June 29, 2017 02:39 PM UTC

Brauchler Calls CBO Estimate on Healthcare Bill a "Little Ridiculous"

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• by: Jason Salzman

(George Brauchler is now an expert on the CBO — Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Colorado gubernatorial candidate George Brauchler weighed into the contentious debate about health care today, telling a conservative talk radio host that he’d “like to see them not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and get something done here.”

“I’d like to see the Republicans move forward, hopefully with Democrat help,” Brauchler told KNUS 710-AM’s Casey Bloyer, who was substituting for Dan Caplis. “And I’d like to see them not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and get something done here.”

Brauchler did not say if this means he’d support the U.S. Senate bill as written.

Brauchler said the CBO estimate that 22 million people would lose health insurance under the GOP bill was “a little ridiculous.”

“Now, that CBO scoring thing is a little ridiculous,” Brauchler told Bloyer. “If you’ve done any research on it, you can see that that 22 million people that won’t have insurance anymore, it’s not the same thing as kicking 22 million disabled and poor people off the rolls. That’s not what’s happening. So, I’d encourage people to go look at that.”

Brauchler did not say how many of the 22 million are legitimately disabled or poor.

Brauchler cited the political imperative to get Obamacare repealed.

“And this will be the sine qua non issue they use to try to tie everyone to Trump and try to blow up Republicans across the state,” Brauchler said on air. “And that is the failure of healthcare — either to get it done, or to do it wrong.”

Also during the interview, which is available here, Brauchler distinguished himself from some of his opponents by saying he did not come from a dynasty.

Here’s is Brauchler’s full statement on the health care bill.

Brauchler: “I think there’s a real battle here going on out in DC between those who want to get it as close to perfect as possible and those who feel like, ‘Look, we have got to do something. If we don’t live up to this promise –and the longer we delay, we feel like that’s in jeopardy — the more we’re going to call into question our ability to lead, given the fact that we have our hands on all the levers of government, and what is that going to look like as we head into 2018.”

Their ability to strike and get things done is narrow. It’s not all the way through November of 2018. I mean, by the time we hit the fourth quarter here of 2017, campaigns are going to be in full mode. You already see people jumping in on the Democrat side [for] every seat in Colorado, and they’re going to start to ramp up the rhetoric.

You can see people coming after Gardner. He’s not even up for reelection till 2020! But they want him, Coffman, the two open seats now — because there two other Congressmen who are jumping in to the Governor’s race. Both of those have multiple Democrat candidates vying for them. And this will be the sine qua non issue they use to try to tie everyone to Trump and try to blow up Republicans across the state. And that is the failure of healthcare — either to get it done, or to do it wrong.

So it’s a little bit of a precarious position. I’d like to see the Republicans move forward, hopefully with Democrat help. And I’d like to see them not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and get something done here. Now, that CBO scoring thing is a little ridiculous. If you’ve done any research on it, you can see that that 22 million people that won’t have insurance anymore, it’s not the same thing as kicking 22 million disabled and poor people off the rolls. That’s not what happening. So, I’d encourage people to go look at that.