Page 1 of 9 12345 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 133

Thread: How Trump Lost On Health Care

  1. #1 | Top
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    61,320
    Thanks
    7,144
    Thanked 8,821 Times in 6,166 Posts
    Groans
    5,805
    Groaned 1,532 Times in 1,444 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default How Trump Lost On Health Care

    How Trump Lost On Health Care

    https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...n-health-care/

    The House’s failure on Friday to even vote on a Republican bill to repeal Obamacare — something party leaders promised for seven years and President Trump campaigned on — was a huge defeat for Trump and the GOP, in a number of ways.

    It showed that Republicans — now in control of the House, the Senate and the presidency — couldn’t band together on a major priority. It suggests that the divides among Republicans, a theme of the Obama years, remain a problem for the party. In fact, those divides could be even wider in the Trump era: In the health care debate, not only did the deeply conservative House Freedom Caucus break with party leadership, as it often has (arguing the legislation was not conservative enough), but a bloc of more centrist members emerged from the other side of the political spectrum, arguing that the bill was too conservative. And Trump, who has cast himself as a master negotiator, couldn’t get fellow Republicans behind him, making him look ineffectual in comparison to his three predecessors as president, who all got their first legislative priority through Congress in their first year in office.1
    So what happened? And what does the bill’s failure portend for Trump’s other agenda items?

    Why the health care push fell apart

    While there was not a vote, the American Health Care Act failed because of a coalition of Republicans that was both ideologically and geographically diverse. The representatives wary of voting for the AHCA, which reached about 50 in number by week’s end, according to The Washington Post — more than double the 22 GOP votes the party could afford to lose — included members from deeply conservative districts where Trump won overwhelmingly but also areas where he lost. The list of potential “no” votes included veteran members, such as 64-year-old Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, whose district includes parts of Miami, but also 36-year-old Justin Amash of Michigan. There were Northeastern moderates, Southerners and a strong Midwestern contingent, as well.

    Broadly, there were four blocs of GOP members opposed to the legislation: those from the conservative and anti-establishment House Freedom Caucus; those in districts that Hillary Clinton won or almost won in 2016, putting them in some political peril if they backed a bill that is very unpopular; those associated with the Tuesday Group of more centrist House Republicans; and a few who are kind of mavericks, sometimes voting against the position of GOP congressional leaders and Trump. But there were some “no’s” outside of those four blocs, and many members within those four blocs who said that they supported the AHCA. (Some members fall into in more than one of these groups.)

    House Freedom Caucus (22 potential “no” votes of about 30 members):2
    Justin Amash (Michigan)
    Rod Blum (Iowa)
    David Brat (Virginia)
    Mo Brooks (Alabama)
    Ken Buck (Colorado)
    Warren Davidson (Ohio)
    Scott DesJarlais (Tennessee)
    Jeff Duncan (South Carolina)
    Ron DeSantis (Florida)
    Thomas Garrett (Virginia)
    Paul Gosar (Arizona)
    Trent Franks (Arizona)
    Jody Hice (Georgia)
    Jim Jordan (Ohio)
    Raul Labrador (Idaho)
    Mark Meadows (North Carolina)
    Steve Pearce (New Mexico)
    Scott Perry (Pennsylvania)
    Bill Posey (Florida)
    Mark Sanford (South Carolina)
    Randy Weber (Texas)
    Ted Yoho (Florida)
    Republicans associated with Tuesday Group (12 of about 50 members):

    Ryan Costello (Pennsylvania)
    Carlos Curbelo (Florida)
    Charlie Dent (Pennsylvania)
    Mario Diaz-Balart (Florida)
    Daniel Donovan (New York)
    Jaime Herrera Beutler (Washington)
    David Joyce (Ohio)
    John Katko (New York)
    Leonard Lance (New Jersey)
    Frank LoBiondo (New Jersey)
    Patrick Meehan (Pennsylvania)
    Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida)

    Republicans in districts Hillary Clinton won (10 of 23 members):

    Barbara Comstock (Virginia)
    Ryan Costello (Pennsylvania)
    Carlos Curbelo (Florida)
    Rodney Frelinghuysen (New Jersey)
    Will Hurd (Texas)
    John Katko (New York)
    Leonard Lance (New Jersey)
    Patrick Meehan (Pennsylvania)
    Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida)
    Kevin Yoder (Kansas)
    Mavericks (9 of 11):3
    Justin Amash (Michigan)
    Andy Biggs (Arizona)
    Louie Gohmert (Texas)
    Walter Jones (North Carolina)
    Raul Labrador (Idaho)
    Thomas Massie (Kentucky)
    Mark Sanford (South Carolina)
    Christopher Smith (New Jersey)
    Don Young (Alaska)

    Other potential “no” votes:

    Ted Budd (North Carolina)
    Rick Crawford (Arkansas)
    Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania)
    Daniel Webster (Florida)
    Rob Wittman (Virginia)
    David Young (Iowa)
    In one sense, Republicans and Trump not coming together on health care was not surprising. It is a very complicated issue, one that bedeviled Bill Clinton and almost Barack Obama as well. But the collapse of the bill illustrated something broader: The Republicans, in seven years, hadn’t reached agreement in terms of health policy on much beyond hating the Affordable Care Act.

    The good news for Trump: He can move on

    With this defeat, Trump avoids two potentially negative outcomes: getting mired in the details of health care policy for months and months, as he and the congressional Republicans try to write a bill the party can agree on; and secondly, dealing with the political fallout of pushing through an unpopular bill. Former President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010, after spending close to a year working on it. And the ACA vote was a major factor in Democrats losing a bunch of congressional seats in the midterm elections later that year.

    Now, Trump has an extra year of his presidency in which he won’t be working on a large complicated health care bill. And Republican members of Congress won’t have to defend the AHCA on the campaign trail.

    Other parts of Trump’s agenda, such as rolling back Obama-era regulations and appointing more conservative-leaning judges to the Supreme Court and other federal courts, are strongly supported by Republicans on Capitol Hill and may be easier to get through.

    The bad news for Trump: Fissures in his party may be about more than health care

    During the last two years of Obama’s presidency, the House Freedom Caucus was a huge challenge for fellow Republicans. It constantly fought with then-House Speaker John Boehner — over policy and tactics — and Boehner eventually stepped down after regularly expressing frustration with the more conservative members of the House.

    With a Republican in the White House, some in the party hoped that the Freedom Caucus would play nice (or, at least, nicer). The fight over the AHCA suggests otherwise. Nearly half of the Republican opposition to the AHCA (22of the roughly 50 members in opposition) came from the Freedom Caucus, which argued the bill was insufficiently conservative and was not swayed by Trump’s lobbying.

    The health care vote also revealed a divide between the House and the Senate. The AHCA, crafted by Speaker Paul Ryan and other House GOP leaders, faced strong criticism from Republican senators, particularly Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

    And Cotton’s opposition portends problems for the president’s next push: a major tax reform bill. Ryan is calling for legislation that would overhaul tax policy by essentially taxing goods imported to the U.S. at a higher rate but removing taxes on exports. Cotton has already blasted the idea, which is opposed by Wal-Mart, which buys lots of imported goods and is based in Arkansas.

    Finally, the unsuccessful scramble to pass the AHCA raises the possibility that Trump’s talents work better on the campaign trail or in the business world than in the West Wing. None of his negotiating moves worked. In meetings with members of Congress, he bluntly called out those who were not yet behind the bill, an intimidating approach that presidents often avoid. He tried to negotiate the details of the bill with the Freedom Caucus, while also using his Twitter feed to pressure them.

    The Freedom Caucus was unmoved.

    Trump, as he told a Time Magazine reporter in an interview this week, before the AHCA failure, “can’t be doing so badly, because I’m president, and you’re not.”

    But the health care debacle suggests that, at least right now, Trump is far from being an effective president. His top legislative priority died on Capitol Hill, more voters disapprove than approve of his job performance, and congressional committees and the FBI are investigating if his allies colluded with the Russians to help Trump win the presidential election.
    "Do not think that I came to bring peace... I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Matthew 10:34

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to FUCK THE POLICE For This Post:

    Rune (03-25-2017)

  3. #2 | Top
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    State of Bliss
    Posts
    31,007
    Thanks
    7,095
    Thanked 5,196 Times in 3,829 Posts
    Groans
    433
    Groaned 261 Times in 257 Posts
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default

    It's ryan's fault, mCcain's fault, fuckin Obama, fuckin hillary must have done something.errrrr...LMAO!!!!
    "There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone," McConnell wrote. "His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended."



  4. #3 | Top
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    85,117
    Thanks
    2,507
    Thanked 16,531 Times in 10,535 Posts
    Groans
    2
    Groaned 578 Times in 535 Posts
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default

    People don't seem to remember, Obama took office in 2009 with health care reform at the top of his agenda... It took until March of 2010 before they could pass it after much wrangling and deal making.

    This idea that the whole idea of this is now "dead" is total rubbish. Several times in that year I remember Democrats saying that the bill was "dead", but it kept going. This idea that this is "doomed" because they couldn't get it done in three months is total hogwash.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl.../etc/cron.html
    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
    - -- Aristotle

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
    - -- The Buddha

    It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
    - -- Aristotle

  5. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Damocles For This Post:

    Granule (03-25-2017), PostmodernProphet (03-26-2017), Stretch (03-25-2017), Truth Detector (03-27-2017)

  6. #4 | Top
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Posts
    22,675
    Thanks
    595
    Thanked 12,388 Times in 7,999 Posts
    Groans
    16
    Groaned 809 Times in 761 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    People don't seem to remember, Obama took office in 2009 with health care reform at the top of his agenda... It took until March of 2010 before they could pass it after much wrangling and deal making.

    This idea that the whole idea of this is now "dead" is total rubbish. Several times in that year I remember Democrats saying that the bill was "dead", but it kept going. This idea that this is "doomed" because they couldn't get it done in three months is total hogwash.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl.../etc/cron.html
    Trump said day 1 - immediately. He said it would be "easy." He said he was a master deal-maker, and knew how to negotiate these things.

    Then, he said healthcare was really complicated, and tried to blame a party that has no power anywhere for the fact that he couldn't bring Republicans together.

    No spinning this one, I'm afraid. Trump's first bigtime, high-profile legislation - and he got embarrassed. He is no longer the "winning" guy. He's a loser.

  7. The Following User Groans At Cancel 2020.1 For This Awful Post:

    Truth Detector (03-27-2017)

  8. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Cancel 2020.1 For This Post:

    Cancel 2018.2 (03-25-2017), christiefan915 (03-25-2017), Phantasmal (03-25-2017)

  9. #5 | Top
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Posts
    15,536
    Thanks
    1,378
    Thanked 3,981 Times in 3,024 Posts
    Groans
    130
    Groaned 841 Times in 781 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Thing1 View Post
    Trump said day 1 - immediately. He said it would be "easy." He said he was a master deal-maker, and knew how to negotiate these things.

    Then, he said healthcare was really complicated, and tried to blame a party that has no power anywhere for the fact that he couldn't bring Republicans together.

    No spinning this one, I'm afraid. Trump's first bigtime, high-profile legislation - and he got embarrassed. He is no longer the "winning" guy. He's a loser.
    saying no is actually part of negotiations. House freedom members wanted a more conservative deal and wouldnt budge so now they are stuck with Obamacare. In the future they will think twice about not budging. Given that insurance companies are already wary of the market and the individual mandate is harder to enforce now because of previous eo signed by trump obamacare can only get worse as time goes on leading to a healthcare bill that would be easier to pass in the future. If Obama told the bluedog democrats that he would scrap the whole thing unless they agreed to the public option you may have it now. If you have ever negotiated a contract you would know this. I have foregone hiring some people and starting some projects because the people involved were asking for too much.

    That said I still think the bill sucked and no deal is better than what they were trying to push through.
    is on twitter @realtsuke

    https://tsukesthoughts.wordpress.com/

  10. The Following User Says Thank You to tsuke For This Post:

    Truth Detector (03-27-2017)

  11. #6 | Top
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Posts
    22,675
    Thanks
    595
    Thanked 12,388 Times in 7,999 Posts
    Groans
    16
    Groaned 809 Times in 761 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tsuke View Post
    saying no is actually part of negotiations. House freedom members wanted a more conservative deal and wouldnt budge so now they are stuck with Obamacare. In the future they will think twice about not budging. Given that insurance companies are already wary of the market and the individual mandate is harder to enforce now because of previous eo signed by trump obamacare can only get worse as time goes on leading to a healthcare bill that would be easier to pass in the future. If Obama told the bluedog democrats that he would scrap the whole thing unless they agreed to the public option you may have it now. If you have ever negotiated a contract you would know this. I have foregone hiring some people and starting some projects because the people involved were asking for too much.

    That said I still think the bill sucked and no deal is better than what they were trying to push through.
    Trump couldn't get the votes when his party controls everything.

    He failed.

  12. #7 | Top
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    49,883
    Thanks
    14,463
    Thanked 32,101 Times in 21,165 Posts
    Groans
    6
    Groaned 1,307 Times in 1,235 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Thing1 View Post
    Trump couldn't get the votes when his party controls everything.

    He failed.
    And your diagnosis is partisan-induced myopia lol.

    In the long view [the only view that matters] the no-vote on the bill may be a net plus for healthcare. Or it could go the other way.

    You have no idea which it will be.
    Coup has started. First of many steps. Impeachment will follow ultimately~WB attorney Mark Zaid, January 2017

  13. The Following User Says Thank You to Darth Omar For This Post:

    Truth Detector (03-27-2017)

  14. #8 | Top
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    16,140
    Thanks
    10,960
    Thanked 19,494 Times in 9,086 Posts
    Groans
    1,448
    Groaned 1,427 Times in 1,256 Posts

    Default

    So much for:



  15. The Following User Groans At signalmankenneth For This Awful Post:

    Truth Detector (03-27-2017)

  16. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to signalmankenneth For This Post:

    Bill (03-25-2017), christiefan915 (03-25-2017), Phantasmal (03-25-2017)

  17. #9 | Top
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    73,404
    Thanks
    101,947
    Thanked 54,780 Times in 33,639 Posts
    Groans
    3,155
    Groaned 5,065 Times in 4,683 Posts
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    People don't seem to remember, Obama took office in 2009 with health care reform at the top of his agenda... It took until March of 2010 before they could pass it after much wrangling and deal making.

    This idea that the whole idea of this is now "dead" is total rubbish. Several times in that year I remember Democrats saying that the bill was "dead", but it kept going. This idea that this is "doomed" because they couldn't get it done in three months is total hogwash.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl.../etc/cron.html
    Oh, it's dead unless they pass single payer. They have had over 20 years to come up with something, more recently seven years, and they haven't.

  18. The Following User Groans At Phantasmal For This Awful Post:

    Truth Detector (03-27-2017)

  19. #10 | Top
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Steeler Nation
    Posts
    64,534
    Thanks
    65,163
    Thanked 38,094 Times in 25,664 Posts
    Groans
    5,815
    Groaned 2,614 Times in 2,498 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill View Post
    It's ryan's fault, mCcain's fault, fuckin Obama, fuckin hillary must have done something.errrrr...LMAO!!!!
    "The buck stops here" ... NOT!


    “What greater gift than the love of a cat.”
    ― Charles Dickens

  20. The Following User Groans At christiefan915 For This Awful Post:

    Truth Detector (03-27-2017)

  21. #11 | Top
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Realville
    Posts
    31,850
    Thanks
    1,475
    Thanked 6,520 Times in 5,217 Posts
    Groans
    779
    Groaned 2,477 Times in 2,299 Posts

    Default

    No big surprise that the GOP is divided. You have big government types like Lyin Ryan and McCuntell and those that believe in Freedom

  22. #12 | Top
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    16,140
    Thanks
    10,960
    Thanked 19,494 Times in 9,086 Posts
    Groans
    1,448
    Groaned 1,427 Times in 1,256 Posts

    Default


  23. The Following User Groans At signalmankenneth For This Awful Post:

    Truth Detector (03-27-2017)

  24. The Following User Says Thank You to signalmankenneth For This Post:

    Bill (03-25-2017)

  25. #13 | Top
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    36,484
    Thanks
    16,670
    Thanked 20,752 Times in 14,344 Posts
    Groans
    0
    Groaned 1,387 Times in 1,305 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    People don't seem to remember, Obama took office in 2009 with health care reform at the top of his agenda... It took until March of 2010 before they could pass it after much wrangling and deal making.

    This idea that the whole idea of this is now "dead" is total rubbish. Several times in that year I remember Democrats saying that the bill was "dead", but it kept going. This idea that this is "doomed" because they couldn't get it done in three months is total hogwash.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl.../etc/cron.html
    This isn't that. Democrats set out to achieve affordable healthcare for Americans. Republicans set out to do away with the pesky taxes included in ACA law. They don't care about healthcare, as seen by the actual arguments within their ranks. We had those who wanted to keep some from getting health insurance, and we had those who wanted to keep more from getting insurance.

    All to kill a cap gains tax on the wealthy.

    This is dead as far as Republicans are concerned. They'll peck away at other aspects of the law, thinking they can blame Democrats in the end.
    Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

  26. #14 | Top
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    36,484
    Thanks
    16,670
    Thanked 20,752 Times in 14,344 Posts
    Groans
    0
    Groaned 1,387 Times in 1,305 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Martin McGuinness View Post
    How Trump Lost On Health Care

    https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...n-health-care/

    The House’s failure on Friday to even vote on a Republican bill to repeal Obamacare — something party leaders promised for seven years and President Trump campaigned on — was a huge defeat for Trump and the GOP, in a number of ways.

    It showed that Republicans — now in control of the House, the Senate and the presidency — couldn’t band together on a major priority. It suggests that the divides among Republicans, a theme of the Obama years, remain a problem for the party. In fact, those divides could be even wider in the Trump era: In the health care debate, not only did the deeply conservative House Freedom Caucus break with party leadership, as it often has (arguing the legislation was not conservative enough), but a bloc of more centrist members emerged from the other side of the political spectrum, arguing that the bill was too conservative. And Trump, who has cast himself as a master negotiator, couldn’t get fellow Republicans behind him, making him look ineffectual in comparison to his three predecessors as president, who all got their first legislative priority through Congress in their first year in office.1
    So what happened? And what does the bill’s failure portend for Trump’s other agenda items?

    Why the health care push fell apart

    While there was not a vote, the American Health Care Act failed because of a coalition of Republicans that was both ideologically and geographically diverse. The representatives wary of voting for the AHCA, which reached about 50 in number by week’s end, according to The Washington Post — more than double the 22 GOP votes the party could afford to lose — included members from deeply conservative districts where Trump won overwhelmingly but also areas where he lost. The list of potential “no” votes included veteran members, such as 64-year-old Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, whose district includes parts of Miami, but also 36-year-old Justin Amash of Michigan. There were Northeastern moderates, Southerners and a strong Midwestern contingent, as well.

    Broadly, there were four blocs of GOP members opposed to the legislation: those from the conservative and anti-establishment House Freedom Caucus; those in districts that Hillary Clinton won or almost won in 2016, putting them in some political peril if they backed a bill that is very unpopular; those associated with the Tuesday Group of more centrist House Republicans; and a few who are kind of mavericks, sometimes voting against the position of GOP congressional leaders and Trump. But there were some “no’s” outside of those four blocs, and many members within those four blocs who said that they supported the AHCA. (Some members fall into in more than one of these groups.)

    House Freedom Caucus (22 potential “no” votes of about 30 members):2
    Justin Amash (Michigan)
    Rod Blum (Iowa)
    David Brat (Virginia)
    Mo Brooks (Alabama)
    Ken Buck (Colorado)
    Warren Davidson (Ohio)
    Scott DesJarlais (Tennessee)
    Jeff Duncan (South Carolina)
    Ron DeSantis (Florida)
    Thomas Garrett (Virginia)
    Paul Gosar (Arizona)
    Trent Franks (Arizona)
    Jody Hice (Georgia)
    Jim Jordan (Ohio)
    Raul Labrador (Idaho)
    Mark Meadows (North Carolina)
    Steve Pearce (New Mexico)
    Scott Perry (Pennsylvania)
    Bill Posey (Florida)
    Mark Sanford (South Carolina)
    Randy Weber (Texas)
    Ted Yoho (Florida)
    Republicans associated with Tuesday Group (12 of about 50 members):

    Ryan Costello (Pennsylvania)
    Carlos Curbelo (Florida)
    Charlie Dent (Pennsylvania)
    Mario Diaz-Balart (Florida)
    Daniel Donovan (New York)
    Jaime Herrera Beutler (Washington)
    David Joyce (Ohio)
    John Katko (New York)
    Leonard Lance (New Jersey)
    Frank LoBiondo (New Jersey)
    Patrick Meehan (Pennsylvania)
    Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida)

    Republicans in districts Hillary Clinton won (10 of 23 members):

    Barbara Comstock (Virginia)
    Ryan Costello (Pennsylvania)
    Carlos Curbelo (Florida)
    Rodney Frelinghuysen (New Jersey)
    Will Hurd (Texas)
    John Katko (New York)
    Leonard Lance (New Jersey)
    Patrick Meehan (Pennsylvania)
    Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida)
    Kevin Yoder (Kansas)
    Mavericks (9 of 11):3
    Justin Amash (Michigan)
    Andy Biggs (Arizona)
    Louie Gohmert (Texas)
    Walter Jones (North Carolina)
    Raul Labrador (Idaho)
    Thomas Massie (Kentucky)
    Mark Sanford (South Carolina)
    Christopher Smith (New Jersey)
    Don Young (Alaska)

    Other potential “no” votes:

    Ted Budd (North Carolina)
    Rick Crawford (Arkansas)
    Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania)
    Daniel Webster (Florida)
    Rob Wittman (Virginia)
    David Young (Iowa)
    In one sense, Republicans and Trump not coming together on health care was not surprising. It is a very complicated issue, one that bedeviled Bill Clinton and almost Barack Obama as well. But the collapse of the bill illustrated something broader: The Republicans, in seven years, hadn’t reached agreement in terms of health policy on much beyond hating the Affordable Care Act.

    The good news for Trump: He can move on

    With this defeat, Trump avoids two potentially negative outcomes: getting mired in the details of health care policy for months and months, as he and the congressional Republicans try to write a bill the party can agree on; and secondly, dealing with the political fallout of pushing through an unpopular bill. Former President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010, after spending close to a year working on it. And the ACA vote was a major factor in Democrats losing a bunch of congressional seats in the midterm elections later that year.

    Now, Trump has an extra year of his presidency in which he won’t be working on a large complicated health care bill. And Republican members of Congress won’t have to defend the AHCA on the campaign trail.

    Other parts of Trump’s agenda, such as rolling back Obama-era regulations and appointing more conservative-leaning judges to the Supreme Court and other federal courts, are strongly supported by Republicans on Capitol Hill and may be easier to get through.

    The bad news for Trump: Fissures in his party may be about more than health care

    During the last two years of Obama’s presidency, the House Freedom Caucus was a huge challenge for fellow Republicans. It constantly fought with then-House Speaker John Boehner — over policy and tactics — and Boehner eventually stepped down after regularly expressing frustration with the more conservative members of the House.

    With a Republican in the White House, some in the party hoped that the Freedom Caucus would play nice (or, at least, nicer). The fight over the AHCA suggests otherwise. Nearly half of the Republican opposition to the AHCA (22of the roughly 50 members in opposition) came from the Freedom Caucus, which argued the bill was insufficiently conservative and was not swayed by Trump’s lobbying.

    The health care vote also revealed a divide between the House and the Senate. The AHCA, crafted by Speaker Paul Ryan and other House GOP leaders, faced strong criticism from Republican senators, particularly Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

    And Cotton’s opposition portends problems for the president’s next push: a major tax reform bill. Ryan is calling for legislation that would overhaul tax policy by essentially taxing goods imported to the U.S. at a higher rate but removing taxes on exports. Cotton has already blasted the idea, which is opposed by Wal-Mart, which buys lots of imported goods and is based in Arkansas.

    Finally, the unsuccessful scramble to pass the AHCA raises the possibility that Trump’s talents work better on the campaign trail or in the business world than in the West Wing. None of his negotiating moves worked. In meetings with members of Congress, he bluntly called out those who were not yet behind the bill, an intimidating approach that presidents often avoid. He tried to negotiate the details of the bill with the Freedom Caucus, while also using his Twitter feed to pressure them.

    The Freedom Caucus was unmoved.

    Trump, as he told a Time Magazine reporter in an interview this week, before the AHCA failure, “can’t be doing so badly, because I’m president, and you’re not.”

    But the health care debacle suggests that, at least right now, Trump is far from being an effective president. His top legislative priority died on Capitol Hill, more voters disapprove than approve of his job performance, and congressional committees and the FBI are investigating if his allies colluded with the Russians to help Trump win the presidential election.
    What went 'wrong', is that Republicans couldn't agree on how many people they could get away with screwing, as they gave a massive tax break to their donors.
    Sadly, nobody was interested in providing affordable health insurance. It was a gimmick aimed at doing away with the tax ramifications, which would have opened to door for an easier time ramming their Draconian view of healthcare down our throats via budget reconciliation.

    Make no mistake...this was huge. The problem is, we're no better off today than we were yesterday, and the future will still be bleak as Republicans continue to work toward taking away our health insurance options.

    But...this won't affect future pet Republican projects. They all agree on cutting taxes, no matter the ramifications.

    What we will see, is a refusal to fund the wall, and infrastructure once they cut revenue in half.

    But infrastructure isn't a pet Republican issue anyway.
    Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

  27. #15 | Top
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    State of Bliss
    Posts
    31,007
    Thanks
    7,095
    Thanked 5,196 Times in 3,829 Posts
    Groans
    433
    Groaned 261 Times in 257 Posts
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default

    "There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone," McConnell wrote. "His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended."



Similar Threads

  1. Trump: ‘Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated’
    By Bill Fishlore in forum Current Events Forum
    Replies: 64
    Last Post: 03-02-2017, 12:18 PM
  2. CBO finds 9 million with health insurance LOST
    By Celticguy in forum Current Events Forum
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 03-29-2016, 12:39 PM
  3. APP - the health insurance industry hates obama's health care law
    By Don Quixote in forum Above Plain Politics Forum
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 01-21-2012, 08:37 AM
  4. Obama care requires-National Health Care Identification Card:
    By The Dude in forum Current Events Forum
    Replies: 53
    Last Post: 12-30-2011, 08:27 PM
  5. Health care for you
    By Sir Galahad in forum Current Events Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 10-27-2008, 04:12 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Rules

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •