The White House slammed the House Republicans’ proposal Wednesday to replace Obamacare, saying it skimped on details that the GOP knows will be unpopular with Americans and that’s why Speaker Paul Ryan won’t put it to a vote.
“The proposal they put forward today does include more details but the details they’ve put forward are wildly unpopular and why I suspect they will not be put to a vote in the Republican-led Congress,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
He described the Republican proposal to replace Obamacare, which is President Obama’s greatest legislative accomplishment, as purely political.
The proposal, because it’s not in the form of legislation and will not get a vote on the House floor, left out details about how much it would cost and how many people would be covered under the plan.
Mr. Earnest said those details would likely show the plan was going to cost more and cover fewer people than Obamacare, and he said that was likely the reason those details were left out.
“They are making decisions based on politic, not based on actually trying to get something done,” he said. “It’s not surprising to me that the most unpopular, controversial, unworkable elements of their plan are not detailed in their proposal that was rolled out today.”
He singled out Mr. Ryan for criticism.
“Speaker Ryan is not the chair of some think tank here in Washington, D.C. He is the speaker of the House of Representatives … and wields the authority of a historically large majority,” Mr. Earnest said. “He doesn’t get any credit for writing a white paper that doesn’t include many details. If he was actually serious about his job and actually serious about trying to improve the health care system in this country, then he would put forwarded a legislative proposal that would pass the House of Representatives. But he hasn’t done either one.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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