Piety & Power, by Tom LoBianco: on Health Care


Mike Pence: Replace ObamaCare with new plan with Congressional support

[In 2017,] the first order of business for Pence was repealing ObamaCare. Republicans had spent eight years trashing the Democratic health care overhaul, but now that they were in power, they ran up against the same political winds that forced ObamaCare to look like such a political Frankenstein's monster to begin with. Conservatives wanted a complete and total repeal of the law, moderative Republicans wanted to protect certain pieces of it.

In private meeting at the White House, Pence consistently reassured Trump that they would have the votes needed to do away with ObamaCare, create a new healthcare plan, and put a new bill on the president's desk. But Pence's own long time adviser and confidant, Marc Short, consistently delivered a more pessimistic message to Trump, that the votes would be more difficult to come by. Short was right.

Source: Piety & Power, by Tom LoBianco, p.281-3 Sep 14, 2019

Republican Party: ObamaCare repeal requires replacement after 2016 election

The first order of business [after Trump was elected in 2016] was repealing ObamaCare, something every Republican had run on year in and year out since it passed, and something they promised was a top priority. Still, it was much easier to rip on ObamaCare when they knew Obama would veto any effort--now they had to figure out a way to replace key pieces of legislation if they replaced it, or at the very least ensure the markets wouldn't crumble and millions of Americans didn't lose their insurance as the result of any kind of Republican dismantling.

Republicans had spent eight years trashing the Democratic health care overhaul, but now that they were in power, they ran up against the same political winds that forced ObamaCare to look like such a political Frankenstein's monster to begin with. Conservatives wanted a complete and total repeal of the law; moderative Republicans wanted to protect certain pieces of it.

Source: Piety & Power, by Tom LoBianco, p.281-3 Sep 14, 2019

  • The above quotations are from Piety & Power
    Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House
    by Tom LoBianco    .
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2020 Presidential contenders on Health Care:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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