If you thought Donald Trump had control over Tea Party types, think again. The keepers of the Tea Party flame in Congress are in open revolt against Donald Trump's health plan and it is a house of cards. If health care reform is stalled or stopped entirely, the whole Trump agenda is held up. Here's what is gong down.
Mounting conservative objections
Yesterday House Speaker Paul Ryan promised a quick majority in favor of the plan that its enemies in the House are calling Obamacare lite.
To secure quick passage of the Trump bill, it must be rubber-stamped by the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees. Critics said the expedited process of Ryan and company will equal the speed with which Obamacare was originally passed. Only the chance of corralling assent to the Trump version was becoming more and more remote Wednesday morning.
A boatload of GOP objections
Here are three of most prominent House criticisms of the Trump plan.
1. Some popular mandates like the one to help people with pre-existing conditions are displeasing.
2. The Trump reliance of tax credits, opponents suggest, will exceed the amount they might collect in taxes.
3. Demands on insurers in the Obama bill are retained in the Trump version.
According to the New York Times, opponents of the Trump bill include Club for Growth, Heritage Action for America and Americans for Prosperity. Senator Mike Lee summed up the mood of the growing opposition. “This is not the Obamacare repeal bill we’ve been waiting for.” Lee went on to call it “a missed opportunity and a step in the wrong direction."
Not quite draining the swamp
The deconstruction of Trump appears an appropriate way to look at the conservative wave that may hobble Paul Ryan's effort to pass the Trump health bill at top speed. On Twitter Wednesday morning the President was silent about the two issues that could make his tenure a disaster, his Russia dealings and the fate of his bold pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare. It now appears that both matters are more unresolved than ever,