Saturday, March 25, 2017

Death of the AHCA

I know, I know, you're all tired of the drama associated with the president's failure to overturn the ACA.  However, if you're at all interested in how it happened, this is an excellent article.  The first few paragraphs are pretty stunning.
Donald Trump had heard enough about policy and process. It was Thursday afternoon and members of the House Freedom Caucus were peppering the president with wonkish concerns about the American Health Care Act—the language that would leave Obamacare’s “essential health benefits” in place, the community rating provision that limited what insurers could charge certain patients, and whether the next two steps of Speaker Paul Ryan’s master plan were even feasible—when Trump decided to cut them off.
"Forget about the little shit," Trump said, according to multiple sources in the room. "Let's focus on the big picture here."
The group of roughly 30 House conservatives, gathered around a mammoth, oval-shaped conference table in the Cabinet Room of the White House, exchanged disapproving looks. Trump wanted to emphasize the political ramifications of the bill's defeat; specifically, he said, it would derail his first-term agenda and imperil his prospects for reelection in 2020. The lawmakers nodded and said they understood. And yet they were disturbed by his dismissiveness. For many of the members, the "little shit" meant the policy details that could make or break their support for the bill—and have far-reaching implications for their constituents and the country.
We are now off to storage get the things we put in there prior to fixing the bus.  

1 comment:

  1. Interesting, a second term of Trump!!! It was also interesting how he blamed the Democrats for the defeat when the Republicans have control over both houses. Its the "its not my fault|" syndrome.

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