Having a bunch of know-nothing extremists banding together in Congress is not good for the country and that's the Freedom Caucus in a nutshell.
However, inadvertently they've helped the progressive movement a couple of times in the past.
Reporters seem to forget that the first time was when they destroyed the Grand Bargain deal between President Obama and Speaker John Boehner that would have changed the formula Social Security uses for payouts, (chained CPI) which would have been a benefits cut.
That was something Republicans have pined for, including the gaseous Simpson-Bowles coalition.
However, since the Freedom Caucus helped destroy Trumpcare because it didn't go far enough in turning our healthcare system into a total free market enterprise, they have received most of the chatter lately.
Trump took to tweeting again to threaten the caucus.
Leaders Mark Meadows and Raúl Labrador clammed up when asked to comment, but Rep. Jim Jordan was on Fox News and he did discuss the tweet.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who also opposed the GOP bill and is a leading voice among House conservatives, responded to Trump’s tweet by saying the bill backed by the White House wouldn’t lower premiums, wouldn’t fully repeal ObamaCare, didn’t united the GOP and was backed by only 17 percent of the country.
In an interview on Fox News, he said the Freedom Caucus was trying to help Trump, “but the fact is you’ve got to look at the legislation. And it doesn’t do what we told the voters we were going to do and the American people understand that, that’s why only 17 percent of the population supports this legislation.”
They all deserve each other.
Update:
Trump is now calling them out by name. You go, Mr. 35-Percent Approval Rating. Just be you.
(Mr. 35 Percent seems to misunderstand what the Freedom Caucus wants to do. They only want repeal. Not replacement)
But hey, Ken Buck is on the train now. So there's that.
