May 5, 2017

Quack, Quack

Duck:  If it walks like a tax cut and talks like a tax cut, it’s a tax cut. On Thursday House Republicans finally passed Trumpcare,  the Trojan duck of health care insurance.  Trumpcare drastically cuts Medicaid coverage, eliminates payments to Planned Parenthood, a primary provider of women’s health care services, makes insurance for people with preexisting conditions unaffordable and strips insurance of many essential services.  Estimated premium increases for people in states that waive community rating provisions are staggering, from an extra $4,000 for people with asthma to $140,000 for people with cancer. At least twenty-four million people will lose insurance.  In short, Trumpcare is not a healthcare plan.  Trumpcare does do one thing really well, it frees up the Obamacare taxes, which is why Trump has been so desperate to get the legislation passed.  This duck is a tax cut for the top 2% who will get a $300 billion reduction in taxes at the expense of the newly uninsured.  Thursday’s vote was so close that Jason Chaffetz who ran home last week to have foot surgery for an old injury was dragged back to Washington to cast one of the deciding votes. Chaffetz, who plans to make an early exit from Congress, needed to have his surgery while he still had coverage for preexisting conditions. He saw no irony in that. Trump celebrated his legislative victory by busing all the Republican members of Congress who voted yes to the White House for a Rose Garden keg party made up of over age white frat guys and Trump team millionaires where he bragged about his negotiating skills, thanked his team and almost made nice to Paul Ryan.  As the Republicans exited the House, Democrats taunted them with a refrain of “na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye,” their way of saying that some Republicans’ days in Congress would be numbered once their constituents figure out how much they’ve been screwed. To the extent they care, Republicans can find out how many more people will lose insurance under this version of Trumpcare next week when the final Scoring Report is released.  

On to the Senate:  Trumpcare now moves on to the Senate where it is faces an uphill battle.  It will require a drastic revision to stand any chance of passing through the more moderate Senate.  Given the make-up of the Senate, Majority Leader McConnell would have to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats to pass any health care legislation because he can’t rely on the votes of the Tea Party Republicans like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul for anything short of a repeal and more moderate Republicans like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski won’t support the bill as written.  The Democrats might be open to a plan that fixes Obamacare, but it’s hard to believe that they will be on board for anything that cuts services, defunds Planned Parenthood or reduces the number of people covered.  McConnell will now have to expend a lot of time and effort on healthcare when he would much rather be focusing on tax reform or infrastructure funding.             

Those Healthy Australians:  After celebrating his really, really good day Trump hopped a flight to New York for a make-up meeting with Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull followed by a reception on the Intrepid to celebrate the anniversary of a joint US- Australia WW II victory. He bragged about his great Trumpcare victory and then added that though “he shouldn’t say it” Australia has ”better healthcare than we do,” providing great video for an anti-Trumpcare, anti-Republican ad campaign.  Apparently Trump does not know that Australia’s healthcare system consists of both public and private markets, with a publicly funded universal healthcare system working alongside a private one.  Though he passed by Trump Tower today, Trump didn’t go in.  He will be going straight to New Jersey to spend the weekend “working” at his summer golf club in Bedminster.  Trump’s tax plan eliminates deductions for state and local taxes.  Maybe he is avoiding overnight stays in New York so he can take up Florida residency.

Travel Plans:  Thursday morning following his speech to conservative religious leaders Trump announced plans for his first international trip.  Sticking with a religious theme, he will travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Rome where he will meet with the Pope before moving on to a NATO meeting in Brussels and a G7 economic meeting in Sicily.  When he announced his upcoming trip to the Vatican, he turned to two of the country’s most powerful Catholic leaders, referring to them as “my cardinals.” Having just signed an executive order making it easier for religious leaders to support candidates, Trump is already lining up endorsements.     

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  If you plan to celebrate remember to bring proof of citizenship.  No doubt Jefferson Sessions expects the INS guys to work double shifts this weekend.