With a razor thin vote Thursday afternoon the Republican-controlled Congress finally was able to scramble together enough votes to begin their assault on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

In a photo op we should all remember, President Trump stood shoulder to shoulder with Ryan, McCarthy, Scalise and Tom Price to pat themselves on the back by rushing their recall and replacement bill to the US Senate without even waiting to hear how much it will end up costing taxpayers, a claim Speaker Ryan once accused Democrats of doing over the ACA.

Even Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham (S.C.) cautioned about this rush to govern. Nevertheless the historically low-rated president and Republican Congress have now joined at the hip and produced a bill, that if passed, would leave health care, under this bill, to the states to go through a “waiver” option that would be considered by Tom Price to decide what coverage and who will be approved for coverage, including those with pre-existing conditions.

“Oh don’t worry,” say some late-coming supportive Republicans to the bill, “we’ve added $8 billion dollars to cover these pre-existing conditions over time.”

Again, we don’t know if this is enough because Republicans have not waited for the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis. It breaks down to about $1 billion a year for the country. You think California alone could eat up that amount? I do.

What is now proposed are a return to “risk pools,” which have already been tried and proven to be ineffective and helped create the ACA.

Will the new “Trumpcare” be more affordable while establishing essential coverage like the ACA? Will 24 million Americans lose their current levels of coverage as has been indicated? Trump’s own standards include cheaper and better coverage for all. AARP, AMA, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and others are not convinced.

The ACA was an idea that started with Sen. Chafee (R R.I.) and the Heritage Foundation years ago, finding its first implementation in Gov. Mitt Romney’s state of Massachusetts. It required mandatory enrollment as an alternative to universal coverage.

Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, knowing she could not get universal coverage passed in congress, agreed with President Obama to use this Republican model of health care to get the ball rolling. It was always supposed to be a “starter” and not the final product.

Republicans have staked their ideology on its recall from the beginning, doing everything possible to hang a defeat upon Obama. It has taken a long time but now they have at least got the House of Representatives to recall. Will the US Senate also agree to this plan, reconfigure it, or reject it?

Who knows, but there should be some things we all agree upon, without lying to the American people. Does it cover everyone; is it a good health plan that has some essential coverage for all; is it more affordable that the ACA. If it does, that’s great!

If not remember all of those people in the Rose Garden patting themselves on the back who sold you a bogus deal. Who knew health care could be so difficult?

Tom Nixon lives in Kelseyville, Calif.