The following article was posted on the trumpaccountable.org website March 22, 2017:
A new poll published this morning by Politico/Morning Consult indicates fading public support for the the Republican repeal of Obamacare that President Trump and House leadership have been actively campaigning for over the past week. A vote in the House is expected on Thursday and the outcome is far from certain; the new poll does little to help skittish members of Congress who are still reluctant to support the bill.
While support has not pivoted wildly, several numbers indicate that members of the public are responding to the Congressional Budget Office scoring that indicates that 14 million Americans stand to lose their health insurance as early as next year with upwards of 24 million losing coverage once the legislation is fully enacted.
Among the more interesting poll results:
- There’s is slightly more hope for Obamacare with 74% of Americans thinking it will be repealed a week ago. That number stands at 62% this week.
- There is less optimism about Trumpcare this week with 33% of respondents thinking that the health care system will be worse off under the Republican plan last week. That number now stands at 36%.
The poll is the latest bad news for Trump and his congressional allies who are pushing the bill through. One of the biggest barriers to success in the House is the bill’s unlikely passage in the Senate. Specifically, House Republicans, many of whom ran on repealing Obamacare, are faced with the prospect of voting for legislation that aims to strip millions of Americans of their healthcare only to have the legislation die in the Senate. They would vote for a seemingly heartless piece of legislation while also ultimately failing at achieving a singular goal of the Republican agenda.
In other developments as President Trump and Speaker Ryan work feverishly to pas the bill:
- Vice President Mike Pence, speaking on a Birmingham talk radio show this morning, asserted that he was confident that the AHCA would ultimately pass. “Literally every hour we’re seeing members of Congress,” Pence told the radio host.
- President Trump visited Congress Tuesday and singled out Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) as a holdout who needs to get on board with the legislation.
- The Senate leadership plans to push the legislation through before the April break if it passes the House tomorrow. Passage in the Senate is less certain.
View the post here.