While most Americans slept, the GOP was living its own nightmare. The party’s seven-year push to rescue the country from the clutches of Obamacare came crumbling down at the last moment, sending Republicans to a shocking defeat that seemed unlikely just hours before. For Republicans, the best hope was a pared-down measure called the “skinny repeal” that would have bought Congress more time to strike a deal in conference. But, in a dramatic moment no one saw coming, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who made a triumphant return to Washington earlier in the week, cast the deciding vote. Drawing audible gasps, the Arizona senator left his mark on a debate that could be the Republicans’ costliest one.

The time of death was 1:30 a.m., and the months of grueling debate finally showed on an emotional Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). “This is clearly a disappointing moment," he said somberly. "We worked really hard to try to develop a consensus for a better way forward. Yes, this is a disappointment. A disappointment indeed. I regret that our efforts were simply not enough this time. Now, I imagine many of our colleagues on the other side are celebrating. Probably pretty happy about all this. But the American people are hurting, and they need relief.”

For Republicans, it had been a punishing 10 weeks, as one replacement plan after another fell just short of the consensus leaders needed to deliver on the repeated promise they made to voters. Despite personal pleas from Vice President Mike Pence, leaders, and even House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), McCain insisted that “Skinny repeal fell short because it fell short of our promise to repeal and & replace Obamacare w/ meaningful reform.” Hailed as a hero by Democrats, it was clear later that he’d been working with them from the beginning. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told a stunned press corps that he’d been talking to McCain “four or five times a day.”

For now, though, it’s the majority leader who’s taking most of the heat for the bills’ collapse. As an organization that’s worked with McConnell since the start of this process, we can testify that he worked harder than anyone to find common ground — but refusing to compromise an inch on the pro-life language in the process. That was even clearer as the night wore on. In a last-ditch effort to stop taxpayer-funded abortion in the GOP’s premium tax credits, new Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) lost a razor-thin vote on his amendment, 50-50. In a debate marked by several amendments, Strange’s pro-life language proved to be one of the most popular. Although abortion allies Collins and Murkowski killed the measure, it did show just how critically important the issue continues to be. If it weren’t for the Planned Parenthood defund and other pro-life protections, the effort wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far as it did in the House or Senate.

Although things look decidedly bleaker than before, not every Republican is accepting defeat. Earlier this week, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) insisted that if the bills failed, the GOP would “go back to the drawing board” and try again. “We are going to vote to repeal and replace Obamacare. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.” According to Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), “when” may be now. Already Friday morning, Meadows — the chairman of the influential House Freedom Caucus — said new talks are underway to salvage a win on Obamacare.

“We continue to work on two different plans with our Senate colleagues," the North Carolina leader told the Washington Examiner. "We will continue to do that over the next couple of weeks on a plan that can get to 51” votes in the Senate. Meadows, who was one of the main reasons the House improved — and then passed — its bill, knows conservatives aren’t done. “I believe we deliver, still, on healthcare,” Meadows said. “To suggest that everything is over is not understanding the dynamics going on right now in the Senate. It’s not over.” Like us, he knows Republicans can’t accept defeat. As Politico’s Dan Diamond pointed out, “Obamacare survived by one vote in the Senate in 2010; [it] survived by one vote in SCOTUS in 2012; [and it] survived by one vote in the Senate in 2017.” It will take persistence, but this isn’t an insurmountable task. “Obamacare is collapsing and hurting American families,” Speaker Ryan urged. “We have to keep working at this until we get the job done.”

Originally published here

Flag Officers Salute Trump’s Nerve

Week 26 hasn’t exactly been Donald Trump’s easiest. Thursday night’s health care failure was agonizing to watch, especially for the man who owes his election to the country’s disgust over the law Republicans tried to repeal. Earlier in the week, the president focused on issues he could control — delivering an enormous victory to the military and the millions of voters tired of Obama-era extremism. But doing the right thing isn’t always the easiest thing, and the media is doing its best to make the White House’s roll-back of the transgender policy sting.

Unfortunately for the press, President Trump doesn’t scare easily. He’s spent the better part of seven months ignoring the media — and America is better for it. Checking off box after box of campaign promises, Trump is systematically upending eight years of radically liberal policy. From solid judicial appointments and pro-life policy to banning taxpayer-funded abortion and overturning the Left’s bathroom mandate, President Trump has waded in to issues even his own party would like to ignore.

Now, with the military on the brink, staring down a $3.7 billion price tag for service members’ sex changes, Trump finally said what the rest of America was thinking: What happened to common sense? “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”

For three days, the media has done its best to drown out the voices of reason that agree with the president. But still, House and Senate conservatives continue to shower praise on the decision to put troops and taxpayers first. “I don’t think this is the time to have a social agenda conversation,” Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) said. “I think [Trump] is well within his rights [to impose the ban].” A ranking member on the Senate Armed Services, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) also applauded the step away from political correctness. “We had enough problems with social experimentation in the military. I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

On the House side, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) added to the chorus of support. “Presidents are often faced with tough decisions, and [this week] we saw a President willing to take decisive action. I applaud President Trump for his efforts in putting the focus of our military resources back where it needs to be — on giving our men and women in uniform the tools they need to keep our country safe.” To the White House’s delight, the lower chamber proved its thanks by passing the Make America Secure Act, the defense spending bill that conservatives had threatened to stall if the transgender issue wasn’t addressed.

In the end, though, no one is more grateful than the men and women who’ve worn the uniform and understand what’s at stake. In a letter to President Trump, flag officers from across the services wrote “to express our gratitude to you for making the extremely courageous decision to reverse President Obama’s transgender social experiment.”

“There may be an enormous amount of vitriol directed at you for making this policy correction, but please know that overturning this policy may have done more in the long term to save the culture and war-fighting capacity of the U.S. military than perhaps any other military policy you adopt.

"We note that your bold decision is supported by the American people who have a great reverence for the military. A Rasmussen survey released in June found that ‘just 23% of likely U.S. voters think the U.S. military’s decision to allow openly transgender people to serve is good for the military.’ We believe you will be rewarded for this brave decision by the American people. Once again, thank you for your focus on preserving the military effectiveness, morale, and social cohesion of the United States Armed Forces.”

While liberal politicians continue to rail against the change, all they’ve succeeded in persuading anyone is how profoundly ignorant they are about how the military operates. “Anybody who wants to serve in the military should serve in the military,” said one senator. But just because you want to serve your country doesn’t mean you’re qualified to do so. There is no constitutional right to join the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard. Every day, the military turns down people for things that are far less destabilizing than gender dysphoria.

Our own Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, who commanded the Special Forces, told the story this week of his son, who was refused by the Army for taking Adderall for six months as a child. And he’s no exception. Brigadier General (and Congressman) Scott Perry (R-PA) told the astounding story on “Washington Watch” about how a “mountain of a young man” he knew was denied for something as common as a peanut allergy. Yet Democrats think we should turn our fighting force inside out to welcome in (and pay for!) a new class of Chelsea Mannings?

Thank goodness the president saw through the Left’s phony “fairness” arguments to the real issues: cost, readiness, retention, and recruitment. Political correctness doesn’t win wars — and it’s time we put an end to policies that pretend it does.

To thank President Trump for this strong stand against political correctness, join me in signing our statement of support. For more on the debate and why Donald Trump’s fearless move was the right one, check out my new column in The Hill, “Trump’s Right: Transgender Patriotism Isn’t the Issue — Military Readiness Is.” Also, don’t miss my interview with Curt Schilling on Breitbart (1:41:00 mark) here.

Originally published here

Brides Lift the Veil on Left’s True Colors

At W.W. Bridal Boutique, it isn’t unusual to see two women shopping for wedding dresses. What is unusual is two women shopping for wedding dresses for the same ceremony. That’s the predicament Victoria Miller has found herself in since 2014, when LGBT activists started targeting the Pennsylvania shop. Knowing full well where the Christian owners stand, a lesbian couple became the latest to test the shop’s convictions.

Right now, an employee explained, the Bloomsburg store doesn’t service same-sex weddings. Instead of showing the tolerance their movement demands, the women turned to social media to bully the shop — trashing its online reviews. Victoria, who proved her backbone in 2014 when another couple launched a similar campaign, posted on Facebook, “The owners of W.W. Bridal Boutique reserve the rights afforded to them by the First Amendment of the Constitution to live out our lives according to our faith. We will continue to serve our customers based on the tenets of our faith.”

The firestorm only grew. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Victoria explained that she’s “provided formalwear for our customers from all walks of life, including the LGBT community. We have always served everyone with respect and dignity. It’s just this event, a same-sex marriage, which we cannot participate in due to our personal convictions. We simply ask that we be given the same ability to live our lives according to our convictions.”

If only it were that easy. Instead, the stop has been inundated with death threats from angry protestors. Voicemails and other messages insist (in between profanity), “We’re coming for you and your family! You’re done!” But somehow she's labeled a hater? Now, because liberal activists refuse to show the same courtesy Christians have been displaying for years, the Millers have been forced to close the shop and work by appointment only. Intolerance in the name of tolerance is hypocrisy. And the more America is exposed to the real victims of discrimination, the less likely they’ll be to buy the Left’s propaganda of “persecution.”

Originally published here

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This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.