Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) seemed to say this past weekend that he’s not on board with President Donald Trump’s latest efforts to repeal Obamacare — at least not with the reasoning.
Alexander said this as he finished an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Host Chuck Todd asked Alexander about Trump’s decision to move forward with a case that, if successful, would do away with the health care law.
“Are you disappointed Trump decided to go forward with the Obamacare lawsuit? There was a window where the Justice Department could have pulled out of it, but they didn’t,” Todd said; adding, “If you undo Obamacare what is the plan to replace it?”
Alexander responded:
I thought the Justice Department argument was really flimsy. What they’re arguing is that when we voted to get rid of the individual mandate we voted to get rid of Obamacare. I don’t know one single senator that thought that.
No one in Alexander’s office returned The Tennessee Star’s request for comment on the matter Monday.
As Breitbart reported, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely hear the case later this year.
“More than a dozen Republican-led states brought the case, Texas v. Azar, and increased the chances that the court could toss out the ACA in its entirety after a federal appeals court found that former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation violated the Constitution,” Breitbart reported.
“Republican state officials contend that Obamacare must be struck down because Congress eliminated the penalty for following Obamacare’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance. Republicans believe that the individual mandate is essential to the ACA and that the rest of the provisions would not work and cannot stand without that mandate.”
Alexander, who is scheduled to retire at the end of his term, said in 2018 that he does not believe that a majority of U.S. Supreme Court members will find Obamacare unconstitutional.
Alexander said as much on Twitter that year.
“If the U.S. Supreme Court eventually were to agree that Obamacare is unconstitutional — which seems unlikely, however poorly the law was written — I am confident that any new federal law replacing it will continue to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions who buy health insurance.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Despite the differences I have had over the years with Alexander, I have to agree with him on keeping Obama care from now as it has provided a safety net for those who otherwise could not have afforded decent health care for themselves and their families. These opponents of Obama care are generally callous rich right-wingers who want everybody but themselves to die from disease and accidents.
Occasionally, Alexander can do the right thing as he did this time. As governor, he had the decency to oppose Reagan’s attempts to repeal the Voting Rights Bill in 1981. He also refused to carry out any executions during his eight year hitch as Governor.
Most of the time, however, he agrees with the conservatives. But at least he sometimes does have enough backbone to say no to the Tea Party.
To Lamar Alexander, I’m certainly glad that this is your last term. Now I’m not a constitutional scholar but I do know that the O-care was illegal and not constitutional. It was a scam that was voted on because many in congress was carrying Obama’s water including those RINO republicans.. I’m so glad that our President Trump is doing all he can to eliminate it. I’m greatly disappointed about your statement of “flimsy”. We The People need to take back our country and Keep our President in place so the job is finished.
Yeah, too bad about him and Corker. Maybe we can elect McConnell’s boy Hagerty and restore that “democrat feel” to the Tennessee U.S. Senator cadre.