Trump and his fans are discovering that government is "complicated" - and there's a reason we hire..
TUESDAY, FEB 28, 2017 11:30 AM EST
Trump and his fans are discovering that government is “complicated” — and there’s a reason we hire grownups to run things
Trump's latest blurt suggests that the awful truth is becoming clear: Being president isn't as easy as he thought
GARY LEGUM
When President Donald Trump said on Monday that “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated,” the deafening bang you heard was the sound of every health policy wonk, political reporter, hospital executive, health care worker, insurance company employee, close or casual observer of Congress during the debate over the Affordable Care Act in 2009-10 and any patient who has ever signed up for insurance or needed medical attention slamming their forehead into the nearest wall.
“Nobody knew that X could be so complicated” may as well be the mantra of the entire horror movie that is Trump’s presidency so far, from his campaign announcement almost two years ago up through his first month in office. Consider just the following by-no-means-complete list of stories since November’s election:
* During the campaign, Trump promised to repeal Obamacare and replace it with “something terrific” as soon as he took office. But in Monday’s Washington Post, Greg Sargent reported on a split that has opened between some of Trump’s advisers over how to go about repealing the ACA. Repeal would mean the end of the law’s expansion of Medicaid, which has been responsible for a notable drop in the uninsured rate in several states ruled by GOP governors. Those governors are now concerned about the consequences for their constituents and their states if those beneficiaries lose access to health care.
* Implementing Trump’s long-promised ban on Muslim immigration ran into trouble the minute it came into contact with those minor features of American government known as “judicial review” and the “rule of law.” This was an easily foreseeable complication that Trump’s team nevertheless ran into faster than a speeding Ferrari that has lost its brakes.
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http://www.salon.com/2017/02/28/trump-and-his-fans-are-discovering-that-government-is-complicated-theres-a-reason-we-hire-grownups-to-run-things/