Government at war with itself?
We clearly believe that the Trump administration is not too worried over the health care reform failure. After all, Trump himself has regularly repeated that the Democrats own Obamacare and he is happy to see it collapse under its own weight. It will give plenty of ammunition against the Democrats in the next campaign season.
But I am equally sure that the Republican failure to pass even a lightweight version of Obamacare Repeal and Replace is not appreciated by the stock market.
The stock market doesn’t feel the same way as the President and his bickering sidekicks in Congress, though. This market has not just banked on getting all of the Trump fiscal pluses in 2017 — it has gambled that they will occur, using margin to capture more of this rally. The market wants a repeal and replace of Obamacare, a reformed tax plan that greatly reduces red tape and tax rates on individual businesses, infrastructure spending, and immigration reform . . . right now!
Well, in less than his first 100 days Trump has failed on immigration reform with two versions of his travel ban struck down by the courts. He has also failed on the simplest of Obamacare Repeal and Replace, one that would eliminate the most egregious of the Democrats' health care penalties and mandates.
The precedent has been quickly set that Trump will not get strong cooperation from his own Republican party in Congress. Our tax code is far more complicated than Obamacare and has carve outs for plenty of special interest groups — groups that have lobbied for years and donated millions of dollars to individual congressional campaigns.
I think the market has finally come to the realization that Trump is battling 100% of the Democrat Congress and perhaps 30% of the Republican Congress to get any of his campaign issues legislatively passed.
It’s probably going to be the same for Tax Reform, which the Trump administration has quickly turned to. In reality, there is a behind-the-scenes strategy to look like the administration is trying its darndest to get something done while in actuality it patiently waits for Obamacare and the economy to achieve collapse and a long overdue recession — something they can blame the Democrats for over and over again, much like Obama blamed the Republicans during all of his term.
It makes sense that a true Obamacare Repeal and Replace (including penalty taxes and mandates) combined with a Tax Reform package that lowers individual and business tax rates combined further with some heavy infrastructure spending — all after the economy has dropped into recession — will work to demonstrably lift the economy and benefit individuals as well as businesses . . .
. . . and perhaps garner even more Republican votes in the next presidential election, possibly giving a filibuster-proof Senate and House by 2020. This is a risky strategy, but it sure looks like this is what the Republican goal has been all along.
Think of the Trump rally since the November election to the beginning of March as nothing more than a honeymoon celebration... that has come to an end.
This administration and much of Congress are willing to let things go down, be it the stock market, the economy, health care, or the financial well-being of families and businesses. It is all about gaining more political power in the next two elections. There is no bipartisanship in our government. To take effective control requires supermajorities of both houses in Congress as well as the Presidency.
Our two political parties are at war with each other, knowing there is nothing they will agree on. This was confirmed as recently as this last weekend when the Democrats publically announced they would filibuster the most highly qualified Neil Gorsuch, candidate for the Supreme Court.
You are watching a power grab in Washington today. Will the electorate have patience with the Republicans they have put in office in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 and give them more rope in 2018 and 2020? Does the public realize that supermajorities are required for change? Or will the voters just become more and more angry?
I am hearing the refrain, “Kick the bums out”, over and over in my mind. The bickering Republicans are walking a tightrope act here.
http://www.outsiderclub.com/a-government-at-war/2269
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