Central New York Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) has some harsh words for his fellow Republicans about how they are handling health care reform.
After losing consensus on how to fix the Affordable Care Act in the Senate, President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested a repeal of the law without a replacement. Katko called that a setback that's the result of trying to fix an extraordinarily difficult issue in such a short period of time.
"It’s stunning to me that after 7 years, the leadership in the House and Senate didn’t have a better handle on the health care issue and we fumbled it so badly," Katko said.
Katko repeatedly voted against only repealing Obamacare when President Barack Obama was in office. He called those charades and ridiculous.
But Katko says he remains opposed to Obamacare and thinks it will soon collapse. So, he suggests that Republican lawmakers sit down with Democrats to develop a suitable replacement.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said his party is ready for that.
"We Democrats have held the door to bipartisanship open to our Republican colleagues for months," Schumer said in the Capitol Tuesday. "It's time for the Republicans to walk through it."
