In the Washington Post, David Fahrenthold writes about the Republican mantra to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. Jonathan Bernstein comments:
Fahrenthold does a good job of pointing out how little Republicans have done to carry out their “replace” promise. But he doesn’t quite nail down just how much of a betrayal it has been.
….The chairs of five House committees, in an op-ed they published right after the first House repeal vote, [were] pretty specific: “hearings in Washington and around the country” to develop the new legislation. It’s something that they had full control over (as opposed to actually passing legislation, which depended on the Senate and the president). And it’s something that just didn’t happen.
I consider this a highly metaphysical question. Is something really a lie if no one was intended to believe it in the first place?
Consider the various audiences. The Republican base certainly didn’t care about “replace.” They just wanted to repeal the socialist abomination that was Obamacare, full stop. The press surely never believed it either. They knew perfectly well that Republicans have never shown the slightest interest in passing healthcare legislation. Democrats knew it was a sham, of course. And independents…..
Aye, there’s the rub. Did independents actually believe Republicans were serious about replacing Obamacare? Or did they see the implied wink and nudge just like everyone else? This I don’t know.
Was “repeal and replace” an actual promise? Or was it merely political sloganeering best interpreted as “We hate Barack Obama, and if you do too then vote for us”? Where’s Wittgenstein when you need him?
