When it comes to Obamacare, we know it has been an abysmal failure, except in one area; it has revived the call for a government-run, single-payer healthcare system–the stated goal from the very beginning of Obamacare–which is an idea Trump supports.
We also know that ever since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, that Republicans have used a promise to repeal it “root and branch” as to fill their campaign coffers in order to win the next election.
If you are a regular reader or listener of The Strident Conservative, you know that we’ve covered the repeal of Obamacare quite a bit. You’ve learned how many of the ideas included in Trump’s solution to Obamacare are very much like the law he claims it will replace—similarities so stark that Trumpcare is called Obamacare 2.0. And you’ve also learned about the “fake” repeal plans being offered by the Repeal In Name Only Republicans.
Further evidence of Congress’ capitulation regarding repeal was recently revealed by Ken Cuccinelli, President of the Senate Conservatives Fund in a letter to Trump where he warned the president to avoid Speaker Paul Ryan’s Obamacare replacement plan—a plan he refers to as Ryancare.
“Paul Ryan is essentially putting in place a new entitlement in place of Obamacare. You can call it a massive expansion of Medicaid, or you can just call it an entirely new entitlement program where they’re going to give out money to people not paying their taxes more than we’re already doing and to covered the so-called transition from Obamacare, but it never goes away.”
I hope Cuccinelli’s letter works, but I doubt it. Trump’s first budget proposal indicates that he’s not going to touch entitlement spending–even though it represents over 60% of the budget–so the creation of a new entitlement isn’t likely to sway him one way or the other.
When you add Trump’s lackadaisical attitude about entitlement spending to Trumpcare (Obamacare 2.0), I think it’s more likely than not that Trump will be very open to Ryancare.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com.
His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.
