Here’s why I worry about the idea that some secret investigation is going to save us
Jonathan Cohn has a can’t miss post you need to read right now because it clearly explains how the Senate GOP’s plan could end up looking very much like the House GOP’s plan to uninsure 24, gut Medicaid, rob Medicare, drive up costs for the aging and weaken coverage for all Americans. And it could be passed in the same quick, quiet and purposely underhanded way Paul Ryan slid his bill through the House.
Cohn’s key conclusion:
The deciding factor could be public reaction, but the public can’t react to a bill unless it gets a good look at it. It appears Republican leaders are trying not to let that happen.
Focus is our greatest asset. TrumpCare was batted down by the focus of our attention, twice. But focus wanes and can be manipulated.
Trump’s calculated chaos creates a constant state of anxiety in both his underlings and his opponents. We all suffer but the more vulnerable you are, the higher the costs.
People argue that if Trump is a tyrant, he’s a terrible one who can’t even tyrannize competently. Ask the undocumented if he isn’t good at both summoning the power of the executive branch, the spite of scapegoating and collective rage of a Republican Party that dominates state and local governments in a way the GOP hasn’t since at least before the Great Depression.
Some relief for this state of anxiety may come from imagining that even now forces of good are gathering in secret courts or grand juries to summon the great powers of our institutions to put a check on Trump and his cronies.
I fear this is a dangerous fantasy.
Our system, our checks and balances, require some conflict between the branches of the government. The rotted fish heads in the executive, legislative and judicial branches all agree that the greatest dangers to America right now are poor people having health insurance and voting being too easy.
Republicans are more afraid of identifying Trump’s corruption than what he’s actually done or is doing to betray or rip off taxpayers — because uncovering what he’s done might require they take a stand.
Instead, they’ll focus on the things they agree on — uninsuring people to pay for tax breaks for the rich.
Your anxiety is terrible and I wish it weren’t happening. But relieving it with fantasies of things we can’t control may help Trump.
We do not have the power to stop Trump or the GOP right now. They have the votes to pass something as cruel and horrific as TrumpCare. But we do have the focus, and that’s what they’re afraid of.
[Image by the great Anne Savage.]
