The Art of No Deal
Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:47 pm
After seven years of Ryan harping about repealing Obamacare and Trump using it as one of the signature promises of his illustrious campaign, Trump and Ryan utterly failed to repeal and replace. It was so bad that Ryan pulled the bill off the floor of the House and told Trump it was a non-starter, that the bill would fail miserably.
Trump blamed the democrats which is ridiculous since they are a pretty pitiful minority in Congress and there were easily more than enough republicans to push the bill to the senate. It was the republicans themselves who killed the bill--particularly that part of the House known as the Freedom Caucus. These are the hardcore conservative representatives that opposed everything Obama proposed. They didn't wield great power under Obama and were largely symbolic but they have FAR more clout under a republican president and they know it. Today, they let Trump and Ryan have a good dose of it.
Trump and Ryan thought they had browbeat every republican rep into toeing the party line but they were wrong. The Freedom Caucus isn't even the tiniest bit afraid of either one of them. Funny to see the Freedom Caucus and the dems on the same side. But really, while the Freedom Caucus may be a bunch of pigheaded assholes, who could blame them for not endorsing this bill? Obama spent a lot of time putting the ACA together--well before he even announced a run for the presidency. He, Emanuel, Axelrod and other staffers went out and spoke to doctors, surgeons, nurses, hospital directors, pharma, medical suppliers, lawyers, insurance companies, patients, the disabled, etc. They worked 16-hour days 7 days a week on that bill trying to cover every base. Then they'd run it past consultants who suggested revisions and then they'd revise and keep doing this until most everybody was happy. Then they already had a working model to observe in action--in Massachusetts under Mitt Romney's governorship. By the time Obama got into office, he had invested years into crafting the ACA. By contrast, his opponents in Congress did no such background work. After 7 years, nothing. Then suddenly, they offer up a plan in 6 weeks??? Sorry, won't work! Who could they have talked to in that time the way Obama's team did? Nobody. Just a hastily thrown together pile of garbage. Hell no, the Freedom Caucus wasn't going to endorse that crap even if they supported a govt-run healthcare system, which they don't and never will.
The fault is squarely on Trump. He pushed and pushed for a fast replacement clearly not understanding the kind of work that has to go into crafting such bills. They tried to tell him it can't work that way but he didn't want to hear it. So they threw it together. What a joke! No way was any responsible congressperson going to vote for a piece of legislation that ill-conceived, ill-prepared and cynical. Down it went in white-hot flames and now the issue is dead-in-the-water. Obamacare is the law of the land and Planned Parenthood will not be defunded this time around. Aww, too bad!
Trump is now saying the ACA is "imploding" and soon to die anyway. My advice to him is this: DO NOT let it die! YOU will be held responsible. You can't watch it die and refuse to intervene or you are NOT doing your job and the People will let you know that in 2020--assuming you last that long which I seriously doubt. The People do not want a new healthcare system, they want you to plug any holes in Obamacare and keep it running. If you fail to do that, you will be called to account not Obama--YOU!! Part of me hopes Obamacare is dying. I will enjoy watching you and Ryan being forced to rescue it. Oh, how degrading that will be for you both!!!
And don't be so quick to slam the democrats, Mr. Trump. You will need them for any future endeavors you will be pursuing such as tax reform. Yes, you will be forced to compromise with them because they are not going to just let you do whatever you want but--hey!--you're Mr. Deal-maker! Work with it! The ones you can't work with is the Freedom Caucus because they are extremely pigheaded and unbendable. You have to do everything their way or no deal. The dems otoh will bend for you if you bend for them. The way you praise your deal-making abilities, that should be a piece of cake for you so start opening lines of communication to the dems and make nice. YOU need them; they don't need you. And your own party doesn't want to play and they ain't scared o' you!
Trump might start by offering an olive leaf to Mr. Obama. Oh, who am I fooling? He won't apologize. He never apologizes. He doesn't know how. He never takes blame. The failure of repeal and replace proves that. Besides, an apology to Obama over the wiretapping is too little too late. There are consequences for what he did and the die has been cast. The process will have to run its course. It has taken a toll on Trump already. He has lost a lot of cred and is not seen as trustworthy. When he says Obamacare will implode soon, should we believe him?? He lies about everything else, why not this too? And that's the essence of the problem. No one will take him seriously when there is a real national emergency for which prompt action is paramount. He stupidly threw away his political capital in one fell swoop and he has no one to blame but himself. Perhaps Robert Tulip will insist that this is a brilliant ploy of some sort but I think we are well past that now. Trump has cooked his own goose because he just can't stop running his mouth--or should I say his Twitter feed?
Then there is the Russian scandal. Is it real? I have to think it is. Devin Nunes has seemingly ruined his career over it and he may take Paul Ryan with him. This doesn't happen because there is nothing to the accusation. Take Benghazi. Hillary was getting lambasted by it but who threw themselves between her and her antagonizers to protect her? Nobody. Why? Because it was a made up scandal. Even a committee of republicans found her innocent. There was no crime or negligence could be hung on Clinton. There was no necessity for anyone to try and protect her. Yet, here Nunes learns something and goes first to Ryan who tells him to go to Trump and brief him about it. Now both men have to know that Nunes can't go and discuss Russian scandal evidence with the man that's being investigated by the very committee he chairs. On top of that, he spoke to nobody on the committee about it at all. That should be enough to get rid of Ryan and Nunes right there. Don't be surprised if Ryan resigns or is forced out in the coming weeks. Regardless of what Nunes learned--damaging or not--he had no business going to Trump and Ryan had no business telling him to do so. The committee is now tainted and John McCain's demand that this committee shut down and let an independent select committee take over is underway.
Basically, the wheels are coming off the Trump clown mobile. A lot of people are going to get hurt in the ensuing crash. Funny thing is, it's taking a lot longer than I expected.
Trump blamed the democrats which is ridiculous since they are a pretty pitiful minority in Congress and there were easily more than enough republicans to push the bill to the senate. It was the republicans themselves who killed the bill--particularly that part of the House known as the Freedom Caucus. These are the hardcore conservative representatives that opposed everything Obama proposed. They didn't wield great power under Obama and were largely symbolic but they have FAR more clout under a republican president and they know it. Today, they let Trump and Ryan have a good dose of it.
Trump and Ryan thought they had browbeat every republican rep into toeing the party line but they were wrong. The Freedom Caucus isn't even the tiniest bit afraid of either one of them. Funny to see the Freedom Caucus and the dems on the same side. But really, while the Freedom Caucus may be a bunch of pigheaded assholes, who could blame them for not endorsing this bill? Obama spent a lot of time putting the ACA together--well before he even announced a run for the presidency. He, Emanuel, Axelrod and other staffers went out and spoke to doctors, surgeons, nurses, hospital directors, pharma, medical suppliers, lawyers, insurance companies, patients, the disabled, etc. They worked 16-hour days 7 days a week on that bill trying to cover every base. Then they'd run it past consultants who suggested revisions and then they'd revise and keep doing this until most everybody was happy. Then they already had a working model to observe in action--in Massachusetts under Mitt Romney's governorship. By the time Obama got into office, he had invested years into crafting the ACA. By contrast, his opponents in Congress did no such background work. After 7 years, nothing. Then suddenly, they offer up a plan in 6 weeks??? Sorry, won't work! Who could they have talked to in that time the way Obama's team did? Nobody. Just a hastily thrown together pile of garbage. Hell no, the Freedom Caucus wasn't going to endorse that crap even if they supported a govt-run healthcare system, which they don't and never will.
The fault is squarely on Trump. He pushed and pushed for a fast replacement clearly not understanding the kind of work that has to go into crafting such bills. They tried to tell him it can't work that way but he didn't want to hear it. So they threw it together. What a joke! No way was any responsible congressperson going to vote for a piece of legislation that ill-conceived, ill-prepared and cynical. Down it went in white-hot flames and now the issue is dead-in-the-water. Obamacare is the law of the land and Planned Parenthood will not be defunded this time around. Aww, too bad!
Trump is now saying the ACA is "imploding" and soon to die anyway. My advice to him is this: DO NOT let it die! YOU will be held responsible. You can't watch it die and refuse to intervene or you are NOT doing your job and the People will let you know that in 2020--assuming you last that long which I seriously doubt. The People do not want a new healthcare system, they want you to plug any holes in Obamacare and keep it running. If you fail to do that, you will be called to account not Obama--YOU!! Part of me hopes Obamacare is dying. I will enjoy watching you and Ryan being forced to rescue it. Oh, how degrading that will be for you both!!!
And don't be so quick to slam the democrats, Mr. Trump. You will need them for any future endeavors you will be pursuing such as tax reform. Yes, you will be forced to compromise with them because they are not going to just let you do whatever you want but--hey!--you're Mr. Deal-maker! Work with it! The ones you can't work with is the Freedom Caucus because they are extremely pigheaded and unbendable. You have to do everything their way or no deal. The dems otoh will bend for you if you bend for them. The way you praise your deal-making abilities, that should be a piece of cake for you so start opening lines of communication to the dems and make nice. YOU need them; they don't need you. And your own party doesn't want to play and they ain't scared o' you!
Trump might start by offering an olive leaf to Mr. Obama. Oh, who am I fooling? He won't apologize. He never apologizes. He doesn't know how. He never takes blame. The failure of repeal and replace proves that. Besides, an apology to Obama over the wiretapping is too little too late. There are consequences for what he did and the die has been cast. The process will have to run its course. It has taken a toll on Trump already. He has lost a lot of cred and is not seen as trustworthy. When he says Obamacare will implode soon, should we believe him?? He lies about everything else, why not this too? And that's the essence of the problem. No one will take him seriously when there is a real national emergency for which prompt action is paramount. He stupidly threw away his political capital in one fell swoop and he has no one to blame but himself. Perhaps Robert Tulip will insist that this is a brilliant ploy of some sort but I think we are well past that now. Trump has cooked his own goose because he just can't stop running his mouth--or should I say his Twitter feed?
Then there is the Russian scandal. Is it real? I have to think it is. Devin Nunes has seemingly ruined his career over it and he may take Paul Ryan with him. This doesn't happen because there is nothing to the accusation. Take Benghazi. Hillary was getting lambasted by it but who threw themselves between her and her antagonizers to protect her? Nobody. Why? Because it was a made up scandal. Even a committee of republicans found her innocent. There was no crime or negligence could be hung on Clinton. There was no necessity for anyone to try and protect her. Yet, here Nunes learns something and goes first to Ryan who tells him to go to Trump and brief him about it. Now both men have to know that Nunes can't go and discuss Russian scandal evidence with the man that's being investigated by the very committee he chairs. On top of that, he spoke to nobody on the committee about it at all. That should be enough to get rid of Ryan and Nunes right there. Don't be surprised if Ryan resigns or is forced out in the coming weeks. Regardless of what Nunes learned--damaging or not--he had no business going to Trump and Ryan had no business telling him to do so. The committee is now tainted and John McCain's demand that this committee shut down and let an independent select committee take over is underway.
Basically, the wheels are coming off the Trump clown mobile. A lot of people are going to get hurt in the ensuing crash. Funny thing is, it's taking a lot longer than I expected.