January 20th, 2016. This is the day that Donald J. Trump became the 45th president of the United States of America. For at least two years, President Trump will have a party majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, along with a majority in the Supreme Court, giving him and the Republicans incredible power in the Government.
One of the tasks on the forefront of Washington Republicans minds is repealing the Affordable Care Act, and, according to them, eventually replacing it. They have made it clear that what is currently implemented must go but have also expressed that they have no plan as to what to replace it with at the moment. Is that true or simply a political ploy? I will argue the latter.
Ever since "Obamacare" was signed into law in March of 2010, Republicans have been looking for ways to get rid of it and replace it with their own version. That was almost seven years ago. If Republicans couldn't think of a solution in seven years, what makes us so sure they can in the few months following the repeal of Obamacare? They seem pretty sure they can come up with a plan quickly and I have a hypothesis for why.
I think that Republicans already know the basic idea of what they will do, but they will not share it in order to gain political leverage. Once they repeal the ACA, which is bound to happen, 18 million Americans could lose health insurance. That will leave Democrats in disarray and looking for any way re-insure those Americans. This is where the Republican Party's smart political move comes into play.
After repealing Obamacare, the Republicans will introduce their plan and force the Democrats to pass it quickly through Congress to help citizens in need of healthcare. If Democrats filibuster or slow the process, they look like the bad guys who don't want Americans to be insured. If Republicans had attempted to repeal and replace at the same time, they would not have as much support for their version as Democrats would not be as pressured to pass the new bill. Once people are uninsured, the Democrats will have their hand forced.
What the Republicans are doing is dishonest, but it also extremely smart. They are ensuring their bill will have increased support from Democrats since the alternative is no health insurance at all. While I do not agree with this move, I think it is smart and savvy and the kind of things that Democrats must learn from in order to succeed going forward.
