Repeal and Repent! Jerry Brown Demands Republican ‘Penance’ on Obamacare

California Governor Jerry Brown warned Thursday that the Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation would have to perform “penance” for having voted for the American Health Care Act in the U.S. House.

Last week’s vote on the bill was the first step towards repealing (most of) Obamacare and replacing it with a more market-oriented health insurance system that would, supporter say, lower premiums and create better competition.

Every one of California’s 14 Republicans voted for the bill, which now proceeds to the Senate. (Both of Califorina’s U.S. Senators are Democrats.) Governor Brown and the rest of California’s statewide leadership, all of whom are Democrats, oppose the repeal of Obamacare partly because the state has used the law to obtain federal funds, which in turn were used to expand Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, to millions of lower-income households.

“The state would lose $20 billion in federal funding if Congress votes to undo the exchanges and the Medicaid expansions, according to state data,” according to a Los Angeles Times report in November. Obamacare has not been a success in California, but it has generally been less unsuccessful in the Golden State than elsewhere, partly because the Obama administration saw California’s program as a flagship, and the program enjoys voters’ support.

Brown, who once considered a career in the Catholic priesthood, warned Republicans, according to the Times: “They weren’t sent to Congress just to take orders from that crowd, or from Donald Trump … I think they made a mistake, and they’re going to have to do penance for it.”

The context for Brown’s remarks was the release of his new spending plan, which set a record, proposing a record $183.4 in spending, despite some caution.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.