Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), one of four conservative senators who issued a statement last week opposing the Senate Obamacare repeal bill as written, wrote in a Monday New York Times op-ed that the bill does not adequately fix the issues he sees with the Affordable Care Act.
“Our priority should be to bring relief, and better, less expensive care, to millions of working men and women,” Johnson wrote in the New York Times. “Unfortunately, the Senate Republican alternative, unveiled last week, doesn’t appear to come close to addressing their plight. Like Obamacare, it relies too heavily on government spending, and ignores the role that the private sector can and should play.”
Johnson called for “consumer-driven, free-market competition” in the health care market, which he argued would “restrain (if not lower) costs while improving quality, access and innovation.”
“Loosen up regulations and mandates, so that Americans can choose to purchase insurance that suits their needs and that they can afford,” Johnson wrote.
“Like many other senators, I had hoped that this was where things were headed during the last several weeks as the Republican bill was discussed,” he continued. “We’re disappointed that the discussion draft turns its back on this simple solution, and goes with something far too familiar: throwing money at the problem.”
Johnson ended his op-ed by noting that Republican leaders in the Senate have emphasized that the bill released last week is a discussion draft open to negotiation.
“I look forward to working with Senate leadership and the president to improve the bill so it addresses the plight of the forgotten men and women by returning freedom and choice to health care,” the senator wrote.
Johnson has previously criticized leadership for rushing the bill through the chamber, arguing that senators need more time to assess the legislation.
If one of the most irretrievably clueless GOP Senators recognizes this, one might applaud.
However, this clown believes the Obamacare repeal bill doesn’t go far enough.
Another profile in cruelty…
All this blather and he refuses to say unconditionally, “I will not vote for this bill.”
Don’t hold your breath waiting for it, either.
That´s rich: attack the repeal from the right in order to appease the wingnuts, and at the same time not risk the wrath of the electorate by voting for a bill that would eliminate insurance for hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who presently are covered.
Another Ron Johnson profile in courage.
In a portion of his New York Times piece cut from the final, Sen. Johnson (R-Koch) stated: “I will only support a bill that strips at least 25 million of health insurance. I also want at least 100,000 of the poor and elderly to die annually. My estimates are that only 23 million will lose insurance and merely 70,000 will die.This bill needs to be crueler.”
Free-market healthcare is a myth. Johnson is just spouting GOP sound bites now. Doesn’t have a clue what they mean.