A split has emerged among Trump's top advisers. It could have major repercussions.
By Greg Sargent February 27 at 10:00 AM
As your humble blogger has argued, there is a risk that President Trump may sell out his working-class, white base by going along with congressional Republicans who want to cut deeply into safety net programs that benefit those voters including the Affordable Care Act. This, even though Trump repeatedly signaled to those voters that he is not an ideological conservative on economic issues that matter to them.
But now The Post has some important new reporting that suggests a split has opened up among top Trump advisers around this very topic. Some of them appear to be balking at such a course of action and its telling that one of them is Stephen K. Bannon, because he is the keeper of the eternal flame of Trump populism.
The Post piece, from reporters Juliet Eilperin and Amy Goldstein, notes that top White House advisers are divided on how far Republicans should go in repealing and replacing the ACA. One key point of disagreement centers on the Medicaid expansion, which would be repealed under the GOP measure, doing away with it as an entitlement and instead restricting funding via a per capita or block grant arrangement.
Conservatives inside the administration want to forge ahead with aggressive repeal-and-replace, but others are wary of the political dangers of doing so, particularly when it comes to Medicaid:
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/02/27/a-split-has-emerged-among-top-trump-advisers-it-could-have-major-repercussions/?utm_term=.4b00804cc47a&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1
LovinBlueInKY
(9 posts)As someone with a severely disabled child dependent on a program in Medicaid, it is a disaster either way. Personally, my family will be devestated by turning Medicaid into block grants. I guarantee my state will find a way to deny my daughter benefits. My Governor is a devout Trumpite.
Delphinus
(11,842 posts)czarjak
(11,301 posts)Tails they win?
pfitz59
(10,400 posts)I think the argument is covert versus overt. The aim is the same..