In 2010, after a Democratic-controlled Congress passed and President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, Republicans denounced what came to be known as Obamacare with critiques that were often borne out. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, for one, has long had on his website a statement ripping the law because it was “passed on a partisan vote with the rationale that we would have to pass it to find out what was in it. Now that the bill is law, the American people are finding out that what’s in it is completely contrary to what they were promised.”

Sure enough, by 2017, the GOP could claim vindication on several fronts. The ACA didn’t allow people to keep their doctors. It didn’t drive down premium costs. It gave incentives for people to game the system by buying coverage after they got sick. Dissatisfaction with the law helped propel Republicans to years of gains across much of the nation.

Yet now that the Republicans control Congress, they haven’t learned from this history. With Issa providing one of the final votes to put the bill over the top, House Republicans on Thursday passed the American Health Care Act – a complex bill to repeal and replace much of the ACA – on a partisan 217-213 vote. Astonishingly, they did so without knowing what was in the bill and with promises about its effects that are likely to prove untrue.

In an ironic twist several Republican Congressman have admitted they did not read the bill, instead relying on staff or the media to understand its potential effects.

Rep. Chris Collins of New York told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he did not read the entire bill.

“I will fully admit, Wolf, I did not,” Collins said. “But I can also assure you my staff did. We have to rely on our staff.”

Read more at The Colorado Springs Gazette.