Rare Contributor
Former President Barack Obama didn’t mince words when he called out Republican lawmakers for repeatedly trying to repeal The Affordable Care Act.
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On Wednesday, during a speech at a Gates Foundation event, the former president said that it’s “frustrating to have to mobilize” so often to keep lawmakers from repealing his key legislation while addressing the current bill that is being pushed through Congress.
“When I see people trying to undo that hard-earned progress for the 50th or 60th time with bills that would raise costs or reduce coverage, or roll back protections for older Americans or people with pre-existing conditions … for whom coverage would, once again, be almost unobtainable, it is aggravating,” he said. “And, all of this being done without any demonstrable economic or actuarial or plain common-sense rationale, it frustrates.”
Obama: "Frustrating to have to mobilize every couple months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents." pic.twitter.com/3J681Xsrel
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 20, 2017
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Obama added: “And, it’s certainly frustrating to have to mobilize every couple of months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents, but typically that’s how progress is won and how progress is maintained.”
Republicans have promised their constituents for years that they would repeal Obamacare, but their most recent effort ended in failure when three Republicans voted against the legislation.
Congressional Republicans are now trying to push another piece of legislation through Congress, which would roll back a large portion of Obamacare and reshape Medicaid. They would need at least 50 of the 52 GOP votes in the Senate, but they’re already facing pushback from some Republicans, including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who said it’s a “really crappy bill.”
