Trump sticks to his themes and expects Congress to go along
Saying that “the time for small thinking is over,” President Donald Trump called Tuesday for dramatic changes in immigration, education and health care, arguing that “Democrats and Republicans should get together and unite for the good of our country.”
Trump talked about the need to work together to “save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster,” arguing that President Barack Obama’s landmark health insurance plan must be repealed and replaced with new programs that “expand choice, increase access, lower costs and, at the same time, provide better health care.”
In his hour-long speech, the president listed what he said were principles that should guide Congress in putting together a new system, saying it should protect people with pre-existing conditions, give states flexibility on Medicaid, immediately bring down the “artificially high price” of drugs and allow people to purchase insurance across state lines to create “a truly competitive” national marketplace.
[...] Trump said virtually nothing about how his administration would pay for the program, beyond suggesting that the government would help people buy their own coverage, “through the use of tax credits and expanded Health Savings Accounts,” methods Democrats and other opponents of GOP health care plans say are not enough to take care of the neediest Americans.
In his speech, Trump, a billionaire businessman used to getting his own way in his various dealing, presented his health care proposal and other budget plans as virtual done deals, things that are going to happen as soon as Congress gets together to pass them.
On immigration, Trump continued the hard-line stance he has taken since the start of his campaign for president, painting undocumented border crossers as criminals and potential terrorists who can only be stopped by far tougher rules and the building of his “a great, great wall along our southern border.”
The president called for “a merit-based immigration system,” which he said “will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages and help struggling families — including immigrant families, enter the middle class.”
The principles behind any immigration reform include improving jobs and wages for Americans, strengthening national security and restoring respect for our laws, Trump added.
Before introducing guests who had seen family members killed by undocumented residents, Trump announced that the Department of Homeland Security was forming a new office called VOICE, short for Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement.
The president also took a strong step toward controversial changes in education, saying he was calling on members of booth parties “to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth,” saying that those families “should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.”
[...] with almost all 535 members of Congress jammed into the House chambers, along with cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, military leaders, the presidential staff, guests and dignitaries, the difference was more semantics than reality.