Conservatives: Demand Republicans Repeal and Abolish Obamacare

American conservatism has traditionally claimed its ideological home the Republican Party. Yet, the career politicians who claim to be Republicans are not representing the values they espouse. At issue is the undeniable and growing difference between the values proclaimed by the Republican Party and the actions of elected officials.

The Republican Platform of 2016 made a clear promise to voters when it stated, “A Republican president, on the first day in office, will use legitimate waiver authority under the law to halt its advance and then, with the unanimous support of Congressional Republicans, will sign its repeal.”

Conservatives voted for Republican candidates so that they would repeal Obamacare.  Conservatives did not vote for Republican candidates to simply replace Obamacare with another version of a national health system. This distinction is significant as it goes to the heart of what it means to be a conservative and why a failure to fully repeal Obamacare is a crisis of integrity which threatens to destroy the Republican Party as the ideological home of American conservatism.

Preservation of the US Constitution as originally written is the unifying principle of American conservatism. When Americans call themselves conservative, it is the original intent of the Constitution that they wish to conserve. An intellectually honest person cannot refer to himself as a conservative while supporting a law which is unconstitutional.

Federal control of healthcare is not an enumerated power given from the people or the states to the federal government and therefore violates the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. Obamacare is an unconstitutional law. But, so is any national healthcare plan even if the Republican officials propose it. The Republican Platform agrees when it rightly proclaims, “Exercising any federal authority in healthcare is an assault on the liberties of individual Americans.”

Conservatives should demand every Republican in the House and Senate vote unanimously to repeal Obamacare. Conservatives should not accept a Republican version of national healthcare as it is equally unconstitutional. Conservative candidates should challenge in primaries Republican elected officials who will not vote for a full repeal of Obamacare.

If the Republican House and Senate cannot fully repeal Obamacare and abolish national healthcare altogether in 2017, what hope is there that they will ever hold true to conservative principles on any issue in any year? Why would a conservative ever vote for a Republican expecting they would support a fair and simple tax code? A balanced budget? Reduction of national debt? Defunding planned parenthood? Or religious freedom?

What is at stake is whether conservative principles will have an ideological home in any major political party. The Republican Party and its elected officials should be true to what they say on paper or be honest that the future of the party is a slow progression toward socialism and conservatives are no longer welcome.