Trump: The First Year

Happen to have a link to the bill’s main points?

I’ve seen nothing comprehensive at all. My impression is not many people know what’s in the bill. I’ve seen reports that a great many things are potentially considered “pre-existing” conditions (e.g. pregnancy, lol). CBO hasn’t scored this and probably won’t until next week while Congress is in recess.

I read it can’t pass in the Senate in its current form, but for many, that may be the point or beside the point - conservative House members don’t care, they get to tell constituents they voted for repeal (as promised) and the Senate killed their efforts, so, hey, go yell at your Senator, not me.

Yeah, based on what I’ve read, there’s no way in hell it’ll pass as is. The high-risk pool funding is a drop in the bucket at $8B, $880B in Medicaid cuts, and the premium cap for seniors is now 5x that of young, healthy participants where it was 2x under the ACA. Interested to see the CBO score.

And, candidly, what you just wrote about the bill proves you likely have more knowledge of what’s in the bill than a number of Congressmen who voted for it. The same party that derided Pelosi’s “pass it to see what’s in it”, insisted on legislation requiring a three-day “hold” before it can be passed so there’s to time read it, and champion the need for CBO to score bills before putting them up for a vote just gave us this cramdown without an ounce of irony.

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When is your next DNC precinct meeting?
:smiling_imp:

I keep telling you the GOP is 2 parties, just waiting split.
This probably true in Dem side also, but they seem to hold it together against the great Satan GOP.

I’m sure there’s plenty of fracturing among the dems but, as they say, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Whether they can continue to hold it together is a whole other story.

There have been no hearings, no studies, no Congressional Budget Office analysis; not even the text of a bill circulated the day before Thursday’s vote.

The heart of the bill is the same one that was polling at under 20 percent and failed two months ago: a near-trillion dollar tax cut for wealthy investors, financed by cuts to insurance subsidies for the poor and middle class. They have added a series of hazily defined changes: waivers for states to allow insurers to charge higher rates to people with preexisting conditions and to avoid covering essential health benefits, and a pitifully small amount of money to finance high-risk pools for sick patients.

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Principle, not party, Treco. :slight_smile:

I think you’re right about the party splits. There’s a realignment coming. There’s no way these parties can hold with the current fissures.

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There are going to be some real testy town halls next week for the GOP members who voted for this.

I started a 3rd Party thread last(?) year with a postulation of of a centrist party composed of the McCains and Manchins. It never really got any discussion going.

Imo, the current system is structured to keep a 2 party system in place against any greater number. I have read that 2 party is integral to keeping the republican system from disintegrating into a parliamentary type of government.

2 thoughts - I can see how cobbling together a coalition to rule and sudden calls for a new government are screwy, but not sure other advantages or disadvantages ( Google doesn’t broadcast way out here,)

The other is that I could only see a large centrist party as breaking the Trust of the current system. NO other players have measured up in the long term.

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I’d be all for some form of a Moderate committee or something acknowledging the extremes on both sides are driving the conversation. No idea how it would work or what form it would take, but I agree, there are fissures in both parties.

Edit: I see treco more or less said something similar above

I love that the GOP house and senate are now being forced to play hot potato with “who shit the bed.” Normally this would upset me, but since fiscal conservatism doesn’t seem to exist anymore, I’ve run out of things to align myself with when looking at the right.

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If Trump doesn’t build a wall he’s Done.

Check out how this fencing effected one towns safety after it was built

With border crossings down (40%? 70%?) after just some strong words, is a wall still necessary?

I’m really surprised by how effective the President has already been in limiting illegal entry. I don’t believe a wall would reduce crossings by as much as the the Don’t Come! message already has.

Maybe it’s not “Mission Accomplished” yet. But dramatic progress and billions saved without the headache of building a wall seems like win/win to me.

What happens when illegals realize it’s a bluff? Do they stop coming over because of big bad Trump?

Also @therajraj is dead on. His constituents will forgive most of his other lies and flip flops, there will hell to pay if he adds “no wall” to his list of failures

And on the plus side, no wall means another checkbox on the “See… Trump isn’t as bad as you thought” list for his non-supporters. I thought it was a bad idea, there is a ton of other more effective stuff. Let them all come over and when they find out they can’t do anything without legal status they will go back. Making them want to leave voluntarily is far more effective than securing the border.

I sure hope they hold it together. They will be severely punished in the mid-terms.

Let me rewrite this. If Trump has not begun work on the wall prior to his reelection he is done.