There's no rule that politicians have to pick a policy position and marry it. But Trump is exceptional in the number of times he's picked a position then totally reversed it, writes Glenn Kessler of The Post's nonpartisan Fact Checker. (During the campaign, Trump once changed his position on whether to accept Syrian refugees the very next day.) Kessler says that pattern has continued into Trump's presidency, including: No 'cuts' to Medicaid: Despite asserting he'd keep the low-income health care program, Trump now supports a GOP proposal that would limit its expansion by 2020. 'Phony' employment numbers: Even before he ran for president, Trump doubted the Bureau of Labor Statistics' employment numbers. On Friday, Trump embraced January's numbers. Spicer said of the president's reversal: “They may have been phony in the past, but it’s very real now.” The question GOP leaders dread: How many people will lose health insurance under the GOP plan? House Speaker Paul Ryan likes his charts. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The answer is: We don’t know. But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office just announced the GOP replacement plan would mean 14 million fewer people would have health insurance next year, and as many as 24 million less by 2026. You could be confused if you thought the answer was much less, even zero. To hear GOP leaders talk about their plan over the weekend was to hear an entirely different framing, points out The Post’s Philip Bump: “If you’re on Medicaid, you’re going to stay on Medicaid,” said Gary Cohn, chief economic adviser to Trump, on Fox News. “I can’t answer that question,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said when asked on CBS. “It’s up to people.” It's evidence that selling a plan that cuts health care for millions — even one that also cuts the deficit by billions — is going to be a tough sell. There are already enough skeptical Republicans in Congress to doom the plan. A note about The Fix Fix Boss Chris Cillizza is leaving The Fix at the end of this month to join CNN. He started this political blog about a decade ago, astutely recognizing readers' hunger for context and nonpartisan analysis in our political news diet. Today, The Fix has grown into a team of reporters — yours truly included — that strives to carry out his mission. The blog and this newsletter will continue uninterrupted, and we wish Chris all the best! (giphy.com) |