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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) on May 4 scolded House Republicans for passing a health-care bill aiming to revise the Affordable Care Act. (Reuters)

The Democrats and their allies in the media want you to believe two conflicting certainties about the recently passed House Republican health-care bill. First, they want you to think that this bill doesnt amount to anything that its not a victory for Trump, will never become law, and has been completely disregarded by the Senate. Second, they want you to think that Republicans repeal-and-replace bill is a catastrophic development for the GOP and the nation that it will cost Republicans their majority, is certainly political suicide for the party as a whole, and is already adversely affecting the health of many Americans. But the health-care bill simply cannot amount to nothing on the one hand and deal a fatal blow to the entire Republican Party and be a plague on the population on the other.

In listening toHouse and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and SenateMinority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), one is led to believe that the pain and suffering caused by the Republican health-care bill will be unbearable, that widows and orphans will be dropping like flies. Even former president Barack Obama took a break from his jet-setting, yacht-sailing life to prevailupon Congress the need to exercise political courage in not repealing Obamacare. The Democrats comments are just partisan spin meant to distract from the real story that liberals beloved Obamacare is falling apart.

Since the Houses successful repeal-and-replace vote, the liberal media has relentlessly supported Democrats most extreme pronouncements. Politicoembraced the warped narrative about the bills campaign consequences, publishing a story Saturday with the headlineObamacare repeal vote upends 2018 House landscape.

But buried deep in that story are wise words from veteran GOP strategist Curt Anderson, who appropriately noted, Those who think Republicans will be defeated because of this vote are either in a parallel universe, or have been asleep for the past seven years. The notion that Obamacare is suddenly popular and will be missed is a mirage that seems real during the fog of war, but will disappear as you get closer to it.

Hes right. Obamacare is not popular now, and it definitely was not popular in 2014 when Republicans took control over the House and Senate for the first time in eightyears. Just look at Mondays CNBC report indicating that 60 percent of small-business owners support a repeal of Obamacare. They are the engine of job creation in the United States, they understand how harmful Obamacare has been to business. Still, leave it to CNNs always predictable Don Lemon to argue that Obamacare is collapsing only because President Trump is causing uncertainty among insurers. Give me a break.

But the lefts deceptive outrage does not end with Democratic congressional leaders or Don Lemon. The award for the most pretentious, sappy and over-the-top production goes to Rep.Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), whose speech on the House floor was edited by a liberal organization to include a solemn violin soundtrack. Im serious. Striking a made-for-bad-TV pose, Kennedy argued that the repeal of Obamacare rejects common humanity and continues the administrations calculated attempt to divide up our nation. And the New York Times Charles Blow similarly weighed in with the wild overstatement that [w]hatever eventually comes of the bill, the death threat it poses for many Americans may well be a death wish Republicans have just issued for their own careers.

Its all a tad too much.

When Republicans voted to repeal and replace Obamacare last week, they fulfilled a major campaign promise, advanced the presidents agenda, and demonstrated the partys commitment to addressing the concerns of struggling Americans and taking the foot of Obamacare off the neck of small businesses, even as the Democrats refused to come to the table.

I cant help but question whether Democrats really think people are buying the argument that Republicans dont just want take away your health care, but want you dead, too. Does the left really believe people are so gullible, so naive? Maybe they just dont have anything affirmative to say.

I think the left is dreading the prospect of seeing a strong Republican Party get its act together and keep its promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. And, if this is the debate they really want to have, the Democrats drama and faux anguish only serve to damage their credibility.

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The Democrats aren't being honest about health care - Washington Post (blog)

kfor.com

No deal: House Democrats blast Senate leadership for allegedly rejecting budget proposal kfor.com In recent weeks, Democrats and Republicans have been fighting over a variety of issues related to the budget deficit. This past weekend, it seemed that there was a budget deal in the works. However, Democratic lawmakers announced that the deal fell ... and more »

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No deal: House Democrats blast Senate leadership for allegedly rejecting budget proposal - kfor.com

cleveland.com

Beyond Trump, Democrats are bitterly divided Sacramento Bee Democrats on Capitol Hill are unified in opposition to President Donald Trump, fighting against his Cabinet picks, Supreme Court nominee and, last week, his health care bill. But increasingly, the question is whether Democrats can show that same kind ... Democrats remain in denial about their own failures and myopia: Marc A. Thiessen (Opinion)cleveland.com Democrats, don't get too giddy about 2018CNN Hillary Clinton Is Back. Should Democrats Be Worried? | New RepublicNew Republic WND.com -Townhall -Twitchy all 48 news articles »

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Beyond Trump, Democrats are bitterly divided - Sacramento Bee

John Faso talks with the media voting Nov. 8 in Kinderhook, New York. Faso won the 19th Congressional District seat.(Photo: Mike Groll / Associated Press)

ALBANY -- After his vote in favor of the replacement to Obamacare, Rep. John Faso is under pressure from Democrats in his Hudson Valley district.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, is making the rare move to hold an event in a colleagues district Monday night in Kingston, and Faso picked up a possible Democratic candidate for his re-election in 2018.

Gareth Rhodes, a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on Monday said he is considering a run against Faso in the 19th District, which stretches from Dutchess County and into the Capital region.

"I am considering a run for Congress because our representative has sold out this community and has chosen Trump over us," Rhodes, 29, an Ulster County native, wrote on Medium.

"Its time to repeal and replace John Faso."

Faso brushed off the criticism Monday, knocking Maloney and claiming he is distorting the bill passed Thursday by the U.S. House that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The measure is now being debated in the U.S. Senate.

"There are many conflicting reports regarding what is covered and what is not covered under the American Health Care Act," Faso, a freshman from Kinderhook, said in a statement Monday.

"The claim that rape and sexual assault would be considered as a pre-existing condition. That claim is false."

He added that New York is one of 45 states that have consumer protections "that would prevent insurance companies from discriminating against those with pre-existing conditions.

Maloney visiting Kingston comes after he said he challenged Faso to visit Maloney's neighboring 18th District in Putnam and Westchester counties so Faso could explain his vote.

All New York Democrats in the House voted against the American Health Care Act, but all but two Republicans voted for it.

Maloney said in a news release he asked "Faso to attend the town hall in his district and answer questions for his constituents about his vote for TrumpCare."

When Faso refused, Maloney said he would "adopt the district and hold the 6:30 p.m. event in Kingston.

Faso called it a "political stunt."

"These things go beyond the pale, and it is really outrageous," Faso said on WGDJ-AM (1300) Monday about Maloney's criticism that certain conditions are not covered under the new bill.

"I didnt expect much from Maloney, and hes proving my instinct correct."

Read or Share this story: http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/politics-on-the-hudson/2017/05/08/democrats-target-faso/312816001/

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Democrats target Faso - The Journal News / Lohud.com

Democrats see opposition to GOP health bill as winning issue

ATLANTA (AP) It's "Trumpcare" now, and Republicans have to answer for it.

After dozens of symbolic votes, House Republicans finally pushed through a bill to gut Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, with President Donald Trump hailing the replacement as "a great plan" that has "really brought the Republican Party together."

Democrats are giddy about what could be severe political consequences for the GOP.

Even though the Senate still has to act, Republicans now largely own a measure that would curtail, and in some cases take away completely, benefits Americans have embraced after seven years. Chief among them: a guarantee of paying the same amount for coverage regardless of health history. Budget analysts estimate 24 million people would lose insurance over a decade, 14 million in the first year, and older Americans would face higher costs.

The Senate, meanwhile, will write its own health care bill, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in Louisville while attending the Kentucky Derby. No timetable will be announced, McConnell said, and he added: "We don't anticipate any Democratic help at all, so it will be a simple majority vote situation."

In the House, 217 Republicans voted yes.

"Progressives are going to hang this around the necks of every one of those Republicans," said Angel Padilla, co-founder of the liberal group Indivisible. "These Republicans voted to take away peoples' health care. This is going to come back to bite them."

Democrats are convinced the GOP repeal bill jeopardizes the Republican monopoly in Washington, starting with majority control of the House, and the party's advantages in statehouses from Nevada to New Hampshire.

The potential fallout crystallized almost immediately.

Fundraising surged nationwide as new recruits stepped up to challenge vulnerable Republicans who backed the plan. Among the vulnerable: two-term Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., who helped revive the bill by authoring a key amendment on pre-existing conditions.

"We have an opportunity to take down the person who was the author of Trumpcare 2.0," said Democrat Andrew Kim, an Obama White House national security adviser, who said he's now more likely to challenge MacArthur next year. Kim raised more than $43,000 online over the last week for a possible run.

"He owns every part of this," Kim said of MacArthur.

Democrats need to flip 24 seats between now and the 2018 elections to take control of the House. Of the 217 Republicans who backed the bill, 14 come from districts carried by Democrat Hillary Clinton last fall, and 24 serve in districts where Trump did not win more than 50 percent of the vote.

Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is not seeking re-election next year, warned that the bill "has the potential to severely harm the health and lives of people in south Florida." Her open seat in Miami is considered a prime pick-up opportunity for Democrats.

Next month, Democrats and Republicans face a showdown over a House seat in the Atlanta suburbs. Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff, who is trying to score a special election upset in a traditionally conservative House district, said he strongly opposes "discrimination" over pre-existing conditions in response to the vote.

Outside groups prepared to launch an advertising campaign in the coming days to punish vulnerable Republicans in key states. The television and online blitz is expected to seize on the more unpopular provisions in the GOP plan, which was opposed by the AARP, the American Medical Association, which represents doctors, and the American Hospital Association.

The AARP warned that the GOP plan institutes an "age tax" and jeopardizes coverage for 25 million older Americans with pre-existing conditions. The bill would also roll back subsidies for individual insurance premiums, end federal payments for states to expand Medicaid for the poor and disabled, and cut more than $700 billion in taxes over 10 years.

Act Blue, a clearinghouse political action committee that raises money for Democratic campaigns, has already helped raise more than $2 million to fuel challenges against House Republicans who backed the GOP plan.

Democrats also targeted Republican governors in Democratic-leaning states, including Maryland's Larry Hogan, who did not take a public position before the House vote.

"Where is their promise that no one is going to lose their insurance?" asked Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.

"They have no intention to honor what they ran on," he declared. "It's the sort of things that cowards do, and the Republicans in Congress and in the statehouses are cowards. ... It is remarkable, and we will be reminding people of it."

In Ohio, Democrats targeted Rep. Jim Renacci, who voted for the bill, as he runs for governor in a contested Republican primary campaign. Outgoing Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, condemned the Republican measure as "woefully short."

Outside Washington, the Trump resistance mobilized quickly. The first of the grassroots protests were held in House Speaker Paul Ryan's Wisconsin district hours after Thursday's vote. Democratic activists were planning many more demonstrations for next week's congressional recess.

"There's already a lot more energy and engagement among Democratic voters, and this is going to put the enthusiasm gap on steroids for Democrats," said Democratic pollster Geoff Garin, who advises Priorities USA, a top liberal political organization.

Some Republicans maintain that the GOP had no choice.

"The House Republican majority was in far greater jeopardy had we not repealed Obamacare," said Republican strategist Mark Shields. If Republicans didn't deliver after years of promises to their conservative base, he said, they'd "get crushed" in 2018.

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Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

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Democrats see opposition to GOP health bill as winning issue - SFGate