Congress has been a big problem to President Trump. But he has time to change things around
For President Donald Trump his most frustrating part of his first 100 days in office had to be working with Congress and dealing with the courts on two of his executive orders. Those two areas proved to be tough for President Trump to handle as those 100 days ticked away.
1.The promise to on day one to rid the country of Obamacare has been a crushing loss for President Trump and his fellow Republicans. In the past seven years they have voted over 60 times to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act.
But President Trump found out that despite having a majority in the House, enough to pass anything he wants there were still problems.
He is dealing with a weak Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) who has a fractured caucus. He failed three times to get the 218 votes needed for the Obamacare repeal and replacement bill.
President Trump and his fellow Republicans found out that there were at least three and maybe even four key parts of Obamacare that even they did not want to repeal.
Preexisting conditions, allowing kids to stay on their parents plans until the age of 26 and protection for senior citizens to keep health insurance premiums low are all expected to be kept. There also seems be a number of moderate Republicans who want to keep Medicare from being crushed by the ultra conservative Freedom Caucus.
Moderate Republican’s coming from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and California were not pleased with how the Conservative Freedom Caucus hijacked the repeal and replacement legislation.
They do not want to be a part of a bad bill that will be dead on arrival at the Senate and then they could be primaried in 2018, just like the Democrats were in 2010 after they voted for Obamacare.
So, while something might make it out of the House, it will never repeal, no will it replace Obamacare.
2.Immigration reform is at least at the moment tied up in the courts. President Trump saw his Travel Ban as well as his attempt at doing away Sanctuary City’s, both stopped in the courts at least until the appeals go through and perhaps they end up in the Supreme Court.
3. So, another part of immigration is tied to the funding for building the boarder wall between the United States and Mexico. Again, something that candidate Trump made the cornerstone of his campaign.
Both Conservative Republicans and the entire Democratic Party is against the funding. It is not likely to be addressed this year and over time it is very sketchy that the GOP hard right will support the building of the wall.
4. Tax Reform is a key part of the Trump agenda and again there seems to be a long way to go before things are resolved. You really can’t talk tax reform, or budget for that matter until you have healthcare settled. It accounts for one sixth of the nation’s economy, so has to be some cost certainty there before the tax issue can be addressed.
5. Lastly, President Trump wanted to Drain the Swamp. Go to Washington and rid the government of special interest groups and influencer’s. Meanwhile, President Trump has hired former Goldman Sachs executives than any president in history. He has two members including Steve Bannon, in his inner circle that were former Goldman Sachs executives. He did ban appointees of any executive agency from lobbying for five years after leaving government employment and permanently banned future former appointees from activity on behalf of any government or political party abroad.
Thus far President Trump has been less effective in the House and the Senate getting things done. He will need to do much better in the future if he wants his programs to see the light of day.
