Daretoreadit.com - Raw Truth News

Overview report - Gutless RINOS are stalling repeal of Obamacare

By from net, Posted in Politics / National

(NEW YORK TIMES TEXT -- edited by DTRI) -

WASHINGTON - Saying their patience is at an end, conservative activist groups and other powerful interests on the right are mobilizing to pressure Republicans to fulfill their promise to swiftly repeal/replace Obamacare.

Their message is blunt and unforgiving, with the goal of reawakening some of the most extensive conservative grass-roots networks in the country. It is a reminder that even as Republicans control both the White House and Congress for the first time in a decade, the party's activist wing remains restless and will not allow feet dragging by the tepid RINOS for the appearance of party unity.

"We've been patient this year, but it is past time to act and to act decisively," said Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, which is coordinating the push with other groups across the conservative political network. "Our network has spent more money, more time and more years fighting Obamacare than anything else. And now with the finish line in sight, we cannot allow some folks to pull up and give up."

The new mantra could be summed up as repeal, replace or revolt. Beyond the Koch network, other well-financed conservative groups like the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks are also increasing the pressure. All together, the new campaigns will involve advertising, rallies, phone calls to the Capitol switchboard and efforts to confront lawmakers in their offices with documentation of their own words about the need for repeal.

The groups are calling their campaign "You Promised," and are prepared to spend heavily, they said.

The initial phase, which will cost in the low six figures, will include a nationwide digital advertising campaign featuring testimonials from people who say they were harmed by the Affordable Care Act. On Tuesday, the groups will kick off the effort with a rally near the Capitol, from which they will dispatch activists to congressional offices. Beyond that, Americans for Prosperity said it was prepared to bring "significant resources" to bear as needed.

FreedomWorks, which is planning a rally in Washington on March 15 to inaugurate its "month of action" on the Affordable Care Act, is sending its activists to Capitol Hill armed with sheafs of paper with quotes from Republicans who have called for repeal. The plan is to track down those Republicans and make them face their own words.

"I think that the only way we get members of Congress to stay the course on this is with constituent pressure," said Noah Wall, the national director of campaigns for FreedomWorks. If that does not work at first, he added, "I'm going to fill their offices with really angry constituents, and they're going to listen.

"And if they don't," he continued, "I'm going to go back into their district and fill their district offices with angry constituents. And we'll do this again and again."

The Club for Growth plans to directly target party leaders like Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and Paul D. Ryan, the House speaker, in a new phase of the campaign to repeal Obamacare.

The sudden caution of the Republican Party leadership, as it grapples with the enormously complicated challenge of replacing, has baffled conservatives who have been fighting the health law for years. In the House, Republicans have voted dozens of times to dismantle the law, and it has been a primary issue in congressional races since 2010. Repealing the law, many conservative lawmakers believe, is the one clear mandate they have from voters.

"The reality is, this is existential for Republicans," said David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth, which has been sending emails regularly to its 100,000 members warning that Republicans could be stalling the repeal indefinitely. The group plans to directly target party leaders like Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and Paul D. Ryan, the House speaker, in a new phase of the campaign.

"If they don't repeal Obamacare and replace it," Mr. McIntosh added, "I don't think they'll stay in the majority in the next election."

And this early rift between the party's activist wing and its leadership in Washington could be a taste of what Republicans can expect now that they control the government entirely and are no longer able to blame Democrats for blocking their agenda. After making bold promises over the past few years on issues like overhauling expensive government programs, rewriting the tax code and defunding Planned Parenthood, Republicans face voter demands to follow through.

Republicans remain unable to agree on a health care plan that satisfies both moderates and hard-liners. As President Trump himself acknowledged last week when he tried to explain the delay - "Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated."

Democrats, who have been cramming town hall-style meetings to implore Republican lawmakers not to take apart the health law, seem content to let their opponents fight it out in the hope that the divisions will lead to an impasse.