Now that the political charade of the Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare is over, maybe Donald Trump can pivot toward actually making America great again and abandon the continual Sturm and Drang that has characterized his new administration. The best thing about Trump, and maybe his only redeeming quality, is his lack of core political principles. Unlike ideologues like Paul Ryan or Rand Paul, Trump is not beholden to the rigid philosophies that undermined the health care debate. This could make him the perfect vehicle to get some meaningful things done for America.
First, Trump needs to cobble together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats who would like to see progress in improving the nation. During the campaign, Trump correctly pointed out that America’s crumbling infrastructure requires billions if not trillions of dollars. Roads, airports, and bridges need updating, not to mention the prospects for universal broadband and high speed rail. Trump should immediately pursue an infrastructure solution while at the same time force Democrats to agree to lower corporate tax rates. Experts estimate that there are $2 trillion to $3 trillion in corporate profit currently parked overseas.
Trump should propose a one-time rate of 10 to 15 percent for corporations to bring their money home. That would fatten federal coffers by $200 billion to $450 billion. Take this money and use it as a down payment for infrastructure. Centrist Democrats and Republicans would certainly get behind such a plan. Borrow the rest. It will eventually be recovered by the increased production that would result. In the 1950s, President Eisenhower borrowed for the interstate highway system and the subsequent results changed America.
Trump also promised that everyone would have “wonderful” health care. The recent debate has proven that the Republicans have no plan and that a free market solution to the problem won’t work or they would have proposed such a thing. In fact, no country in the world relies on the free market for its health care.
The United States exhausts nearly 18 percent and growing of its GDP on health care, which is clearly unsustainable. Other nations spend much less. France and Germany, for example, expend only 11 percent of their GDP and achieve far better results. Therefore, the only solution to providing health care in a cheaper and more effective way is to adopt a single-payer system where everyone in the nation has insurance. In France, 100 percent of the population is under the national system while Germany has a combination of government paid and private health insurance.
Why can’t America adopt one of those obviously successful programs and make it even better? After all, this is America and we should be able to use our ingenuity to perfect a “very, very good” system. We know that Trump likes to see his name on things, so let’s call it MediTrump! I can already hear the boasting during Trump’s 2020 inaugural address.
