Mr. President, You Need the Freedom Caucus

What’s more advantageous – a win for President Trump, or a win for the American people? The latter of course. I reject any notion that a health-care system that begins with centralized government planning will be good for any of us. Politicians don’t know our names, hopes, dreams, kids, fears, phobias, annoying habits that make our spouses tick. Yet, we’re willing to trust them with the thing that’s most valuable to us all – our lives. My goal isn’t to defend the president at all cost. To the contrary, as a person who loves freedom, my goal is to defend liberty at all cost so that you and I remain free.

I don’t know who convinced the president to tweet “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!” Regardless, it had to be a RINO that took over his account. Rumors have circulated that his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, might be the culprit. I’m not convinced. I am convinced it was a dumb move. Why? The Freedom Caucus, as well as the moderates (oddly not mentioned in the Trump tweet), that squashed the terribly written American Health Care Act (AHCA) quite possibly saved the Republicans an embarrassing defeat in the 2018 midterms.

The president is going to make plenty of mistakes, but publicly admonishing the tea party-inspired Freedom Caucus with such vitriol is one of that was both avoidable and unnecessary. After all, they jumped aboard the Trump train far before the election, unlike Speaker Paul Ryan and the GOP establishment. They were the mini-Trumps in Congress fighting to “Make America Great Again” before he came along. It would be beneficial to his presidency to affix his policies to their wagon.

The AHCA was written so poorly. I can’t imagine a scenario where voters would’ve had to endure rising monthly premiums for two years, beyond high Obamacare premiums, and somehow been excited to pull the lever for the GOP in 2018. People can’t afford their doctors now due to Obamacare! Americans are hurting, and the Freedom Caucus gets it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the Republican establishment would’ve been content with sinking Trump’s presidency with such a bad bill.

I understand President Trump is used to winning. I also understand he needs a big political win. However, a bill that doesn’t advance smaller government and more choice for consumers is hardly a win for the American people no matter what D.C. insiders tell him. Leverage is an important tool to use in the game of politics against your opposition, even against allies when necessary. However, it’s equally important that you’re capable of discerning who your ally is and who your adversary is.

The president needs the Freedom Caucus as much as they need him. So, here’s a suggestion for President Trump and Speaker Ryan:

Stop bashing the Freedom Caucus and work with them instead.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved

Originally published at WND.com

Carl Jackson is a radio talk show host – his web site is www.carljacksonshow.com. Media wishing to interview Carl Jackson, please contact media@wnd.com.

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