Make Them Hear You! Fox News on Trump

Make Them Hear You! is a weekly feature on KGNU, produced by Chris Mohr, letting listeners know how they can have their voices heard on issues up before Congress. You can hear it Wednesday mornings at 8.20am during the Morning Magazine.

Since many KGNU listeners don’t watch Fox News, I thought I would summarize a recent Fox News Halftime Report. As you know, the Senate Healthcare bill has just collapsed, as a result of resistance from both the moderate and conservative wings of the Republican Party. But that’s not the only problem among the Republicans. Republicans in Congress are very short on time with a lot to do. Republicans now face steep demands for patching up Obamacare to prevent lost coverage and massive rate hikes for the tens of millions of Americans who get insurance through ObamaCare exchanges.

Hot on their heels is also the debt ceiling, which the US will exceed in September . McCain’s absence is squeezing the timetable on that. Senate leaders may ram it through by attaching it to something like veterans’ funding, making a “no” vote politically difficult. But this will leave a sour taste in their mouths. Plus, the budget must be the vehicle for not just the health insurance overhaul but also the tax cuts Republicans want. Fox News predicts the Republicans won’t craft a real budget, but just pick some spending numbers and paper-clip a list of tax cuts to it. Congressional Republicans and Trump have so little trust in each other that negotiations will be thorny at best. And Trump is busy arranging his growing criminal defense team.

As The Halftime Report on Fox said about the defense of Kushner and the Russian meeting, “What was once decried as a baseless slur against the campaign is now called standard operating procedure.” Fox News reports that polls show most Americans think Trump Jr.’s meeting was inappropriate.

Between now and October 1, Congress needs to pass ObamaCare changes, raise the debt limit, create a budget and agree on taxes, with no help from a single Democrat. And Trump’s net job-approval rating is down-16.2 points, 3.6 points down in the last week alone. The Obamacare replacement bill had only 12% approval from Americans. Republicans have no margin of error and a rapidly deteriorating mandate.
And Trump continues to have a simmering resentment against Jeff Sessions for his Russia recusal that Fox News analysts say may have permanently poisoned their relationship. And That’s what the Fox NewsHalftime Report is saying about the Republicans.

So now that the Senate Healthcare bill has collapsed, what’s next? There is an ACA Repeal without Replace Bill being considered by the Senate, which will preserve Obamacare for two years and then repeal it with the hope that by then something there will be there v to replace it. The risk remains that over 20 million people will lose access to healthcare if any such bill is passed. If you have an opinion about a possible repeal without replace bill, now is the time to share those concerns with our Senators – especially Cory Gardner.