One day after the American Health Care Act (AHCA) vote was canceled for a second time, Vice President Mike Pence told West Virginians at Foster Supply Company in Charleston that 100 percent of House Democrats and a handful of Republicans were to blame for standing in the way of President Trump’s health care bill, but a report has surfaced that in the final days before passage of the bill, Pence pushed to label the bill “Ryancare.”
UPDATE: The Vice President’s office told Breitbart News on Sunday that it denies the conversation about naming the bill “Ryancare” ever took place.
“The President and I are grateful for Speaker Paul Ryan and all the House Republicans who stood with us in this effort to begin the end of Obamacare,” said the Vice President, who lamented, “As we all learned yesterday, Congress just wasn’t ready.”
While on Saturday Pence referred to the plan as “President Trump’s,” aides have suggested that in the days before the vote on AHCA was supposed to happen, the Vice President lobbied to label the bill “Ryancare,” according to the New York Times which reported:
Until the final week, Mr. Trump’s team was deeply divided over whether he should fully commit to a hard sell on a bill they viewed as fundamentally flawed, with Vice President Mike Pence pointedly advising the president to label the effort “Ryancare,” not “Trumpcare,” according to aides.
Earlier in his speech, Pence joked that they could have used some of Small Business Administration leader Linda McMahon’s WWE superstars on Capitol Hill to get the AHCA passed.
“With 100 percent of House Democrats, every single one, and a handful of Republicans actually standing in the way of President Trump’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, we’re back to the drawing board,” said Pence.
He spoke of the negative effects of Obamacare on businesses and individuals, adding in statistics specific to West Virginia.
The Vice President said he was inspired by the President’s tireless efforts, “determination, and commitment to keep his promise to the American people,” in working to get the AHCA “across the finish line.”
Pence noted the words of the former House Speaker who had overseen the passage of Obamacare, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who on Friday called the news that the bill was pulled a second time, a “victory.”
Pence responded, “Yesterday wasn’t a victory for the American people, it was a victory for the status quo in Washington, D.C. and it was a victory for the disaster of Obamacare, but I promise you, that victory won’t last very long.”
“The American people want Obamacare gone,” he continued.
After the Friday announcement that the bill had been pulled, President Trump blamed the Democrats for the downfall of the AHCA. He added, “I want to have a great health care bill and plan and we will, it will happen, and it won’t be in the very distant future.”
Pence went on to declare on Saturday, “We’re moving forward.”
He said that the Administration is going to move forward with their three-part agenda, “jobs, jobs, and jobs, in West Virginia and across this country.”
“Last month the economy added 235,000 jobs in construction and manufacturing,” said Pence, who noted companies changing plans to move plants and jobs outside the country and deciding rather to build in the U.S.
Pence said, “Working with this Congress, President Trump is going to “pass the largest tax cut since the days of [former President] Ronald Reagan.”
“We’re going to reform the tax code and make it flatter and simpler and fairer,” he added. “Our tax plan will make American businesses and American opportunities more competitive all over this country.
Pence vowed that they will cut corporate taxes. He said they would cut business taxes “to 15 percent so American companies will invest in American operations that create American jobs.”
He spoke also of the reduction of regulations to help get the economy moving.
“The war on coal is over and a new era of American energy has begun,” Pence said as he spoke of mining companies in West Virginia depressed under the politicians in Washington, D.C. “West Virginia has lost more than a third of its mining jobs over the last few years alone, that over 130 mines have been shut down since 2009.” He said the hard working men and women of that state will be forgotten no longer.
“President trump digs coal,” he continued, a rallying cry seen on Trump campaign signs during the 2016 election cycle.
“It’s about jobs, it’s about energy, it’s about our National Defense,” said Pence, who added the campaign promise fulfilled by the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States.
“The United States Senate will confirm Neil Gorsuch one way or the other,” said Pence who, as Vice President, also serves as President of the U.S. Senate.
While stating on Friday that the failure of the AHCA makes tax reform more challenging, President Trump said that Obamacare will “explode” and that the process of trying to pass the AHCA will ultimately lead to a better health care bill.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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