Republicans as usual

Republicans as usual

Republicans took full control of the United States Congress in the 2016 election.  Their legislative session began in 2017.  Their actions have been so ill-considered and shameful, they have made the Democrats look righteous in comparison.

Republicans' first move in 2017 was to attempt to strip authority from the Office of Congressional Ethics.   Republicans disputed this characterization.  But regardless of their intent, Republicans had more important matters that they should have been focused on.  Instead we got politics as usual.

Later came the Republicans' proposal of the American Health Care Act (AHCA).  This was supposed to be the repeal and replacement for Obamacare that the Republicans had promised.  But it was a disaster.  Not a single Democrat supported it, and so many Republicans balked from it that it flopped.  And it deserved to.  It didn't repeal Obamacare at all.  It simply shifted incentives and harms around to different interest groups.  For example, Republicans claimed that it would eliminate the individual mandate - the requirement that people purchase health insurance or a pay a penalty to the government.  What they didn't explain was that a penalty would be collected by health insurance companies instead.  Once again, politics as usual.

Republicans are currently promoting H.R.1215, the "Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017."  This bill caps financial punishment for health lawsuits at $250,000, and prohibits juries from being informed about this limitation.  That means a jury of Americans could be duped into rendering an inappropriate verdict against a reckless surgeon or pharmaceutical company that they believe needs to be punished.  More politics as usual.

Americans voted for a change in 2016.  They put Republicans in majority control of Congress.  But they're getting politics as usual, yet again.  This should be a lesson to the American people -  Republicans, Democrats, everyone - politics will always be the same.  If we're tired of politics being the way it is, we need less of it.