After promising throughout the entire presidential campaign that he would repeal and replace the ACA as soon as he took the oath of office, Trump conceded defeat. Paul Ryan who had been salivating for seven years at the prospect of turning his own vision of the United States into reality conceded defeat. Many years in the past, Otto von Bismarck said that law making was like making sausages because it was better not to see either one made, but we the people were lucky that we saw this debacle.
Trump admitted: “Now, I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex
subject. Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated.” But everyone except Trump seems to have known that it was "unbelievably complex". In the end, the bill was such a pile of sausage that we are lucky it got pulled. That doesn't mean that what we are left with is in any way perfect but it seems unlikely that Trump or his minions will do anything to fix it.
I am old enough to remember when Trump in essence extorted money from the city of New York back in the 70's because he was such an inept business man. His perceived ability to make deals was always based on getting someone else to pay for his ego and his mistakes. The people the rejected plan would have hurt the most were the very ones who voted for him. Unfortunately they don't seem to understand that they would have been left with nothing at all.
Now Trump says he is ready to tackle tax reform. Given the nature of his proposed budget, that too will be a painful process to watch but watch it we must.
No comments:
Post a Comment