“Trumpcare”?

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Safyre Yearling, Junior Website Editor

On Wednesday, January 4th, with less than three weeks left in the White House, President Barack Obama delivered a mandate to democrats, saying “don’t rescue” Republicans on Obamacare. Obama visited Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill, in an attempt to save his signature healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, before Republicans can unroll it.

One controversial issue was when Obama also suggested referring to the Republicans’ new plan as “Trumpcare”. Several say the suggestion was a clear indication of the Democratic Party’s goal of turning the tables on Republicans, who are already facing extreme amounts of pressure to quickly craft a replacement bill for the current health care plan. As he passed a group of reporters, however, Obama’s response to their questions about the remark was simply, “Look out for the American people.” Following the meeting, a White House aide explained that Obama used “Trumpcare”, as a way of saying that he was open to Trump taking credit for improvements.

The same morning, Republicans met to discuss the road to repealing Obamacare. Following the meeting, Vice President-elect Mike Pence told reporters “Make no mistake about it. We’re going to keep our promise to the American people — We’re going to repeal Obamacare and replace it with solutions that lower the cost of health insurance, without growing the size of the government.”

With the Republican party soon to control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, Democrats are ensuring that they are held responsible for any disruptions in health coverage. Following the Democratic meeting, lawmakers began pushing the phrase, “Make America Sick Again”, which is a play on Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again”.

These simultaneous, opposing meetings for both parties clearly indicate that Obamacare is going to become a deeply controversial political fight under our next president, Donald J. Trump. House speaker, Paul Ryan and VP-elect, Mike Pence promised a “careful” replacement of the law, in an attempt to mitigate concerns for those who believe that the repeal of Obamacare would leave many, such as those with pre-existing health conditions, without healthcare.

Donald Trump takes office on January 20, 2017, causing feelings of elation for some and fear for others. Either way, it seems the Donald Trump campaign is ready to begin the first of four years, by making big moves.