Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Jonathan Easley — Tea Party leader: Trump risks losing base over healthcare push

President Trump’s push to pass the GOP healthcare bill risks alienating his base of grassroots conservative supporters, Tea Party leader Mark Meckler told The Hill on Tuesday.

Conservative activists have so far directed their ire at Speaker Paul Ryan(R-Wis.). Unhappy with legislation they see as a half-measure, they’ve dubbed the bill “RINO-Care,” a reference to “Republicans in Name Only.” But activists have stayed away from attacks against Trump, even as the White House whips support for the bill.

Meckler says that could soon change....
“If the grassroots don't see some aggressive moves soon on his part to push for full repeal, the honeymoon will come to a very quick and harsh end. I'm already hearing the rumblings.”
“The grassroots fuse is short on this stuff,” Meckler continued. “We are used to being betrayed by politicians. So that's what we expect. If Trump starts looking like a politician in that regard, his support from all but the most rabid supporters will quickly dry up.…
The top issues for conservatives polled by Meckler’s group are appointing Constitutionalists to the courts, repealing and replacing ObamaCare, making the military stronger, passing tax reform and rolling back Obama’s regulatory actions.... 
The Hill
Tea Party leader: Trump risks losing base over healthcare push
Jonathan Easley

4 comments:

Noah Way said...

You gotta love it when Koch brothers Tea Party guys call themselves "grass roots".

http://time.com/secret-origins-of-the-tea-party/

Dan Lynch said...

The Tea Party's candidate (Ted Cruz) did not win the election. Trump campaigned on universal health care, that's what people voted for, so I don't see why Trump should feel obligated to kowtow to the Tea Party.

There are only so many ways you can do for-profit health insurance and all of them require some kind of mandate. The mandate seems to be the most unpopular aspect of O-Care. The deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses the 2nd most unpopular.

The only non-mandate way I can come up with to make private insurance work would be if Uncle Sam picked up 100% of the tab. To control costs, rather than having the existing system of individuals shopping around for insurance in small, non-competitive markets, Uncle Sam would solicit bids for a standardized insurance package and the winning bidder would get the contract for the entire nation. That would maintain the competition and free enterprise that conservatives love, create a large diverse pool that insurance companies love, and give us folks health care. The contract could be re-bid every year, or every few years, to keep the provider on its toes.

Does such a plan make any economic sense? No, but it makes political sense.

lastgreek said...

I just find it odd that Trump's man Mulvaney was up-and-at-them early this morning defending the plan and knocking the CBO's dire warnings.

Matt Franko said...

He's not knocking the cbo other than the cbo assertion many will be uninsured