In recent years, voters have shifted their views on issues based upon the positions of politicians – even when that shift clashes with their ideology.
Source: Americans on the right and left change their minds after hearing where Trump stands : The Conversation
THE BIG IDEA: President Trump couldn’t kill Obamacare legislatively. So now he’s trying to do so in a court of law, hoping that conservative judges might do what a Republican-controlled Congress would not.
In a triumphant mood on Tuesday, Trump touted the Justice Department’s unexpected request for an appellate court to fully strike down the Affordable Care Act.
“The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care,” he told reporters at the Capitol before lunching with GOP senators. “You watch.”
The reactions to his decision from the political and legal worlds highlighted how elusive Trump’s goal could be.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is preparing to hear an appeal in a case challenging the law’s constitutionality after a district court judge in Texas, Reed O’Connor, ruled in December that the law is null and void because Republicans eliminated penalties for not carrying health insurance as part of their 2017 tax bill. That’s what prompted 20 GOP state attorneys general to file the suit.
This isn’t some dry academic debate. Court watchers say it’s within the realm of possibility that the very conservative 5th Circuit could strike down Obamacare in toto.
“I’ve been a student and a watchdog of the 5th Circuit for upwards of 50 years. I have great respect for the court, but the 5th Circuit can be a very wild card,” said Louisiana State University law professor Paul Baier, noting that it was this court that declared the Gun-Free School Zones Act unconstitutional. “Sometimes the 5th Circuit sticks its judicial neck out. … It certainly will depend on the panel.”
Progressive groups and lawmakers plan to use a Texas judge’s ruling against ObamaCare to jumpstart their push for “Medicare for all” in the next Congress.
Supporters of a single-payer health system are arguing that now is the time to start moving in a new direction from the Affordable Care Act, in part because they feel the 2010 health law will never be safe from Republican attempts to destroy or sabotage it.
“In light of the Republican party’s assault, a version of Medicare for all is necessary for the future,” said Topher Spiro, vice president for health policy at the Center for American Progress. “There are just too many points of vulnerability in the current system.”
The court decision in Texas that invalidates ObamaCare in its entirety came on the heels of sweeping Democratic victories in the midterm elections, a combination that has energized advocates of Medicare for all.
“We need to do everything we can to ensure every single American has access to affordable, quality healthcare. Medicare for all has the potential to do just that as it can reduce the complexity and cost with a single payer health care system,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D- Mich.), co-chair of the Medicare for All Caucus, said in a statement to The Hill.
Yet the effort could very well create divisions within the Democratic Party, as leaders who want to protect and strengthen the health law are reluctant to completely embrace government-run universal health insurance.
In the House and Senate, leading Democrats have said their priorities should be strengthening ObamaCare, rather than fighting over single payer.
Source: ‘Medicare for all’ advocates emboldened by ObamaCare lawsuit | TheHill
President Trump is stepping up his efforts to protect Republicans from Democratic attacks that people with pre-existing conditions will be in danger of losing their health coverage under GOP control of Washington.
The Democratic attacks have been effective and put Republicans on defense following years in which a GOP Congress sought to repeal ObamaCare, which made protections for people with pre-existing conditions a part of U.S. law.
Trump’s first year in office was also focused on repealing ObamaCare, and his administration has supported a lawsuit that would overturn the healthcare law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions, preventing them from being denied coverage or charged more.
Yet on Wednesday, Trump was insisting it was the GOP that would protect pre-existing conditions, and Democrats who would not.
“Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican,” Trump tweeted Wednesday.
Trump offered a similar argument in a tweet last week, stating that “all Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions, and if they don’t, they will after I speak to them.”
At rallies, Trump has been offering a similar argument.
The statements are an effort to fend off a barrage of Democratic attacks in the campaign.
“Poll after poll shows that voters tend to trust a candidate with a D next to their name rather than a candidate with an R next to their name when it comes to the issue,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist.
“They’re trying to get out in front of this to make sure that Democrats don’t effectively land it.”
Democrats pushed back sharply on Trump’s tweet on Wednesday, noting that his policy moves contradict his message.
“Good morning, America. This is a lie,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) tweeted in response to Trump.
“Mr. President, 4 words for you: Drop the lawsuit now,” Schumer added.
He also pointed to comments from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last week. McConnell said Republicans would try again to repeal ObamaCare next year if they have the votes to do it.
“Trump is no longer just lying about health care,” tweeted Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson. “He’s trying to deliberately scam the American people with lies and conspiracy theories to cover up what his party is really trying to do.”
Democrats also seized on new rules the Trump administration put forward just this week, making it easier for states to get waivers from ObamaCare regulations to encourage the use of short-term health insurance plans, which can deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charge them more.
Tom Miller, a health care expert at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said that there are possible alternative ways besides ObamaCare to cover people with pre-existing conditions, such as providing enough funding for high-risk pools.
But he said that the Republican failure to spell out those alternatives had left the party scrambling to say it supports ObamaCare’s protections.
“They’re lurching in the opposite direction, saying ‘I didn’t mean that,’” Miller said. “It’s a phased retreat from where they used to be.”
The Democratic onslaught on the issue, epitomized by an ad from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) showing himself shooting the anti-ObamaCare lawsuit with a gun, continued on Wednesday.
Source: Trump fights uphill GOP battle on pre-existing conditions | TheHill
Donald Trump and supporters. Source: Quartz
When Donald Trump ran for President, it was on an economic populist platform that, in many ways, put him well to the left of Hillary Clinton and of any Republican since Richard Nixon.
Most of what he promised would have been politically popular, economically feasible and beneficial to American working people—although not necessarily politically feasible. But none of it was done or even seriously attempted.
Jonathan Chait last week wrote about Trump’s broken promises for New York magazine. Here’s a short list of Trump promises:
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One of the most astounding things about the campaign and presidency of Donald Trump has been the resilience of his supporters despite the President’s outrages, insults, flip-flopping, backflip-flopping, and lack of policy accomplishments, essentially defying the conventional political calculus. Trump is truly the “Teflon Don”. Much of that is because Trump has an enormous propaganda machine behind him and knows how to play the media like a fiddle. It is also indicative of how limited the conventional political calculus has become.
But it looks like political reality is finally going to catch up to Trump. Trump’s campaign promise to renegotiate all these “bad” trade deals was music to the ears of the manufacturing base in the Midwest and allowed him to make inroads in the traditional Democratic strongholds of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania as well as swing states like North Carolina and squeak by with an Electoral College victory. His promise to repeal and replace Obamacare appealed to those with high insurance premiums, many of whom probably didn’t even know whether they were covered by the ACA or not. And his promise to build a border wall had enormous appeal to white nationalists afraid of the rising power of minority populations in this country as well as to the white Christian evangelical community.
Yet, well over one year into his Presidency, his major accomplishment has been the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to Merrick Garland’s stolen seat on the Supreme Court, a result that primarily only has appeal to his evangelical supporters. The tax cut has
Source: Political Reality May Finally Be Catching Up To Trump : Daily Ko
What is the first thing you would do if you won the lottery? For Donald Savastano, a 51-year-old carpenter who won $1m in the New York lottery a few weeks ago, it was to go to the doctor. Savastano had been feeling ill for ages but, as he didn’t have health insurance, he hadn’t been able to afford a doctor’s appointment. Following his win, however, he could splurge on luxuries such as healthcare! So, Savastano went for a checkup. It turned out he had stage four cancer and he died shortly after.
Even if you don’t have any medical issues, healthcare can be a constant source of worry. I am middle-class and healthy, but, as a freelancer, I can barely afford health insurance in the US. I spend $480 (£345) a month on one of the cheapest healthcare options available. There is a $7,350 (£5,825) deductible, which means that I must pay all my medical expenses until I have spent that amount. If I actually had any health problems, my premiums would be much higher. I do not exaggerate when I say I miss the NHS every day.
Despite the sick state of their health system, many Americans seem to labour under the delusion think that privatised medicine is inherently superior to publicly funded health care. For years, the NHS has been used by conservative Americans as a cautionary tale of “socialised” medicine. When Obama was attempting to widen access to healthcare via the Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as Obamacare) in 2009, rightwing US groups spent millions of dollars on ads that painted Brits as “trapped” by an evil NHS.
Today, with Trump in the White House, rightwing Americans are seizing upon the
Source: I miss the NHS every day – Trump is wrong to demonise British healthcare | Arwa Mahdawi : The Guardian
President Donald Trump just who does he represent and is he governing for all Americans. From the views he campaigned on you would feel he was there for the oppressed Americans who voted for him and believed in him and many of whom still do.
But many of the policies which he is trying to bring into force appear to be, in the main, for the benefit of the rich in America, both individuals and corporations.
This appears, certainly in the case of health care, ‘Trumpcare’ has failed to progress on a number of occasions and if it did succeed could well not provide health care for those in most need, if you take into account all the rhetoric.
However, Trump still wishes to stop ‘Obamacare’, in anyway possible to make it fail, thereby taking much needed health care away from those in most need.
How can he believe he is doing all he can for all the people of America.
Seething Donald Trump threw a massive strop about his failed plan to scrap Obamacare, and threatened to deliberately destabilise the healthcare system for millions of Americans.
President Trump, who is under criminal investigation for obstruction of justice, suffered a humiliating defeat on Friday, after Democrats and Republican rebels scuppered his plan to axe Obamacare.
And while his tweets in the hours following the crunch vote lacked Trump’s usual vigour, he returned to the social network last night with renewed fury.
He has previously threatened to “let Obamacare implode” if he can’t scrap it in Congress – and it looks like he plans to give it a helping hand.
He tweeted: “After seven years of “talking” Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare!
“If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members…
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The Senate bill is easy to summarize: It cuts health spending and uses the savings to finance large tax cuts for wealthy Americans and medical companies.
Source: Inside the Health Care Bill: Trump Wanted ‘Heart.’ He Didn’t Get It – NBC News
I woke up one morning thinking of her and cried. I knew something was wrong. Still too stubborn to call her, I called my auntie and learned that my mother was scheduled for a biopsy because of a sizable lump in her breast. Soul connected.
I ran home to my mama. I booked a one-way flight to New Orleans, told my job that I wouldn’t be back until I knew she was ok and that they could do whatever they needed to in response. Thankfully, my board picked up the slack until I could return.
By the time my mama was diagnosed with breast cancer, I could see the lump in her breast without touching it. Like a lot of poor people, she waited until she was in significant pain before seeing a doctor. She’d never had stable health insurance before Obamacare so she always worried too much about cost.
Thanks to Obamacare she was able to stop worrying about the cost of her healthcare and focus on healing her body.
And she and I connected like never before. I stood by her side through numerous appointments. I used all the middle class lessons I’d learned since leaving home and advocated on her behalf for better care, shorter waits, more detailed information. I stood next to her every moment I could, and when doctors insisted that I needed t
Source: Without Obamacare we could have been saying goodbye:Daily Kos
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