Republicans Fuming As Rand Paul Votes Against Obamacare Repeal Legislation

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Republican Sen. Rand Paul took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to blast members of his own party for moving forward with legislation that adds nearly $10 trillion to the national debt – all in the name of repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Paul slammed the GOP resolution as a “budget that never balances.”

Video:

What will the first order of business be for the new Republican majority? To pass a budget that never balances. pic.twitter.com/DEBquJvK7P

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 4, 2017

The Kentucky senator said:

Republicans won the White House. Republicans control the Senate. Republicans control the House. And what will the first order of business be for the new Republican majority? To pass a budget that never balances. To pass a budget that will add $9.7 trillion of new debt over 10 years. Is that really what we campaigned on? Is that really what the Republican Party represents? Our first order of business will be a budget that never balances … and they tell us, “Oh, but it’s not a budget.” If you listen, they will say, “No, no, it is a vehicle to repeal Obamacare.” And yet I have the title in front of me. It says a concurrent resolution for the budget of 2017.

While Rand Paul is wrong in his overall belief that the Affordable Care Act should be repealed, he is correct that the Republicans are playing political games – and no longer pretending to care about the debt – in order to achieve something that will hurt more than 20 million Americans who now have health insurance under the law.

Earlier in the day on MSNBC, he said, “I won’t vote for a terrible budget just to repeal Obamacare.”

Paul did, indeed, oppose the resolution, but it still passed by a 51 to 48 vote. If more Republican senators follow in Paul’s steps on future votes, though, the GOP effort to repeal President Obama’s landmark achievement could be in jeopardy.

Don’t count on it, though.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.

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