JLF Vice President for Research and Director of Education Studies has has already cited a John Hood column today, but at the risk of piling on or being an apple-polisher, I’ll cite yesterday’s column on the courage it takes to shrink government because it says something so basic yet at the same something that’s not said enough, if hardly at all, at least in my opinion:
If Republicans can’t manage to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — which was mostly about expanding Medicaid, not creating private insurance exchanges — then it’s hard to see how they’ll ever be serious about the measures, such as means-testing pension and Medicare benefits, that will be needed to balance federal budgets in the long run.
Medicaid is the reason why many Republicans–especially those from states with GOP governors who accepted Medicaid expansion–are tiptoeing around repeal and replacement. More disturbing to me is the fact that President Trump doesn’t seem to grasp the issue, as evidenced by his statement that he “has pen in hand” ready to sign whatever the Republicans can muster–if it’s anything at all.
