Does the GOP Need an Intervention?

Does the GOP need an intervention? Because I'm watching them engage in the same self-destructive behavior with this misbegotten Graham-Cassidy bill that I see in most addicts. They come back to repeal Obamacare again and again with all the compulsive behavior of any other addiction. Undoing the signature piece of domestic legislation bearing the name of the Black Man in the White House -- "Obamacare," which has expanded healthcare coverage for millions of Americans, many of them for the first time -- has become the GOP's obsession.  They just can't help themselves. They can't stop. Killing Obamacare is their fix, their high.


Is healthcare repeal a gateway drug...?

It started innocently enough. A repeal effort here, a quick reconciliation act there. But it started becoming a regular thing in 2011 after Republicans gained control of the House. They'll never forget the wild rush they got from their "Repealing the job-Killing Health Care Law Act." It was fun, and no one got hurt. And in 2013 when the House took another hit off the Repeal Pipe, a good time was had by all. There was that unfortunate government shutdown, but c'mon, it was fun man.

But gradually, their addiction to Obamacare began to escalate. By early 2015, the GOP was showing clear signs that it had a problem, with the House logging its SIXTY-SEVENTH Obamacare repeal act to the record. Still, it was no big deal. That had control of it. They could stop anytime they wanted, really, they could.


I'll just raise premiums this one last time.

Now here we are, 2017, and things are clearly spinning out of control. The GOP is having to take more and bigger hits off the pipe to get the same thrill. It isn't enough to slash medicaid funding for sick children, it isn't enough to raise premiums by tens of thousands of dollars for people with pre-existing conditions -- no, they only got that old head-rush by entirely ripping healthcare coverage away entirely for tens of millions of people who would no longer be able to afford it.

They've become that friend you're watching deteriorate before your eyes, the one who shows up drunk, starts shouting obscenities at your neighbors and passes out on your lawn. Just last March, the House announced the draconian American Health Care Act. In July, the Senate took a hit off the same bong and announced they would write a BETTER version of the bill, and unveiled the worse Better Care Reconciliation Act. It was a total buzz-kill when the bill failed and the neighbors called the police to report loud music.


Repeal & Replace is over, I really MEAN IT this time!

Oh, tt got better for awhile. Like all addicts, the GOP seemed contrite the morning after. They promised they'd stop, or at least limit repeal efforts to weekends, and then only with "skinny repeal." But it just wasn't as satisfying, y'know?  

Now here we are again, with the GOP in a full-blown relapse, lit to the gills at the thought of ripping healthcare away from literally tens of millions of their constituents. It's not normal. It's not rational. Hell, I don't think they even find it fun anymore. They just can't stop.

2018 is coming. It's time for an intervention.