President Trump may have just started his tour of Asia, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t preparing for his next round of domestic policy proposals. Thus far, the president’s agenda has been stymied by far-left judges, as they’ve nullified executive orders like the temporary ban on immigration from dangerous Muslim nations and ban on transgenders in the military.
Despite this, Trump is pressing on and will continue using his executive powers to enact his conservative agenda. Reports indicate that his next major order will target the much-maligned, signature legislation from Obama’s disastrous presidency–Obamacare.
As reported at the Hill, the White House is preparing an executive order to weaken Obamacare’s individual mandate in the event congressional Republicans don’t include the measure in the tax-reform bill.
In case you forgot, the GOP miserably failed to repeal Obamacare this summer, despite promising they’d do so for the last 8 years. In light of the party’s pathetic showing, Trump will now take the reigns and show the useless clowns in the Republican Party how to get things done.
According to the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, the draft executive order would seek to broaden the “hardship exemptions” to the requirement that taxpayers must demonstrate proof of insurance or pay a fine. As it stands, one of the key features of the healthcare law is that it forces everyone to buy insurance or face a fine. The idea being that more people and their money is needed to balance out the risk pools since pre-existing conditions are no longer a disqualifier from coverage.
Of course, this is a massive affront to personal freedom, as the government is all but forcing people to buy insurance they may not want/need. Targeting this portion of the law would give people greater flexibility to get away with not purchasing healthcare and also eliminate a major component of the law’s funding, thus weakening it overall.
While reports are saying that Trump will go after the individual mandate, right now, the White House is denying that the order even exists. Instead, the Trump administration is saying that changes to the mandate should be done by Congress.
This a smart move by Trump, since now the GOP is aware of the president’s plans. He deliberately threw the ball back in their court, giving them the opportunity to act. It’s a win/win for Trump, because if they do, then great. If they don’t, then he can act on his own and once again point out how pathetic the GOP is at keeping its promises and supporting his agenda, which will then lead conservatives to the voting booth to kick out all the RINO deadwood in 2018.
Momentum is apparently building in the GOP for the inclusion of an individual mandate provision in the tax bill. But there are still many that are to cowardly to consider, as they’re afraid of the potential political fallout.
However, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said over the weekend that repeal of the mandate is being discussed for possible inclusion in the final version of the bill.
“We have an active conversation with our members on a whole host of ideas on things to add to this bill and that’s one of the things being discussed,” Ryan told “Fox News Sunday.”
The repeal of the mandate would save an estimated $400 billion, which can be used as leverage in the tax-cuts debate. Now that Trump has laid his cards on the table, the pressure’s on the GOP. Do they cave to their fear of the liberal press or risk getting primaried in the next election?
Source: Hill