Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Either Way You Look At It, You Lose

Trump told recalcitrant Republicans that if they don’t vote for the yet-again revised version of their healthcare bill, they will lose their seats in 2018.

Trump spent Tuesday selling the Republican health-care overhaul to skeptical House members, warning his party that failure would endanger his legislative agenda and their own political careers.

But more than two dozen GOP lawmakers remained firmly opposed to the legislation amid the high-stakes persuasion campaign led by Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) — more than enough to block the bill ahead of a planned Thursday vote.

[…]

In a morning address to a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, Trump used both charm and admonishment as he made his case, reassuring skittish members that they would gain seats in Congress if the bill passed.

He singled out Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, which has led the right-wing opposition to the bill.

“I’m gonna come after you, but I know I won’t have to, because I know you’ll vote ‘yes,’ ” Trump said, according to several lawmakers who attended the meeting. “Honestly, a loss is not acceptable, folks.”

I’ve got news for you: if you vote to pass this turd of a repeal/replace bill and if 26 million people, a lot of them who are poor and who voted for Trump, lose their health insurance or find out that they got screwed, you’re going to lose, too.

And you right-wingers who are holding out because any kind of help from anyone is a violation of God’s will — don’t you be getting healthcare if Jesus means for you to die — will also find out that there are a lot more people who would rather live than take their chances with Bible-lotto.

I suppose it doesn’t occur to Trump that having him campaign against a GOP candidate in 2018 might actually help them.