Sen. Lindsey Graham agreed with CNN's Dana Bash when she asked if Trump's call for repealing Obamacare was a winning issue for Republicans. I hate to break it to him, but taking health insurance away from millions of Americans isn't any more popular now than it was back when Mitt Romney was lying about whether their plans would hurt the poor, or when Trump was pushing the same policies while he was still in office.
BASH: Let's talk about the 2024 campaign trail.
GRAHAM: Yes.
BASH: Donald Trump called Obamacare a disaster last night in Iowa after reiterating his calls to repeal it. You, of course, voted to repeal Obamacare when Trump was president.
Do you think that this is a winning issue right now? Would you like to see another vote again if Trump is elected?
GRAHAM: Yes. Yes, I -- here's what -- good question. This is what we tried to do when Trump was president.
Let's block-grant the money. The money that we have in Washington to administer Obamacare is controlled by bureaucrats you will never meet. Let's take that money, send it back to the states, make sure it's spent on health care, and see if governors and state legislatures can come up for better ways...
BASH: So, you're OK with this issue?
GRAHAM: Yes, I'm OK -- I'd like to get the money and power out of Washington back to the states.
Yes, I think we should block-grant back it to the states, rather than let bureaucrats in Washington run our health care. Socialized medicine doesn't work. Get the money and power out of Washington, get it in the hands of the people closest to the patient. That's what I think.
As we discussed here:
Block-granting Medicaid is a longtime Republican goal dating back at least to the Reagan administration. The Trump administration's proposal has been in the works for over a year.
Bruce Bartlett, an architect of former President Ronald Reagan's right-wing economic agenda who left the GOP in 2006, tweeted Thursday that "block grants are just a Republican trick to slash spending without appearing to do so."
"Money is fungible," Bartlett said. "Medicaid funding will be used to pay for other programs or even to finance tax cuts."
Of course, Dana Bash didn't bother to bring that up with Graham, and just moved onto the next topic. I say if Graham and Republicans want to run on this, more power to you Lindsey. Go for it and we'll see how it works out for you.