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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsInside the GOP's Health Care Debacle. 18 days that shook the Republican Party & humbled a president
Inside the GOP's Health Care Debacle
Eighteen days that shook the Republican Partyand humbled a president.
By TIM ALBERTA March 24, 2017
Donald Trump had heard enough about policy and process. It was Thursday afternoon and members of the House Freedom Caucus were peppering the president with wonkish concerns about the American Health Care Actthe language that would leave Obamacares essential health benefits in place, the community rating provision that limited what insurers could charge certain patients, and whether the next two steps of Speaker Paul Ryans master plan were even feasiblewhen Trump decided to cut them off.
"Forget about the little shit," Trump said, according to multiple sources in the room. "Let's focus on the big picture here."
The group of roughly 30 House conservatives, gathered around a mammoth, oval-shaped conference table in the Cabinet Room of the White House, exchanged disapproving looks. Trump wanted to emphasize the political ramifications of the bill's defeat; specifically, he said, it would derail his first-term agenda and imperil his prospects for reelection in 2020. The lawmakers nodded and said they understood. And yet they were disturbed by his dismissiveness. For many of the members, the "little shit" meant the policy details that could make or break their support for the billand have far-reaching implications for their constituents and the country.
"Were talking about one-fifth of our economy," a member told me afterward.
Ultimately, the meeting failed to move any votes. Two Freedom Caucus membersBrian Babin and Ted Poe, both of Texastold the president that they had switched to yes, but their decisions had already been registered with White House vote-counters prior to sitting down with Trump. (Their colleagues didn't appreciate the gesture, feeling that Babin and Poe were trying to score points with the president at their expense.) Upon returning to Capitol Hill, the Freedom Caucus gathered in a meeting room inside the Rayburn office building, discussed Trump's admonitions to them and took another vote. The tally had not changed: Of the groups roughly three dozen members, two-thirds remained opposed, with only five or six of those saying they were "soft" in that stance.
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http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/obamacare-vote-paul-ryan-health-care-ahca-replacement-failure-trump-214947
PSPS
(13,604 posts)He can't be humbled since he has no capacity to feel anything but self interest.