan’s bold tax reform, along with significant regulatory relief, awakened a sleeping giant to an unprecedented economic recovery, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs a month and yielding annual economic growth as high as 7.3%, in 1984. The Reagan recovery, along with the rebuilding of our weakened military, helped bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union, liberating tens of millions.
President Reagan explained the need to compromise this way: “Die-hard conservatives thought if I couldn’t get everything I asked for, I should jump off the cliff with the flag flying—go down in flames. No, if I can get 70% or 80% of what it is I’m trying to get, yes I’ll take that and then continue to try to get the rest in the future.”
That brings us to the American Health Care Act. This is our opportunity to get a significant win, and simultaneously keep fighting for an even better outcome through additional legislation. But it has attracted as much criticism and grandstanding from the right as from the left.
Some criticize the bill because it doesn’t include certain conservative reforms, such as allowing insurance to be sold across state lines. While I’ve fought for that reform for more than four years, I also understand that it can’t be achieved under the budget reconciliation process, which is our tool to prevent a Senate Democrat filibuster.
Others criticize the bill because it doesn’t immediately end the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion. Yet at least four Republican senators have pledged to vote against any ObamaCare repeal that does not include a “gradual transition” for states that participated in Medicaid expansion. Those four votes are more than enough to kill any ObamaCare overhaul. We should fight to stop future expansion, as I did on the Steering Committee of the Republican Study Committee, with our unanimous resolution to limit expansion to 2017. But we have to recognize political realities.
As a conservative, I’d also like to see work requirements for able-bodied adults on Medicaid. Right now, 70 million Americans are enrolled in Medicaid, roughly nine million of whom are able-bodied adults with no children at home, But should we, in Reagan’s words, ”jump off the cliff,” or should we celebrate that this legislation includes the most transformational reform to Medicaid since its inception 50 years ago? Under the American Health Care Act, open-ended Medicaid checks from Washington would be replaced with a system of per capita spending caps for each state, with specific funding for the elderly, blind and disabled, children, and the able-bodied adults who were enrolled under ObamaCare.
Conservatives should recognize the significant positive reforms this legislation includes. During my work in the North Carolina Senate, I collaborated with a major accounting firm (Deloitte) and international software firm (SAS) to identify and recover waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid. North Carolina is now a leader in Medicaid fraud detection. Per capita allotments would put states in a position to assume accountability for eligibility and provider fraud. As an example of the level of current accountability, a recent GAO report found that nine of 12 fictitious applications made during the 2016 special enrollment period were approved.
The American Health Care Act would be a huge conservative win. That’s why nothing is more frustrating than watching certain opportunist legislators run to the eagerly awaiting media cameras following Republican conferences or committee hearings and providing sound bites to create another attack story—often replete with half facts, inaccuracies or misinformation.
As a movement conservative and federalist for nearly 50 years, I want to reduce the federal government’s role in our daily lives, return power to the states and eliminate wasteful government spending. Yet I also understand the need to focus on what’s achievable—politically, legislatively and economically. Politicians and outside groups clamoring for attention to build their brand and raise money only contribute to a dysfunctional system. I’ve never voted for a perfect bill. In a democracy, there is no such thing. Legislation that finds as many victories as possible within current political realities should be our objective.
President Trump and Speaker Paul Ryanare carrying the torch of Ronald Reagan. Let’s follow that torch and emulate the successful governing principles of our 40th President.
Mr. Pittenger, a U.S. representative from North Carolina, is a member of the Republican Study Committee’s Steering Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.
Repeal and Replace: What Would Reagan Do?
The GOP bill isn’t perfect. But much of the opposition from the right arises from opportunism.
By
Robert Pittenger
March 16, 2017 7:04 p.m. ET
Photo: Getty Images
Almost 30 years after leaving office, Ronald Reagan is widely considered one of America’s greatest leaders and the icon of the conservative movement. As a Republican member of Congress, I often speak at Lincoln-Reagan Day dinners and other events honoring his legacy.
Yet as I watch the debate over our House Republican plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, I’m struck by a question. Would President Reagan be acceptable to some of today’s conservatives? Does anyone remember that Reagan was a master of advancing his principles by looking for common ground and finding consensus?
For example, Reagan is rightly praised for ushering in unprecedented economic growth through substantial bipartisan tax cuts, including a mammoth $264 billion tax cut enacted in 1981, his first year in office. Few remember this tax cut included fewer tax breaks for businesses than he wanted, or that he also raised taxes 11 times during his presidency because of his strategy of simultaneously pushing against and compromising with Speaker Tip O’Neill, a liberal Democrat.
Reagan’s bold tax reform, along with significant regulatory relief, awakened a sleeping giant to an unprecedented economic recovery, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs a month and yielding annual economic growth as high as 7.3%, in 1984. The Reagan recovery, along with the rebuilding of our weakened military, helped bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union, liberating tens of millions.
President Reagan explained the need to compromise this way: “Die-hard conservatives thought if I couldn’t get everything I asked for, I should jump off the cliff with the flag flying—go down in flames. No, if I can get 70% or 80% of what it is I’m trying to get, yes I’ll take that and then continue to try to get the rest in the future.”
That brings us to the American Health Care Act. This is our opportunity to get a significant win, and simultaneously keep fighting for an even better outcome through additional legislation. But it has attracted as much criticism and grandstanding from the right as from the left.
Some criticize the bill because it doesn’t include certain conservative reforms, such as allowing insurance to be sold across state lines. While I’ve fought for that reform for more than four years, I also understand that it can’t be achieved under the budget reconciliation process, which is our tool to prevent a Senate Democrat filibuster.
Others criticize the bill because it doesn’t immediately end the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion. Yet at least four Republican senators have pledged to vote against any ObamaCare repeal that does not include a “gradual transition” for states that participated in Medicaid expansion. Those four votes are more than enough to kill any ObamaCare overhaul. We should fight to stop future expansion, as I did on the Steering Committee of the Republican Study Committee, with our unanimous resolution to limit expansion to 2017. But we have to recognize political realities.
As a conservative, I’d also like to see work requirements for able-bodied adults on Medicaid. Right now, 70 million Americans are enrolled in Medicaid, roughly nine million of whom are able-bodied adults with no children at home, But should we, in Reagan’s words, ”jump off the cliff,” or should we celebrate that this legislation includes the most transformational reform to Medicaid since its inception 50 years ago? Under the American Health Care Act, open-ended Medicaid checks from Washington would be replaced with a system of per capita spending caps for each state, with specific funding for the elderly, blind and disabled, children, and the able-bodied adults who were enrolled under ObamaCare.
Conservatives should recognize the significant positive reforms this legislation includes. During my work in the North Carolina Senate, I collaborated with a major accounting firm (Deloitte) and international software firm (SAS) to identify and recover waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid. North Carolina is now a leader in Medicaid fraud detection. Per capita allotments would put states in a position to assume accountability for eligibility and provider fraud. As an example of the level of current accountability, a recent GAO report found that nine of 12 fictitious applications made during the 2016 special enrollment period were approved.
The American Health Care Act would be a huge conservative win. That’s why nothing is more frustrating than watching certain opportunist legislators run to the eagerly awaiting media cameras following Republican conferences or committee hearings and providing sound bites to create another attack story—often replete with half facts, inaccuracies or misinformation.
As a movement conservative and federalist for nearly 50 years, I want to reduce the federal government’s role in our daily lives, return power to the states and eliminate wasteful government spending. Yet I also understand the need to focus on what’s achievable—politically, legislatively and economically. Politicians and outside groups clamoring for attention to build their brand and raise money only contribute to a dysfunctional system. I’ve never voted for a perfect bill. In a democracy, there is no such thing. Legislation that finds as many victories as possible within current political realities should be our objective.
President Trump and Speaker Paul Ryanare carrying the torch of Ronald Reagan. Let’s follow that torch and emulate the successful governing principles of our 40th President.
Mr. Pittenger, a U.S. representative from North Carolina, is a member of the Republican Study Committee’s Steering Committee and the House Financial Services Committee.
