MAY 8, 2017
Photo: Getty
In the wake of the Trumpcare bill passing the House, it was quite a weekend in the national’s capital.
It all began last Thursday, when, after days of bending over backwards to please the various factions of the GOP, Republicans revealed a revised health care bill (Trumpcare 2.0), which was rushed through to a vote and approved by the U.S. House of Representatives 217-213.
You remember the Trumpcare 1.0 bill — the one that fell so short of votes on March 24 that it was removed from Congressional consideration? It was such a humiliating defeat for the Trump Administration that the President — never one to take a public shaming lightly — became determined to declare some kind of victory in his first 100 days and ordered the House GOP to fix the bill in order to get back the right-wing votes that they had lost in the first go-round.
By fix, Trump basically meant “give the right-wing Freedom Caucus anything they want.” What they wanted was to get rid of coverage for people with preexisting conditions, so they worded an addendum in a cute way, declaring that states would be given the option to opt out of covering such people, taking away one of the most popular provisions of Obamacare. And that’s what finally pushed the 2.0 bill over the top last Thursday.
That’s when the blowback began.
From the moment that the 217-213 vote count was announced, Democrats on the floor of the House began singing to the old cheer, “Nah nah nah nah. Nah, nah, nah, nah. Hey, hey, hey, goodbye!,” sadly waving goodbye to the seats that their GOP colleagues will likely lose in 2018 because of their votes to approve this bill.
If that was as far as it went for blowback, that clip would be a one-night story. But Trump couldn’t leave well enough alone.
Reportedly over the objections of (wiser) GOP operatives, President Trump insisted that the Republican Congressmen who voted for the bill be bused over to the White House for a big celebration, complete with what appeared to be many cases of Bud Light. A Congressman attendee was later quoted as saying that it was definitely not Bud Light. (If that’s true and they said no to Bud Light, I’m with the GOP on this one.)
Trump may have had a joyous moment and spiked the football in what he thought was the end zone, but he’s nowhere near the end zone on this bill. It now goes to the Senate, where Senators will likely try to fix the healthcare bill to make it somewhat more centrist, then it goes back to the House, whose right-wing members will likely find the Senate changes unpalatable and vote against it, and on and on and on.
The optics of this celebration were disastrous, as photo after photo displayed all the charm of frat-boy mixer — real bro back-patting with precious little evidence that their female colleagues were even there. And yes, in the above photo that went around the world, there are surprisingly two women present. (For the record, one is at extreme left where a bit of her blonde hair can be seen, the other is at center-right, just to the right of Trump’s right hand, where a sliver of her profile can be seen.)
There were other GOP Congresswomen in attendance, but for some reason, they decided to stay off to the side for the photo. That may turn out to be the smartest move of the day, because high-fiving the loss of health insurance for 24 million people in a photograph might, just might, come back to haunt them in their 2018 reelection campaigns.
The Republicans, however, had a chance to at least correct the optics this weekend when the GOP had to select 13 Senators to serve on a task force to recommend changes to the bill, particularly the sections involving women’s health. Whom did they appoint? 13 white guys! (Of course.)
But I feel no sorrow for the Republican Congresswomen. Their votes to disenfranchise 24 million Americans by removing their access to healthcare count just as much as their male colleagues, and when people begin to die because of their decisions on the House floor, the blood will be equally on the hands of all GOP Representatives who supported this cruel bill.
