So hard to build. So easy to destroy.

[Cyrano]

The Democratic Party spent much of the 20th Century attempting to create a health care program for all Americans.

FDR tried it. He passed Social Security, unemployment insurance, and so much more.

JFK tried it, but he was murdered before he could do it.

Lynden Johnson tried it. He passed Medicare, Medicaid, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and so much more.

Finally, Barack Obama managed to pass Obamacare. It wasn't universal coverage, but it was a giant step in that direction.

All of that took place over about 75 years.

Republicans, on the other hand, have done their best to destroy everything the Democrats built and that benefited everyone.

Bush Jr. took a run at "privatizing" Social Security. Hint: anytime you hear the word "privatize," it means DESTROY.

But no one counted on a deranged monster like Trump. He's on a mission to destroy everything that Obama did. Obamacare is now hanging by a thread due to his sabotage of the program. And he did it in a mere 10 months. -- Almost a century to build and less than a year to destroy.

And what is the Republican Party going to do about it? Not a damn thing. They love the destruction of something they've always fought against.

So what's next: Medicare? Medicaid? Social Security? Unemployment insurance? All have long been Republican targets, yet they have, so far, failed to destroy them.

There's a reason they haven't impeached the madman in the White House. He's succeeding where they have failed.

Step back and look at the big picture. Trump is an efficient destroyer. And Republicans want him to go on with his "bull in the china shop" activities.

Yes, they are afraid that he'll kick off a nuclear war that will destroy civilization. But they'd rather hold on to their power and let him go on with his insane "apocalypse," most of which they agree with and approve.

It's so hard to build. It's so easy to destroy. And Trump is the Republican Party's weapon of mass destruction.

On edit: Added to this, the (Republican dominated) Supreme Court has been dismantling the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. What's it going to take for the people of America to realize that the GOP is trying to subjugate this country to wealthy, powerful, white oligarchs?

[greymattermom]

1. Entropy

right?

[dalton99a]

2. Arson is the only thing Trump is good at.

[smirkymonkey]

5. This!

[DK504]

3. "So what's next: Medicare? Medicaid? Social Security? Unemployment insurance?"

Yes. That is exactly what is going to happen.

[Cyrano]

4. Count on it.

It's a Republican wet dream.

[Caliman73]

6. The ACA was never going to be difficult to destroy.

The Supreme Court and Marco Rubio pretty much fatally wounded the program before it could even be fully rolled out. With the decision to let states opt out of Medicaid expansion, and the legislation that closed down the risk corridors, it was a slow bleed. Knock any of the funding legs out and collapse is certain. This is the problem with having a market based healthcare system. No company in its right mind will play along without guarantees that the risk is minimal. The Republicans have systematically undermined the incentives and stability of the program.

Unfortunately most good government takes a long time and much effort to build, but can be destroyed with less effort. Benjamin Franklin told a person who had asked him what type of government the US was and said, "A Republic, if you can keep it."It is difficult work to maintain a democratic republic because there are always forces that want to obtain more and more power and those forces are usually those who already have a good measure of power in society. They can enlist people of lesser means to do their battle for them and against their own interests by promising obscure things like "freedom" and by chipping away at institutions.