Trump Goes On Tirade Against The House Freedom Caucus Over GOP Health Care Bill


According to reports, the House of Representatives did not vote on the new GOP health care bill that would replace Obamacare on Thursday, with the House Freedom Caucus causing most of the shutdown. Now, President Trump seems to be on a war path. President Trump, along with House Republicans who supported the American Health Care Act, were very upset about the bill not being able to get enough votes. Instead of having an official vote, voting on the bill was delayed.

The idea was that House Republicans could fix the bill so that most people, both moderate and extreme conservatives, would agree to “yes” vote. No one really knew what the Senate planned to do if it passed, but the general consensus was that they would have sent it back down to the House to fix. The Republicans have rushed the new health care bill in Congress, and many Americans hate that they don’t have a say in anything going on.

In fact, support for the new health care bill stands at an extremely low 17 percent due to all the media reports regarding the bill, as well as well official reports from the Congressional Budget Office. However, President Trump knows one faction of the Republicans are to blame, and he called them out on it via Twitter.

President Trump tweeted, “The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!”

Marc Meadows (R-NC) after House fails to pass AHCA [Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]

Trump has also tried to strong-arm the bill through, claiming that if Republicans did not vote this health care bill through, then he would keep Obamacare in place. He even threatened to hurt them politically, saying he will remember the people who voted no when voting time came up for their seats in Congress. And it seems most called his bluff, as the bill has not gotten enough people behind it to put it through.

The House Freedom Caucus seemed to be the major hold-up on the health care bill, which was why Trump seemed to come after them so hard. While they do not have every Republican’s vote, with them on his side, Trump could make sure the GOP health care bill went through. They are the people Trump has to sway, as the bill can only take 21 rejections. Right now, 31 people are against the GOP health care bill. Trump himself seemed to be distancing himself from the bill early on, with Paul Ryan having to pull him into things by saying that Trump worked on the bill too.

Trump has not worked on the GOP healthcare bill and has only had a minor say in some of the things that have been put into it. Right now, the Freedom Caucus has enough votes to block the bill for the Republicans. Democrat votes are not going to shift, so with Republican powers having a majority, this bill can be passed with their full backing. However, no one can seem to agree on anything, the House Freedom Caucus believes the bill is too similar to Obamacare.

[Image by J. Scott Applewhite/AP Images]

Meanwhile, there are moderate conservatives who believe parts of Obamacare need to be in this bill, such as no one being denied health care coverage based on preexisting conditions as well as the essential health care material Obamacare had in it. However, the Freedom Caucus wants to cut both to save money and hopefully lower premium costs.

As far as the Freedom Caucus and Planned Parenthood are concerned, they do not support Planned Parenthood, but they do not support the American Health Care Act either. While the AHCA does pull funding from Planned Parenthood, it does not cut enough out for them to support it. House Speaker Paul Ryan has called Trump the “closer” on the GOP health care bill. However, he has not been able to get the Freedom Caucus on board, and he might not be able to get them to shift.

He did try his latest strong-arm tactic, but most of these guys know how politics work and understand that Trump won’t keep Obamacare in play. This is why no one is budging, as they understand President Trump and what he is attempting to do. They know not replacing the bill hurts him just as much as them, so they’re willing to wait things out until a plan comes along that they like.

[Image by Win McNamee/Getty Images]

President Trump met with the Freedom Caucus multiple times, but he cannot seem to sway them enough. Now that one tactic is not working, he has now decided to discuss the ordeal publicly to try and get the American people on his side.

“After seven horrible years of Obamacare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!” he wrote on Twitter.

Again, the majority of the American people do not support the GOP health care bill either. In fact, the news on the health care bill that makes many worried is that health policy analysts claim that deductibles would rise under the GOP plan and cover few health issues too. On top of this, the CBO predicted premiums would increase for the next two years and may begin to lower afterward.

They also predicted at least 24 million would be without healthcare coverage in the 10 years after this bill is passed compared to the Obamacare system, with some estimates even higher than that. Paul Ryan informed President Trump on Friday that the bill still would not have enough to pass. The Washington Post asked Trump if the bill would be rescheduled, but he said “we just pulled it.” That said, it’ll be interesting to see if Trump and the GOP come back with an entirely new bill or an amended American Health Care Act for a second round in Congress.

[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Images]

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