Democrats' craven refusal to cut a deal with President Trump

Democratic honchos like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer know they could negotiate with him on health care. They just fear what their voters would think.

Why not, Chuck?
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

If there is a Republican in Washington that Democrats would like to negotiate with on health care, it would probably be Susan Collins. The senator from Maine is comfortably moderate, hails from a heavily Democratic state, and, as it happens, supports an ObamaCare alternative that would let liberal areas of the country keep substantial parts of the existing law.

But what if there was another, more powerful Republican who might also be willing to preserve the popular elements of ObamaCare? One who is as likely as any Democrat to blanche at Congressional Budget Office scores that might show 15 to 20 million people losing coverage under the House replacement bill? One who will actually be in the room with the House Freedom Caucus, Heritage Action, and Americans for Prosperity?

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W. James Antle III

W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.