Maine Governor Blasts Everybody Over Health Care Debacle

Maine Gov. Paul LePage lambasted House Freedom Caucus members, Democrats, Republican governors, the Republican Party, Congress as a whole and even President Donald Trump for the health care breakdown last week on the “Geroge Hale Ric Tyler Show” Tuesday.

The infamously outspoken Republican governor was incensed over the House GOP’s failure to conjure up enough support to pass the American Health Care Act last week. LePage took turns excoriating each participant as a culprit in the failure.

“If you are telling people ‘let it fail so the American people can get hurt more, and when they get hurt more, maybe we’ll do something,’ why don’t you go jump off a bridge? That’s just about as sensible.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, so let’s keep hurting the American people,” LePage said on the WVOM Maine radio show of Trump administration suggestions a long term fix would now wait for the total collapse of Obamacare. “That’s about as sensible as go jump off a bridge. That makes no sense.”

In addition to the president himself, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney promoted a “wait for collapse” approach during an interview Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” saying that Trump is “going to move on” to other legislative items.

“If you are telling people ‘let it fail so the American people can get hurt more, and when they get hurt more, maybe we’ll do something,’ why don’t you go jump off a bridge? That’s just about as sensible,” LePage fired.

“What’s the federal government gonna do?” LePage continued. “I mean, they sit and they go hide. They don’t want to do anything, so we have to take care of our people. The people are number one, and if Congress can’t see that, shame on them.”

The Maine governor initially opposed the AHCA when the House GOP leadership first announced it until the House made some changes that he, among other Republicans, had requested. Once the amendments were made, LePage enthusiastically hopped on board.

What’s more, LePage threatened to “get a list” together of “everyone that hid” and “didn’t want to show up” and support the AHCA.

“We’re going to have to campaign against these people,” LePage declared. “I am very discouraged with a lot of Republican governors … because they sat on the sidelines.”

The Maine governor expressed his outrage that the health care impasse in Congress will leave his constituents in a lurch as health insurers flee the state and premiums continue to rise. If Congress can’t come up with a solution, LePage floated the idea of a state-chartered health insurer, though he didn’t offer many details.

“What I am suggesting is, go to the Legislature and see if they won’t create an insurance company like we did with [Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Co.] and workers comp,” LePage said.

LePage lamented the Republican Party could not come together to pass healthcare reform, saying that it should not have been a “party issue.”

“I’m really disappointed in the Republican Party. I think they can’t stay together,” LePage said. “One thing Democrats do is they hang together … We don’t do that. We’re a bunch of solo, independent people, and you can’t run a nation with people being mavericks.”

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The staunch opposition of many members of the House Freedom Caucus to a bill they dubbed “Obamacare Lite” and “Obamacare 2.0” particularly incurred the wrath of LePage.

“And to have the Freedom Caucus sit on the sidelines and let the Democrats win — shame on them,” LePage said. “I honestly hope every single one gets defeated next year. No difference between a Democrat and a Republican if you hide in the closet.”

Trump’s and Ryan’s inability to gather enough support among their own Party to pass this first major piece of legislation could be leading to a “constitutional crisis,” LePage even suggested.

“The reason [the AHCA] got scrapped, Ric — I think is a very bad omen for the United States of America,” LePage said. “I think we’re heading into a constitutional crisis. I think that Congress has not been working now. This is about the second time. It didn’t work under Obama and it’s not working under this president. Obviously we are out to a really bad start. I’m really concerned. I’m really, really concerned that the federal government is broken and I think probably beyond repair.”