Posted on 03/26/2017 1:11:20 PM PDT by Mariner
Fresh off a defeat on U.S. healthcare legislation, the White House warned rebellious conservative lawmakers that they should get behind President Donald Trump's agenda or he may bypass them on future legislative fights, including tax reform.
The threat by White House chief of staff Reince Priebus to build a broad coalition on tax reform that could include moderate Democrats came as the Republican head of the tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives said he hoped to move a tax bill through his panel this spring.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said his committee had been working on tax reform in parallel with the failed healthcare reform push.
"We've never stopped working," Brady told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo." "We will continue to make improvements."
Brady said the committee plans to move on the bill in the spring. He said he wanted the House blueprint to be the basis for Trump's tax reform plan rather than have competing versions from Treasury and the White House.
Both Trump and Priebus have scolded hardline conservatives who rejected legislation backed by the White House to overhaul Obamacare.
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Priebus held out the possibility of working with moderate Democrats as well as Republicans to pass other aspects of Trump's agenda, such as his proposed budget, the revamp of the tax code and a renewed effort at healthcare reform.
"If we can come up with a bill that accomplishes the goals of the president with Republicans alone, we'll take it and we'll move forward with it," Priebus said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
2. Modify existing law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines. As long as the plan purchased complies with state requirements, any vendor ought to be able to offer insurance in any state. By allowing full competition in this market, insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up.
3. Allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system. Businesses are allowed to take these deductions so why wouldn’t Congress allow individuals the same exemptions? As we allow the free market to provide insurance coverage opportunities to companies and individuals, we must also make sure that no one slips through the cracks simply because they cannot afford insurance. We must review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure that those who want healthcare coverage can have it.
4. Allow individuals to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Contributions into HSAs should be tax-free and should be allowed to accumulate. These accounts would become part of the estate of the individual and could be passed on to heirs without fear of any death penalty. These plans should be particularly attractive to young people who are healthy and can afford high-deductible insurance plans. These funds can be used by any member of a family without penalty. The flexibility and security provided by HSAs will be of great benefit to all who participate.
5. Require price transparency from all healthcare providers, especially doctors and healthcare organizations like clinics and hospitals. Individuals should be able to shop to find the best prices for procedures, exams or any other medical-related procedure.
6. Block-grant Medicaid to the states. Nearly every state already offers benefits beyond what is required in the current Medicaid structure. The state governments know their people best and can manage the administration of Medicaid far better without federal overhead. States will have the incentives to seek out and eliminate fraud, waste and abuse to preserve our precious resources.
7. Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products. Congress will need the courage to step away from the special interests and do what is right for America. Though the pharmaceutical industry is in the private sector, drug companies provide a public service. Allowing consumers access to imported, safe and dependable drugs from overseas will bring more options to consumers.
The Freedom Caucus has been very vocal in thier opposition They are 30 votes. To the best of my knowledge they offered no solutions. They had 8 years to fix this. Instead they grandstanded. We gave them the majority and they screwed us again. Wait until Obamacare premiums increase 75%. These dummies are dead men walking.
The good news is once they get thier collected butts thrown out and the Dems take over the house, they will have the same crap insurance as the rest of us.
I voted for Donald J. Trump because I could stand behind everything you've posted there -- even if I didn't agree with it 100%.
The AHCA that President Trump ended up supporting had almost nothing in common with those seven items ... which is probably why they were removed from his website.
I don't reflexively support the Freedom Caucus, but on this one they were absolutely right to stand their ground. If anyone did any "backstabbing" here, who was it?
The Freedom Caucus members are unlikely to lose their seats. Any losses for the GOP in 2018 are likely to come from the Tuesday Group.
I was discussing this with my father in law over breakfast.
We decided that if you gave Trump a 20 question quiz on what was in this beautiful bill, he may have gotten 4 correct.
This is the danger of electing a “businessman” in general and THIS businessman in particular. He’s used to saying to his legal team, “Clear up the title issues on that lot by April 1” and his operations team “We go live on April 15” and his PR team, “Let me do the PR because that’s what I’m best at....” And in real estate, he could wing it if he had to.
The president can’t just give orders to different silos and expect everyone to do what he says.
Yup, I couldn't find this punch list at his website. I had to look elsewhere. Hmmm.
Trump is not going to lose the coalition that elected him.
However, the issue is that coalition didn’t elect anyone else. Paul Ryan could probably pee on Trump and still get 55 percent in his district. If Trump gave a national address demanding that Ryan stepped down, Ryan would probably remain Speaker.
The people talking about “Cantorizing” Ryan don’t seem to get that the ones who did the Cantorizing is the Freedoman Caucus.
We need to start thinking of Trump as an independent with Republican fiscal leanings more than a Republican. It will make things easier.
See Post #241. Why would you criticize the Freedom Caucus for demanding a House bill that had at least 10% of what was listed in the health care plan Donald Trump himself proposed as a candidate in 2016?
I’ve supported Donald Trump since he got in the race, and I have defended him and continue to defend him. And there are a LOT of parties out there on both sides that would love to discredit Trump with his base, and I don’t want to give them fodder.
But *IF* this is true and Trump plans to work with Democrats over the Freedom Caucus (which somehow finally managed to find its balls for almost the very first time last week [remember, they all voted for Paul Ryan as Speaker previously] ), then I am going to start questioning this Trump administration seriously.
I’m not saying this is true and taking the bait until I’ve had a chance to fully understand the role of Preibus in the White House. However, this has the feeling of something very bad.
I really hope Trump would attempt again to reach out to Conservatives, who’s concerns about the bill were ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED.
If Trump really plans to work with Democrats over the objection of conservatives, 1.) its not going to work, and 2.) Trump might be surprised to realize how much of his grass roots support comes from Conservatives who are bucking their intelligensia counterparts in the elite to support him.
Now granted, it took a lot of time for the Freedom Caucus to finally find its balls, but it has it seems, and Trump should be using that instead of becoming Establishmentized himself. Ok that’s it. Flame away.
Agreed—we’re the ones who beought Trump to the dance—but he and his liberal Democrat “senior advisor” children don’t want to dance with us. I swear Ivanka is deluded onto thinking she could be elected as a Demicrat president—if only her daddy will enact enough Democrat policies for her!
This is MSM propaganda trying to link tax legislation to health care legislation which are totally different beasts. Don't fall for it.
Decreasing income tax rates increases government revenues.
Define Conservative.
Define Conservative.
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A person who campaigned to repeal Obamacare (And not in phases!).
On this issue, Trump never even pretended to be on the conservative side. He even openly blasted conservatives from the campaign podium. I don’t disagree with your assessment of the bill that was put forward, but your pretending President Trump’s own fingerprints weren’t all over it is absurd. If anything he was forced partially to the right on this...he proclaimed that it was government’s job to “take of everybody” and conservatives were just going to have get used to it. Those words came straight out of his mouth...so why act surprised and put all of the blame on Ryan like the President was hoodwinked? And President Trump is the one openly blasting conservative members of Congress and conservative organizations for not supporting the bill. You don’t even acknowledge this as part of the equation for how people are reacting.
As you know I’ve never been a big Trump fan - but - if he continues to appoint conservative judges, and so far he has, he will have kept enough of his promises. But this issue is one of the big reasons I was against him in the primary...saying it was the government’s job to take care of everybody and blasting conservatives “We’ve got to take care of everybody - get used to it, conservatives!” was not exactly a line indicating he is in line with conservative ideology and not a line making me inclined to support him - if he’s openly going to attack conservatives and what they stand for that is not appealing. However, his supporters in the crowd cheered the line.
First off, did you read the bill or are you quoting figures you found in the main stream press? The very press that lies to you daily. Secondly, this bill is to repair Obamacare for 2017. It only requires 51 votes in the Senate. Regulations could be changed through executive action. Effectively, Obamacare would be dead. Phase 3 would have been repeal of the remaining law.
But, now we are stuck with Obamacare because some never yes “Conservatives” could see past thier ideology. My rep included. Now he will likely be gone and some tree hugging lib will take his place. I hope the self inflicted wound he recieved doesn’t hurt to much when he has to pay his premiums.
A person who campaigned to repeal Obamacare (And not in phases!).
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Only way to do it is in phases. This is the problem with many, they simply are asking for the impossible from Trump. He has the MSM, Dems, Deep State, Globalists, all after him. And it’s the FC who did him dirty at the msot critical time
Yes, trump lost the popular vote; guess what? The Republicans did NOT. Republicans outpolled Trump in every district and in every statewide election that Trump won. They also won districts that Trump did not win.
Chew on that for a second.
The claim that Trump did the best that any Republican could have done is one that I simply don't accept; not because it is or isn't true, but because we have no way of knowing that. It is a theory pinned to no experimental evidence whatsoever. Trump was the guy we ran with. He won. That's all we know. I voted for him. But I'm not going to blindly support him, and the FC shouldn't have either.
As for "getting $hit done." If it's $hit, I don't want it to be done. It's pretty simple, really. This isn't a basketball game. Being a "winner" means nothing if you're "winning" by doing the things Democrats want to do. Trump may think getting any bill means he'd have "won" but he isn't just Donald Trump anymore. He's now a man who took an oath to support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. And any time a President signs a bill that violates that oath, he hasn't "won." I don't care how "pragmatic" or "non-ideological" you are.
Only way to do it is in phases. This is the problem with many, they simply are asking for the impossible from Trump. He has the MSM, Dems, Deep State, Globalists, all after him. And it’s the FC who did him dirty at the msot critical time
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Two points:
1) Trump never once mentioned “phases” and you know it! As I recall, he was saying “on day one...”
2) The only people who did him dirty were Paul Ryan and the rest of the GOPe moderates!
Absolutely pathetic you had NO condemnation for Ryan, but rather the FC. It appears Trump is beginning to do us dirty!
Trump had a big mouth during the campaign...nobody told him to beat the REPEAL drum at EVERY RALLY!
If that were true I’d be happy to do it. That is probably not true though. More Jobs, better paying jobs could easily equate to more tax revenue
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