South Carolina Senator Tim Scott took to Twitter today to air out his arguments on why repealing Obamacare isn’t easy, but why it must be done:
1.When I was elected to Congress in 2010–along w/a record-breaking Freshman class,the major platform was repealing the ACA&the national debt
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
2. The debt continues to grow, and the ACA is not getting any better. The former isn’t helped by the latter.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
3. In South Carolina, we’re down to one insurer offering plans on the exchanges.We’re seeing triple digit premium hikes,sky high deductibles
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
4. Millions are paying for insurance they don’t want. In SC, more than 100,000 stuck without an option
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
5. Not everyone got to keep their doctors, and they weren’t able to keep their plans
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
6. These are facts – you can’t argue with them. And that’s not how our health care system should work
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
7. Two things happened along the way to where we stand today
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
8. The ACA went into effect, and – “A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth” (Reagan)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
9. No matter how badly the program serves (or doesn’t serve) the people – replacing an entitlement is hard
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
10. And two – along the way we stopped fighting the policy, and started fighting the people behind it
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
11. We’ve got to realize that our pattern should not be disagree and destroy, but rather disagree and solve
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
12. So that’s where we stand today. A bad program that has grown deep roots, and a bitterly divided political culture.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
13. I remain committed to repealing the ACA and replacing it with a system that works for all families
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
14. The ACA is not sustainable, and hasn’t been from the beginning. Its foundation was built on certain groups that never signed up
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
15. Its price tag grew and grew from the billions into the trillions, and finally scoring agencies just gave up
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
16. You can’t just put your head in the sand and ignore those facts and hope that it lives forever
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
17. But here’s what I’m not doing – I’m not going to impugn the intentions of people who disagree
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
18. I truly believe we all want what’s best for our nation and her people. To me, that’s finding a better solution than the ACA provides.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
19. I’m not going to give up on repealing the Unaffordable Care Act. American families deserve better.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
20. I’m also not going to stop looking for a solution – giving up isn’t what we were sent here to do.
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) July 18, 2017
He’s right, repealing Obamacare isn’t easy because it has grown roots. But that’s also why the repeal wouldn’t go into effect immediately.
The problem is that too many Republicans don’t actually want to repeal it. They claimed they did to get elected, but they really didn’t mean it. To them it’s easier to get reelected if they leave parts of Obamacare in place so they can say they’ve done ‘something’ rather than to do the politically hard work of actually repealing Obamacare and putting in a replacement that makes coverage available to everyone who wants it without subsidizing it.
Tim Scott has the right attitude here and I’m more than certain that he isn’t part of the problem. There’s a whole bevy of conservative Senators who would do the right thing because they told us they would and he’s one of them.