Worried about Senate Republicans adding repeal of the ObamaCare health insurance mandate to tax reform legislation, on Wednesday, MSNBC repeatedly claimed that the GOP had stepped on a “landmine” and awakened a “sleeping giant” by taking up the issue. The liberal journalists eagerly predicted that the move would get Democrats “fired up” in opposition.
In the 9 a.m. ET hour, anchor Stephanie Ruhle breathlessly proclaimed: “A huge surprise in the GOP tax reform bill. As the Senate Finance Committee....now looking to tie a repeal of a key component of ObamaCare to help pay for tax cuts.” Exasperated, she turned to congressional correspondent Garrett Haake and asked: “ObamaCare, we know that repealing and replacing did not work for Republicans. Why are they trying to stick it in this sucker?”
After explaining that the repeal “saves them something like $338 billion” and “helps pay for a huge chunk of this $1.5 trillion tax cut,” Haake confessed that he was “surprised” that Republicans were not “worried about the politics of losing Democrats in this, as this almost certainly will push Democrats back into their corners.”
Moments later, the reporter then predicted political doom for the GOP and a boost for Democrats:
And, Stephanie, here’s the landmine Republicans may have stepped on, though. By repealing that mandate, you end up with something like 13 million fewer Americans with health insurance. This gets Democrats fired up about fighting this tax bill in a way that they weren’t fired up when it was just a tax bill. By injecting that very personal politics of health care into this, all of a sudden that Democratic grassroots is going to get very organized and very vocal in fighting this bill.
Ruhle confidently chimed in: “It’s gonna be more than Democrats. Remember, Republicans didn’t vote this health care bill through.”
In the 11 a.m. ET hour, Ruhle was joined by co-host Ali Velshi and both of them continued to fret over the renewed effort to dismantle ObamaCare. “New developments in the GOP’s pursuit of a tax overhaul could throw a wrench into the timetable that hasn’t been built with any room for error,” Velshis warned. “House members said there would be no amendments to their bill before a vote, which is already in rough waters,” Ruhle added.
Velshi rattled off various negative statistics about the repeal proposal:
And according to the Congressional Budget Office, 13 million more people will be uninsured by 2027, if this happens, and non-group premiums would rise by 10%. So it’s kind of interesting as to why they’re getting into this business....Six medical groups, including the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, all of these groups have announced their opposition to this particular part of the Senate plans. And 16 patient consumer groups, they don’t like it either. So taken with the medical expense deduction that’s being eliminated, this elimination of the mandate for health care could hurt chronically ill and lower income people.
Talking to Republican New York Congressman Tom Reed soon after, Ruhle insisted: “Okay, by scrapping the individual mandate, are Senate Republicans giving Democrats a way in here? I mean, the Affordable Care Act, it remains really popular, so why throw this in now when you’re making good progress?”
Velshi kept up the pressure with this follow-up: “So just to put a finer point on Stephanie’s question, by bringing the Affordable Care Act, which has not been the most successful thing that Republicans have tried to deal with this year, into the Senate bill, you could be waking a sleeping giant.”
The biased coverage was brought to viewers by GEICO, Liberty Mutual, and SoFi loans.
Here are excerpts of the November 15 segments:
MSNBC Live With Stephanie Ruhle
9:22 AM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: A huge surprise in the GOP tax reform bill. As the Senate Finance Committee meets to markup their version, Republican leaders in that committee are now looking to tie a repeal of a key component of ObamaCare to help pay for tax cuts. The move comes as the House plans to vote on its version of the bill tomorrow.
I want to go live to the Hill, where MSNBC’s Garrett Haake stands by. He is outside the room where that Senate committee is about to markup that bill. Garrett, ObamaCare, we know that repealing and replacing did not work for Republicans. Why are they trying to stick it in this sucker?
GARRETT HAAKE: Well, they’re doing it now because they think this particular repeal helps them solve a math problem. They have found – the CBO has found – that if they repeal just the individual mandate and leave all the rest of ObamaCare alone, it saves them something like $338 billion. That helps pay for a huge chunk of this $1.5 trillion tax cut. So they see this – Republicans see this – as a pot of money available to them, an opportunity to keep a promise, and an opportunity to stay below that budget and then direct some of this money into other parts of this tax cut bill. Things that they hope can make it more popular.
I’ve been surprised actually by the number of Republicans who have sort of pushed over, just not really said that they’re worried about the politics of losing Democrats in this, as this almost certainly will push Democrats back into their corners. Republicans are leaning into this, saying, “We can get rid of an unpopular tax, and if we’re accused of doing it through the back door, that’s sort of okay.” Here’s Senator John Kennedy talking about that with me yesterday.
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY [R-LA]: I really don’t consider the mandate, a repeal of the mandate, to be health care. I consider it, honestly, to be repeal of a tax. But if someone wants to make that allegation and say, “Well, you couldn’t repeal ObamaCare in one fell swoop, so you’re going to dismember it limb by limb,” I’d say, okay. If that’s the only way we can dismember it, let’s do it limb by limb.
HAAKE: And, Stephanie, here’s the landmine Republicans may have stepped on, though. By repealing that mandate, you end up with something like 13 million fewer Americans with health insurance. This gets Democrats fired up about fighting this tax bill in a way that they weren’t fired up when it was just a tax bill. By injecting that very personal politics of health care into this, all of a sudden that Democratic grassroots is going to get very organized and very vocal in fighting this bill.
RUHLE: It’s gonna be more than Democrats. Remember, Republicans didn’t vote this health care bill through.
(...)
Velshi & Ruhle
11:34 AM ET
ALI VELSHI: New developments in the GOP’s pursuit of a tax overhaul could throw a wrench into the timetable that hasn’t been built with any room for error. And that’s not necessarily – nobody imposed that timetable except people who say they want to have this done by Christmas.
STEPHANIE: Okay, but you know what, Ali, I understand it, Republicans want to get something done this year. Senate leaders confirm their plan would scrap ObamaCare’s individual mandate. House members said there would be no amendments to their bill before a vote, which is already in rough waters.
(...)
11:37 AM ET
VELSHI: And as we’ve mentioned, the individual mandate is eliminated by the Senate bill. This has to do with the Affordable Care Act with health care. This is despite the fact that nearly one and a half million people signed up for or renewed their plans so far this month. That’s a nearly 50% increase in the Affordable Care Act from last year. And according to the Congressional Budget Office, 13 million more people will be uninsured by 2027, if this happens, and non-group premiums would rise by 10%. So it’s kind of interesting as to why they’re getting into this business.
Six medical groups, including the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, all of these groups have announced their opposition to this particular part of the Senate plans. And 16 patient consumer groups, they don’t like it either. So taken with the medical expense deduction that’s being eliminated, this elimination of the mandate for health care could hurt chronically ill and lower income people. Stephanie?
RUHLE: Alright, joining us now, a friend of ours, Congressman Tom Reed, he’s a Republican with the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus from the great state of New York. He also serves on the Ways and Means Committee and co-chairs the congressional Diabetes Caucus. Congressman –
VELSHI: He’s from – New York borders that far away country that I’m from.
RUHLE: It does, Canadia, it’s where Ali reins from. Congressman Reed, let’s get started. Okay, by scrapping the individual mandate, are Senate Republicans giving Democrats a way in here? I mean, the Affordable Care Act, it remains really popular, so why throw this in now when you’re making good progress?
REED: Well, you know, I appreciate the fact that in the House we didn’t go down this path of taking on the individual mandate. I thought we should focus on tax policy –
RUHLE: Way to go, Tom, pass the buck on those guys.
REED: Well, you know, I mean, obviously the Senate is their own body. And if they choose to go down that path, we’ll watch and see if they can deliver on that vote. But you know, right now it’s about tax reform and giving relief to people back home.
VELSHI: Alright, so the issue here, of course, is that as much as people may not like some things in this tax bill – and the way it’s done has been very crafty – it gives a lot of middle class people what I think is a relatively small cut, but no one’s going to come on to, you know, the steps of Congress to protest that the way they were doing with the health care bill. So just to put a finer point on Stephanie’s question, by bringing the Affordable Care Act, which has not been the most successful thing that Republicans have tried to deal with this year, into the Senate bill, you could be waking a sleeping giant.
(...)
