A blame-shifting vote | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The AHCA passed the House without being read or scored — and no one knows why. How about the 2018 midterm elections and the Republican campaign?

"Repeal and replace" was (supposedly) always a three-step process, with step one being repeal. But, repeal now and replace later wouldn't fly, so step one had to be something health care, and that's why the bill got stuck. Bad news. As long as the bill was in the House, only House Republicans and the president could be blamed for a lack of progress. Now that the bill is in the Senate, all blame can be shifted to the "obstructionist" Democrats (speculative filibuster threat?). Simply put, the vote was for blame shifting. Period.

Now, the Republican message is very likely to become: "The reason you don't have the ice cream and candy we promised you is because the mean ol' Democrats won't let us give it to you. They hate your freedom. They want you dependent on the government. But we're about freedom and choice. The only chance you have of seeing the promised land is to elect Republicans into the super majorities we so righteously deserve. God bless money. God bless guns. God bless America. Amen."

Robert Budd

Taylorsville