The Trump Presidency

[Satsuki]

lel

[Rumpy]

"We have to do some soul-searching internally to determine whether or not we are even capable of functioning as a governing body,” said Representative Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota.

Hilarious.

How'd Trump's alpha male Art of the Deal ultimatum bullshit work out?

Wow at that quote. Unbelievably embarrassing but it was obvious what was going to happen as soon as the bill became public. Dysfunction isn't even a strong enough word. Maybe the Freedom Caucus will get eaten alive from this?

The cut and run is pretty telling about this administration. Sounds like taxes are next. Trump should be able to fake that he knows something about this topic at least.

[Frogacuda]

So what's the angle on the health bill, do you think?

Will this be a "come back to it later" or "look at the corruption" piece?

I think the GOP painted themselves into a corner with healthcare, and realized almost anything they do would be met with massive backlash, so they floated a bill that they knew would fail, because they thought it looked better to try and fail than to admit they were wrong or suffer the consequences of passing something that became hugely unpopular.

[Joust Williams]

So it's possible to stump the trump

I thought trump might never get stumped

[Andrew]

Now that the Freedom Caucus has fucked over Trump, if congressional Dems had half a brain (combined, even) they would reach out to him and close the deal on universal single-payer. Deep down, it's what he really wants anyways.

[A Robot Bit Me]

So the Freedom Caucus, who didn't vote for the Republican bill because it didn't cede enough control of the industry back to the free market, doesn't repeal enough subsidies, and doesn't do enough to dismantle Medicaid and Medicare, are secretly itching to vote to expand subsidies and universalize Medicare at Trump's word in Andrüsseldorf?

I'm worried about you.

[Andrew]

So the Freedom Caucus, who didn't vote for the Republican bill because it didn't cede enough control of the industry back to the free market, doesn't repeal enough subsidies, and doesn't do enough to dismantle Medicaid and Medicare, are secretly itching to vote for to expand subsidies and universalize Medicare at Trump's word in Andrüsseldorf?

I'm worried about you.

I think you're confused. Go back and read my post again.

[A Robot Bit Me]

I did, but single payer is a massive overhaul that can't just be hashed out at the Executive level. It couldn't be done without Congressional approval, which wasn't even there for a bill that makes a small step toward what the Freedom Caucus actually wants.

I think you're also overestimating Democrat enthusiasm for single payer. Recall that they couldn't even get enough votes within their own party to pass the ACA without removing the public option to get Lieberman's vote.

Maybe Trump does actually want single payer, but that doesn't go very far.

[Andrew]

My reasoning was that Trump would basically say "alright then, fuck the Freedom Caucus" and revert to his more liberal instincts. Maybe you're right, it would be a slog. But if he could get moderates like Collins and Murkowski on board? Crazier things have happened.

[A Robot Bit Me]

Curious: would you have preferred the Freedom Caucus (presumably your kind of dudes, yeah?) fell in line and voted for the House bill or are you glad they're holding out for something that goes even further to eliminate subsidies, etc., at the risk of keeping the ACA in place indefinitely?