WhatFinger


Trump Wasn't Shown Up by the Health Care Rejection;

Trump Showed Himself to Be More Responsible Than the Politicians on Both Sides of the Aisle



The simpletons who are gloating that the rejection of the Health Care Repeal and Replace legislation shows that Trump is no longer a master at the Art of the Deal seem to overlook one simple fact. Every deal with a chance of closing has to have two parties with open minds who WANT a deal. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton got things done because they had negotiating partners. The Democrats until the end refused to even consider a deal on the Trump-Ryan health care repeal and replace bill, which required the Republicans to come up with something close to unanimity in order to close the deal. It is easier to be unanimous against than in favor.
The failure of the Republicans to agree on a deal shows that the Republicans consist of people who stand on principle--some on the conservative side of the spectrum, some on the liberal side. The Democrats refused to put principle over party, let alone the interests of their constituents over their party, and allow at least some members of Congress who might find some common ground to at least consider the legislation and strive to improve on it. It is axiomatic that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But it "ain't fair"--or honest--to deny that Obama promised we could keep our doctors, and in many cases we can't; Obama promised we could keep our health plans, and it many cases we can't. Above all, Obama promised the premiums would go down by $2,500 per family, but in many cases premiums have doubled, quadrupled, and more. And in many cases the worst is yet to come. The Trump-Ryan proposed legislation of repeal and replace is sure to come back and live to see--and prevail--another day, but in all likelihood in another way. The only questions are whether or not the Democrats will allow the health care system to implode, how long it will take for this to happen, and whether at least some Democrats will be begging for Trump to save the country from Obama's cynical trap of his having loaded all the "goodies" up front (e.g., coverage of pre-existing conditions, children covered on parents' plans up to 26 years of age), while he was in office, and leaving all the self-destructive parts of the bill (elimination of insurance companies, further rate increases, further deterioration of quality of health care) to surface after he would leave office. President Trump wasn't shown up by the rejection of the proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare; rather, he showed himself to be more responsible than many if not most of the politicians on both sides of the aisle:

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  1. Politically, President Trump could have waited for Obamacare to complete its implosion process, so that the simpletons who are still unaware of how unworkable and devastating it is will realize this and come begging to him for help, but instead he took the responsible position of trying to repeal and replace it before Americans will be harmed even more by it.
  2. Trump could have tried Pelosi's approach to Obamacare the first time around, "we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."
  3. Instead, Trump encouraged all concerned to analyze it and to try to improve on it.
  4. Trump promised to consider amendments, and he did. The Democrats refused to accept the offer.
  5. Trump promised to listen to all factions, and he did.
  6. Trump had only a few months to seriously focus on the legislation; Paul Ryan and the other Republican members of Congress had 7 years to focus on it. There is a reason why Trump from the outset did NOT want his name on the bill as TrumpCare, even though part of his allure is his having branded so many of his products and achievements with his personal imprimatur. Trump clearly relied on Ryan for this bill, and wasn't necessarily fully comfortable enough with the bill himself to lend it his name to complete his official imprimatur.
  7. Trump had every reason to trust the seasoned Republican politicians and policy wonks to work out a workable deal in all this time;
  8. Trump re-learned the weakness of relying on politicians. He had been successful in business by appointing the best and the brightest and the most visionary and the most practical to make plans and implement them; he is sure to broaden his base of people to compose and propose the next version of the bill, and he will be ready to win the next round, and/or the final round, when the time comes.

  1. Trump learned that his gut had been right all along, once again, not to rely on politicians; the guts that empowered him to defy all the odds, virtually all the politicians, virtually all the polls, virtually all the talking heads in the press, virtually all of Hollywood, and virtually all interest groups.
  2. Trump learned the weaknesses in the bill; he will make sure that these weaknesses will not be there in the next round;
  3. Trump is sure to find and focus on more areas of agreement in the future, so that people should be incentivized to earn benefits before they benefit from the system, rather than to allow illegal aliens and able-bodied American citizens by the millions to benefit as much as the hard working people who built this country, if not more so.
  4. The ultimate deal, down the road, will probably be better than the one that just didn't get approved;
  5. Trump said he learned a lot from the experience, including issues of loyalty.
  6. Trump was loyal to Paul Ryan, after the deal fell through, despite his disappointment; not blaming him, as many other people did, for the weaknesses of the bill. At this point, there is word he is blaming Ryan only--or primarily -- for leading Trump to believe he would have enough votes to justify formally proposing this bill so soon and before formally proposing tax reform. Trump did not focus on blaming Ryan for the substantive weaknesses of the bill itself.
  7. Trump didn't focus on blaming ANY fellow Republicans when the deal failed to get enough votes; he promised to move on and let the plan come alive another day, and probably a better one and one that will be more universally appreciated.
There will be another day. Experts with long memories have noted that Obamacare in one form or another was proclaimed "dead" about 15 times before it was finalized and rammed through Congress without the benefit of any Republicans--or the truth in "selling" it, and thereby selling out the best interests of the American people. And Democrats are likely to realize they have to be a part of the process; not just the blindly disloyal and dysfunctional opposition. There is no question that President Trump learned from the experience. The only question is whether the Democrats will wait for disaster, the inevitable total implosion of Obamacare, or whether they will care for their constituents enough to beg for Trump to fix it before the irreparable damage will ruin even more lives in more ways.


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Ron A. Y. Rich -- Bio and Archives

Mr. Rich is a self-described liberal with common sense and an open mind.


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