A proposed clean repeal of Obamacare failed on Wednesday after seven Republican senators voted against the legislation.
Republicans could only afford to lose two senators and still have the bill passed. Of the seven senators who voted against repealing Obamacare on Wednesday, six voted for the exact same bill in 2015 under President Obama, who vetoed the legislation.
Now, those senators are playing the role Obama played in 2015 by blocking the repeal of Obamacare that Republicans have consistently promised to their voters over the last seven years.
Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander was all in favor of repealing Obamacare under Obama.
“What Obamacare did was to expand a broken system that everyone knew was too expensive,” he said in 2015. On Wednesday, however, he voted against repealing Obamacare.
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito voted against repealing Obamacare on Wednesday, despite being enthusiastic about repealing the law when a Democratic president was in office.
“Americans deserve a health care system that works for them and Obamacare is not it,” she said in 2015. “I have consistently voted to repeal and replace this disastrous health care law, and I am glad that a repeal bill will finally reach the president’s desk.”
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller also voted against repealing Obamacare despite voting the exact opposite way in 2015. In the run-up to the 2012 election, Heller implored voters to put “the right leaders in Washington” so Republicans could repeal Obamacare.
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman blasted out a press release in December 2015, touting his vote in favor of repealing Obamacare.
“Obamacare is making health care more expensive with higher premiums, higher co-pays and higher deductibles. Ohioans have been told that their premiums could increase by up to 30% and thousands have lost the insurance they had and were happy with. Sadly, this is the predictable result of partisan legislation that was forced through Congress without any bipartisan support,” Portman said at the time. “I’m for repealing this broken law and replacing it with something better that gives patients more choice, decreases costs and increases access to quality, affordable care.”
On Wednesday, however, Portman was among those senators who kept Obamacare from being repealed.
Arizona Sen. John McCain and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski also voted to repeal Obamacare in 2015 before voting against repealing it in 2017.
