Thread: Poe quits Freedom Caucus in aftermath of failed ObamaCare overhaul

Poe quits Freedom Caucus in aftermath of failed ObamaCare overhaul

By Joseph Weber
Published March 26, 2017 FoxNews.com

What does health care defeat mean for Trump, GOP agenda?

The fallout over House Republicans' failed ObamaCare overhaul bill continued Sunday when Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, resigned from the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Poe intended to vote in favor of the bill and personally told President Trump last week that he would support the measure.

“To deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," Poe said in a statement. "Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead."

Poe resigned hours after President Trump called out the Freedom Caucus and conservative groups Club for Growth and The Heritage Foundation for not supporting the measure.

“Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!,” Trump tweeted.

On Friday, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., canceled the final vote for the ObamaCare replacement bill after concluding he didn’t have enough support despite the chamber’s GOP majority.

Ryan was purportedly about 20 votes short of the requisite 216, amid strong opposition from the chamber’s conservative House Freedom Caucus, which has 30 to 40 Republican members. Several moderate House Republicans also did not support the bill, written by Ryan and his leadership team.

In the days leading up to the planned vote, Trump suggested those who wouldn’t support the overhaul bill could lose in their 2018 reelection primaries. And in a closed-door Capitol Hill meeting last week, the president made clear to Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., that he would hold the congressman responsible if the bill failed.

Trump and Ryan spoke Saturday and Sunday. Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said the leaders spoke Saturday for roughly an hour about “moving forward on (their) agenda” and that their relationship is “stronger than ever right now.”

Strong also said Trump made clear Sunday that his tweet earlier in the day had nothing to do with the speaker.

“They are both eager to get back to work on the agenda," she said.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...-overhaul.html

The "FREEDOM CAUCUS" needs to disband itself. When you vote against liberty as your group committed to do leaving Americans strangled with government mandates and tax penalties, your group has nothing whatsoever to do with freedom, liberty or any connection thereto, which makes you a fraud by name and acts.

But for your bad acts, Americans would be celebrating our liberty this weekend, planning where to spend their $500 to $1000 a year per person or over $2,100 as a family if they don't have insurance, and employers would be handing out notices to their part time employees informing them they can now go back to 40 hours or more as well as expanding their businesses to more than 49 employees.

But for your bad choices, we could be well on our way to a nation saving tax reform act and fixing our no growth economy.

The consequences of your sick political games have cost the United States more than it had to give on the issue of Obamacare. Americans can't sustain one more day of Obamacare with mandates. We wanted our freedom to choose and our freedom to grow our businesses because these are the "essential benefits" of being Americans in our little land of liberty.

You acted out during this process just like every other group of scum bag politicians who put their personal agendas above those of the people of our country. Americans want freedom, first and foremost, and you denied them. To call yourselves the "FREEDOM CAUCUS" is a disgrace.

SHAME ON YOU, SHAME ON YOU ALL.

Thank you Ted Poe for leaving the Freedom Caucus! Thank you very very much!! I hope many more follow your lead. When you're not voting for freedom, but voting to keep tyranny, you are NOT a "FREEDOM CAUCUS", you are a fraud.

In my view the Freedom Caucus saved us from making a huge mistake. RINOcare wasn't all it was cracked up to be and it was not going to lower healthcare premiums. If it would have passed the GOP would have owned it. Passing a bill just to own it is not necessarily a good thing. For an example of that just look at Obamacare. We can do better folks. Besides that, the Freedom Caucus is more inline with our goals and positions on illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is mainly why we're here (on ALIPAC). I will not attack them for doing what is right for our country. Furthermore, they were the only ones to publicly voice their opposition to health care credits for illegal aliens in the RINOcare bill.

As for Rep. Ted Poe, I'm surprised he was even in the Freedom Caucus considering he has came out in favor of flooding our country with foreign labor and an illegal immigrant amnesty. Oh, and for the record is is a free trader. Rep. Ted Poe is a turncoat!

Excerpt:

“I’ve changed,” said Poe, who was first elected to Congress in 2004. “I used to think we had to do border security before we ever talk about other immigration issues. But we have to do them in tandem, because [otherwise] we’ll never get to those other issues. The border is really not secure because of the drug cartels.”

Now, Poe not only will discuss other immigration issues, but is going head-on against many of his fellow conservatives in his decision to support a path to legal status for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...ns-stance.html

He does sound like a turncoat - or rather he sounds like 95% of all congresscritters.

They may talk differently when it is in their best interests, but their actions certainly tell the story.

Oh shame on you Ted Poe for ever supporting amnesty!! I support your withdrawal from the Freedom Caucus but shame on you for supporting amnesty for illegal aliens!!! Bad! Bad! Bad!!

Originally Posted by MW

In my view the Freedom Caucus saved us from making a huge mistake. RINOcare wasn't all it was cracked up to be and it was not going to lower healthcare premiums. If it would have passed the GOP would have owned it. Passing a bill just to own it is not necessarily a good thing. For an example of that just look at Obamacare. We can do better folks. Besides that, the Freedom Caucus is more inline with our goals and positions on illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is mainly why we're here (on ALIPAC). I will not attack them for doing what is right for our country. Furthermore, they were the only ones to publicly voice their opposition to health care credits for illegal aliens in the RINOcare bill.

As for Rep. Ted Poe, I'm surprised he was even in the Freedom Caucus considering he has came out in favor of flooding our country with foreign labor and an illegal immigrant amnesty. Oh, and for the record is is a free trader. Rep. Ted Poe is a turncoat!

Excerpt:



http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...ns-stance.html

No they weren't. Lou Barletta is the one who brought this to the forefront. And he did so directly with Trump and Trump said he would support the bill that disallows any tax credits being paid to illegal aliens. No tax credits of any kind should be paid to illegal aliens.

Jim Jordan from the Freedom Caucus was on Fox News Sunday trying to explain the Freedom Caucus position and he says the only thing his team is going to vote for is a plan that reduces premium costs by excluding pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits from the policies.

BWAAAAHAAAAA!!!

Oh Lord, I thought they wanted to repeal the mandates and tax penalties and restore liberty to the American People. But no, that isn't what they wanted to do, thye wanted to repeal the prohibitions on insurance companies excluding people with pre-existing conditions, keeping children on policies until they're 26, and the required 10 essential health benefits of an insurance policy to "reduce the premiums". Trump of course wouldn't agree to removing the pre-existing conditions or keeping children on policies until they're 26, but he did agree that last night to remove the essential health benefits of insurance policies.

Jordan also said they only wanted to repeal Obamacare, and not have a replacement at the same time.

Priebus said on Face the Nation today that Trump is moving on and Americans will have Obamacare for the foreseeable future.

GOP Rep Jordan: Freedom Caucus ‘Did the Country a Favor’ in Killing AHCA




by PAM KEY26 Mar 20176253

On this weekend’s broadcast “Fox News Sunday,” House Freedom Caucus vice chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said the Freedom Caucus did the “country a favor” when they refused to support the House Republican health care bill.

Jordan said, “Let’s get back to work and do what we told the voters we would do. Remember this bill — 17 percent of the country approved of this bill. Maybe the fact that we opposed it, we did that country a favor because this bill didn’t repeal Obamacare. This bill didn’t do what we told the American people we would do. Let’s be responsible, get back to work and do what we told the American people what we were going to accomplish which is repeal Obamacare and replace it with a patient-centered health care program.”

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/...-killing-ahca/

Yeah, sure, do that!! Good luck! Be sure to let US know when it happens. From what I can tell, Americans are done with this bull. No one who has Medicaid wants to give it up. No one who has a subsidy wants to trade it in for a tax credit and a HSA account. No one who is protected on their parent's policy or who has a pre-existing condition wants to give it up. No one with Walmart health insurance wants to take it with them if they get a job with General Electric or the DuPont Company, they want GE's or DuPont's. No one on Medicare wants any changes to that. No one wants to be treated by a Physician Assistant instead of an MD. No one wants the licensing of Medical Providers to be more "flexible", if anything they want it more stringent to keep the quacks out of the business. No one wants an individual policy if they have a job, they want company insurance. And most Americans do not want the Pro-Life Movement involved in their health insurance plans at all on any level.

Maybe before you "bold" a term like "patient-centered health care program", you should investigate what it is they're talking about.

It's right here:

http://www.heritage.org/health-care-...ed-health-care

So, Trump's got this. He saw the writing on the wall. That's why he pulled the vote. It's over.

Obamacare is here to stay.