Trump disappointed House conservatives blocked healthcare bill

[rooster59]

Trump disappointed House conservatives blocked healthcare bill

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton

 

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to journalist at the Oval Office of the White House after the AHCA health care bill was pulled before a vote, accompanied by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price (2nd R) and Vice President Mike Pence (not pictured), in Washington, U.S., March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was disappointed that a conservative faction in the House of Representatives blocked his healthcare legislation and said "we learned a lot about loyalty" from the effort.

 

Speaking in the Oval Office after a stunning political setback, Trump said the healthcare effort was a victim of stalwart Democratic opposition and any future healthcare legislation would likely need Democratic support.

 

He also said he was surprised and disappointed by the opposition from the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservatives who prevented Republicans from using their majority in the House to pass the legislation.

 

Asked if he felt betrayed by the Freedom Caucus, Trump said he did not.

 

"No, I'm not betrayed. They're friends of mine. I'm disappointed because we could have had it. So I'm disappointed. I'm a little surprised, to be honest with you," Trump said.

 

"We really had it. It was pretty much there, within grasp. But I'll tell you what's going to come of it is a better bill...because there were things in this bill that I didn't particularly like. If both parties could get together and do real healthcare, that's the best thing," he said.

 

Trump, a New York businessman who won election Nov. 8 based in part on promises to get big deals through Congress, cast the failure as a learning experience.

 

“We all learned a lot. We learned a lot about loyalty," Trump said. "We learned a lot about some very arcane rules in obviously both the Senate and the House."

 

Trump also expressed confidence in House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was seen as the main backer of the legislation. Ryan personally delivered the news earlier in the day to Trump that there were not enough votes to pass it.

 

"I like Speaker Ryan. He worked very, very hard. A lot of different groups. He's got a lot of factions. And there's been a long history of liking and disliking, even within the Republican Party, long before I got here," he said. "I'm not going to speak badly about anybody within the party."

 

Trump has privately told confidants he wished he had done tax reform first instead of getting immersed in the difficult effort to overhaul President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, which passed without Republican support in 2010.

 

"We'll probably be going right now for tax reform," Trump said, saying he wanted "big tax cuts and tax reform. That will be next."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-25

[mrfill]

Blame the democrats. After all, it couldn't possibly be anything to do with a large number of his own party voting against, could it?

[daveAustin]

Quote

Asked if he felt betrayed by the Freedom Caucus, Trump said he did not.
 "No, I'm not betrayed. They're friends of mine. "

Careful, 'friends' betray friends all the time.

[55Jay]

Interesting glimpse into Trump's mind. 

 

Dogs are loyal.  Because we feed them. 

 

People can be loyal for the same reason, seems Trump is accustomed to this "fake" loyalty.

 

[Thaidream]

The bill was horrid from the beginning. It rewarded the wealthy by taking from the poor. The amazing thing is that as they actually went through the steps to enhance some of the provisions more and more of the ultra conservatives objected. They didn't want to give any tax credits for the poor and wanted to stop the added tax on the wealthy that pays for the credits. To me, this shows a lot about how America is being run and the Republican Congress and Donald Trump are a disaster for the middle class and working poor not to mention those who can't find a job.

Now, Trump states he will simply wait for the Obamacare plan which is still in effect to implode. Absolutely disgusting comments from a President.

[joecoolfrog]

You can't' get people together ' by being divisive , surely somebody as smart as Trump would grasp that rather obvious fact.

[Thaidream]

Trump does not get it - he thinks he can bully and lie his way into bringing people together. It might work in his World bu he is now in over his head and his incompetence is showing.

[ToS2014]

On 3/25/2017 at 0:19 PM, Thaidream said:

Trump does not get it - he thinks he can bully and lie his way into bringing people together. It might work in his World bu he is now in over his head and his incompetence is showing.

Sure worked for the previous POTUS and the ACA didn't it?  It's actually quite a complicated effort to end and/or change a government handout once it has become law.  For those to blame and/or chastise the current POTUS on 'just waiting for it to collapse' is like praising the initial law and then complaining about it.