“For seven years you promised the American people you would repeal Obamacare. People are hurting and frankly inaction is not an option.”
~ President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump held a luncheon for Senate Republicans on Wednesday and delivered stern remarks toward their failure to reach agreement on repealing or overhauling Obamacare.  President Trump demanded they keep their campaign promises and find a new healthcare approach.

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President Trump told the 49 senators who came to a White House luncheon today they should not leave Washington for a planned August recess until they can find common ground on healthcare and do the job Americans are paying them to do.
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It would appear Mitch McConnell, and the larger congress, just lit the fuse on “the big ugly“.  Winter is coming.

• President Trump has requested all Republican Senators to attend a White House luncheon, held entirely in their honor, tomorrow.  • President Trump has also announced a MAGA rally to be held in Youngstown Ohio, next week.   • Not coincidentally this rally announcement comes on the same day Ohio governor John Kasich writes an op-ed in the New York Times gleefully celebrating the defeat of the senate healthcare reform and  ObamaCare repeal. • HHS Secretary Tom Price is NOT HAPPY.
Oh yeah, the Big Ugly is coming.  President Trump is not a politician.

The failure of congress to pass Obamacare reform means the tax reform agenda for the middle class is now far less likely.  The UniParty Congress know this.  The UniParty Congress is doing the bidding of the lobbyists.
The escalating costs of ObamaCare, specifically because of the Medicaid expansion, means increased tax revenues are needed to pay for the program.  John Kasich, and his crew of like-minded governors (there are eleven) demand their state get more federal dollars.  This means more income tax revenues are needed.  This means no middle-class tax relief.
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Many years ago we accepted the UniParty.  Shortly thereafter CTH broke away from political identity framed around arguments of party and personality; we chose to focus on policy and outcomes.  Washington DC is a singular party, a UniParty. We have been explaining, countering and fighting “The Big Club” in DC for years; always following the money.
President Trump is the first political entity in our lifetime that not only comprehends the faces of the false arguments (the personalities of false choice and controlled opposition), but more importantly sees the architects behind the Potemkin villages represented by those faces. When it comes to domestic economic policy, the architects are the BIG CLUB.
So, what is “The Big Club“?  …What “Deep State” is to intelligence, military intervention and foreign policy – the “BIG CLUB” is to matters of domestic economics…
Politicians do not write laws. Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer do not sit in their offices writing out scripts of laws and legislation; no politician does. Politicians are the faces who sell legislation that unseen hands create. The Big Club represents the hands that actually create legislation; lobbyist hands.
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President Donald Trump expresses strong “disappointment” in the GOP healthcare bill failure:

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As we have said since before last year, the senate will not vote on a ‘repeal only’ bill because: A.) repeal takes 60 votes, and B) there are not even 50 republican votes for a repeal.
Again, as we have said from the beginning, changing the senate rules to a 51 vote threshold for legislative passage is not workable because: A.) it takes 67 senators to agree to change the rule (eliminate the Byrd Rule), and B.) The senate doesn’t want to change the rules.
The GOP have never voted to repeal Obamacare because the GOP doesn’t want to repeal Obamacare.
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President Trump delivers the weekly address surrounding the Senate healthcare bill and subsequent vote to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
Thankfully, President Trump is one of the few voices amid the national healthcare discussion who elevates the conversation beyond the “medicare” quagmire, and actually addresses the concerns from the perspective of those who actually pay for health insurance coverage.

[Transcript] My fellow Americans, Next week, the Senate is going to vote on legislation to save Americans from the Obamacare disaster.
Obamacare has wreaked havoc on American lives, and if we don’t replace it, the calamity will only get worse – and I mean, get worse by a lot.
Here is just one story, representative of so many others.
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President Trump is the first political entity in our lifetime that not only comprehends the faces of the false arguments (the fallacies of false choice), but more importantly sees the administrative architects behind the Potemkin villages represented by those faces. When it comes to domestic economic policies, the architects are the BIG CLUB.
So, what is “The Big Club“?

..What “Deep State” is to intelligence, military intervention and foreign policy – The “BIG CLUB” is to matters of domestic economics…

Politicians do not write laws. Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer do not sit in their offices writing out scripts of laws and legislation; no politician does.  Politicians are faces who sell legislation that unseen hands create. The Big Club are the administrators creating the legislation.
As such, it makes no sense to argue about the salesmanship of Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Ted Cruz or Elizabeth Warren when none are originating the legislative constructs they are selling and branding in the media.
It simply makes much more sense to focus attention on the unseen hands that are never discussed, the administrative state.   These are the roots of the issues, the politicians are merely the expendable and interchangeable sales force.
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Charlie Gard was born healthy 10 months ago, but suffers from a rare genetic condition called mitochondrial depletion syndrome and has serious brain damage. His parents have raised over $1.5 million to fund a trip to the United States for an experimental treatment.

British medical professionals are refusing to allow his parents to remove Charlie from the hospital claiming his condition is terminal and he must remain in the U.k. hospital until he dies. His parents appealed to the courts. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) denied the parents request stating little Charlie was too ill, could not be saved, and must “die with dignity” in the UK.

President Trump has offered assistance to Charlie’s parents: Chris Gard, 32, and Connie Yates, 31.

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It’s challenging to see the sunlight at the end of this complex tunnel, but it’s there. More visible today than a week ago.

White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss the ongoing efforts to reform ObamaCare.  In a very positive shift amid the overall discussion, for the first time the point of the cost on the individual insurance market is brought to the forefront.

CTH readers will note our continuing frustration that 99% of the entire healthcare discussion has centered around medicaid spending, or the state funded subsidy of low-income healthcare coverage.

The vast majority of the most severely impacted people within the discussion, middle-class workers/taxpayers who do not qualify for medicaid, have been essentially locked out of the legislative consideration. It is refreshing to see middle America finally being part of the equation.  Within the Senate bill, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have finally advanced something of value.

The “Consumer Choice Amendment” would allow insurance companies to sell plans that do not follow regulations created under Obamacare, with the caveat that those insurers have to sell at least one plan that adheres to Obamacare’s mandates. The proposal would allow insurers to sell plans with tailored benefits.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price interviewed by Chuck Toad on NBC’s Meet The Prose.

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President Trump meets the swamp people to discuss the making of swamp sausage…

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Again, as with 99.99% of all ObamaCare conversations, the entirety of media discussion  surrounds Medicaid spending, funding, etc.

The middle-class taxpayers’ healthcare interests, those on the individual market, are entirely disconnected from the political discussion by the professional political class.

Frustrating is an understatement.

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