According to The Washington Post this morning, Donald Trump will not attempt to get Congress to pass legislation on healthcare — including changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) — until after the 2020 elections.
The clearly-delusional president said that he believes that in 2020 he will be reelected, and Republicans will control both the House and the Senate. And, according to him, that will make it easy for him to pass a “really great healthcare plan.”
Even though Trump believes that he can eliminate a discussion of healthcare from the 2020 campaign, that is simply not true. The majority of American voters believe that healthcare should be one of the main issues addressed by the federal government right now.
And, of course, Democratic candidates in 2020 have promised to keep the healthcare issue at the forefront of voters’ minds from now until election day, which is November 3, 2020.
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“Everybody agrees that ObamaCare doesn’t work. Premiums & deductibles are far too high – Really bad HealthCare! Even the Dems want to replace it, but with Medicare for all, which would cause 180 million Americans to lose their beloved private health insurance,” the president tweeted.
“The Republicans … are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare,” Trump continued. “In other words it will be far less expensive & much more usable than ObamaCare. Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win … back the House.”
Trump’s empty promises came just a few days after his Justice Department endorsed a federal court ruling to eliminate the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. He apparently wants to completely invalidate the landmark health care law — which as been growing in popularity — despite objections from within his own party.
Republicans in Congress want to avoid the appearance that they plan to take away healthcare from 20 million Americans. Even members of Trump’s cabinet — Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General William Barr — are opposed to the Justice Department’s position in the federal case.
The recent ruling by District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas said that the Obamacare statute, which has been approved by the Supreme Court, was actually wholly unconstitutional.
Trump Is Living in a Fantasy World
Through his deluded late-night tweets Donald Trump has once again shown us that he is living in a fantasy world. He doesn’t seem to realize that very few people believe him or anyone else in the Republican Party when they make healthcare promises.
If Republicans do nothing about healthcare during the 2020 campaign they will be giving Democrats a golden opportunity to “own” the healthcare issue. And own it they will — and it will help them to historically large victories when election day 2020 rolls around.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
