First let me acknowledge that I have been sucked into the Trump vortex. I can't seem to look away which, I suppose, is his intent. As has been noted by many others, his statements ricochet back and forth between vile statements about immigrants and women to more interesting statements like the absurdly low tax rates paid by hedge fund managers which lay bare some of the weak underbelly of the Republican party. As I was driving below I had a little day dream of what he might say next that I would like to share. So head below the break where I try to channel the Donald.
Reporter:
Mr. Trump, for the past 6 and a half years the Republican leadership has been clamoring to "repeal and replace" Obamacare, but still don't have a replacement plan. As president, what would you do about the affordable care act?
Trump:
The reason they don't have a replacement plan is that Obamacare was their plan to start with. It was written by their hedge fund buddies over at the Heritage Foundation and then implemented in Massachusetts by Mitt Romney, who then ran for president trying to pretend the he didn't. It was ridiculous. Now, I like Mitt Romney, he's a good guy, a little stiff though.
Now Obama took the thing and messed it up. He made everything to complicated and the insurance company guys are making millions on this thing. When I'm present I get rid of the parts we don't need and get these insurance companies in line.
[End of Imaginary Interview]
Just imagine the press follow up to this. Every single one of the other Republican candidates would be asked something along the lines of "Donald Trump says that you don't have an Obamacare replacement plan because it was the Republican plan to start with, what is your response?" Can you just image the word salad that would come from Scott Walker and others if asked this question?
OK, back to the vortex.