OUTSPOKEN WITH BRUCE AND GAYDOS
Arizona rep worried health care bill hangs Obamacare onus on Republican necks
May 5, 2017, 4:26 AM
(Public Domain Photo)
(Public Domain Photo)
PHOENIX — An Arizona congressman is worried a health care bill passed Thursday transfers the onus of Obamacare to the necks of vulnerable Republicans.
“They (the Democrats) believed the disaster of Obamacare was now on our shoulders, which they have a very powerful point,” U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Mac & Gaydos on Thursday.
Shortly after the House voted to pass the bill, Democrats could be heard singing, “Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye,” in reference to Republicans who voted for the controversial bill and may lose their seats because of it.
“They were saying, ‘Goodbye, you’re gone now, your majority is gone,’” Franks said of the Democrats’ intended message.
While the bill is unpopular with some, Franks is unsure if it is the death knell for the House control Republicans have held since 2011.
“I don’t know whether they’re right or wrong. Only God knows the future,” he said, adding that it will depend on which party voters blame for the nation’s health care system.
Franks voted for the bill, even though it fell short of what he wanted. He said in the same interview he supported it because he wants to put pressure on a “dysfunctional Senate.”
“I thought that it was a worthwhile effort,” he said. “It was designed to try to give us momentum in the Senate.”
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) was the only Arizona House Republican to vote against the bill. He told Mac & Gaydos in a separate interview that he could not vote for the bill because he was not given ample time to read it.
