Will anyone really remember the BBB by the midterms?

Congress must pass a new budget bill every single year, meaning we have another one of these before the next election.

So I find it hard to imagine that the midterm elections will be a massive blood bath for the GOP, because they passed a budget that Democrats do not like. Yet, that is the argument being made here by many many pundits.

Personally, I would argue that the fight over next years budget bill will be a more important fight as it pertains to the midterm elections. Personally I wonder how many people will even remember the BBB come next November.

The problem with political rhetoric is that it is generally heavy on fear of the abstract and light on looking at reality. Democrats can throw the biggest fit in the world about Medicare cuts or how much of a tax cut the rich are getting, and none of that will matter if most Americans are doing better in their own situation in sixteen months.

But that won't stop them from trying.

In spite of the fact that Medicaid cuts are not really cuts to the benefits, but rather a more stringent restraint on who collects them, Democrats are trying to scare eligible Medicare recipients with the idea that they will have their Medicaid cut, knowing full well that they wont. Unless someone who otherwise would be voting Republican suddenly loses their own Medicaid, the scare tactics are not going to effect these voters. The rhetoric only works to get their own base riled up. It only really works outside of that base if the rhetoric matches reality. It doesn't now and it won't in the future.

My favorite argument coming from the left is that suddenly illegals are not eligible for Medicare so there is no need to put anything of substance into this new bill to prevent Medicaid from going to illegals. Yet, there are fourteen states that currently provide Medicaid to anyone eligible (regardless of resident status). The bill specifically targets any state that provides Medicaid to illegals, and would require them to pay a larger share of the Medicaid burden if they choose to include illegals in their coverage. So in essence, the Federal Government would not be taking away any Medicaid. It would be up to the States to determine whether or not they want to increase their own Medicaid funding burden to include illegals.

Btw... the idea of providing "free health care" to illegals was just dropped from the latest budget in Minnesota. The cost of having a split congress and a huge budget deficit (that the DFL complains is due to the bad economy that Trump has created). They are the first of the fourteen states that seemingly is knuckling under the financial pressures of paying for all of those undocumented guests to have free stuff.

So yes, some illegals will lose Medicaid. But it will be up to those states to make the final determination. It won't be Trump or the Congressional GOP. It will be the blue states themselves who will have to make the ultimate decision.

The other change is a work requirement. So other individuals across the country will have their own choices to make as to whether they want to try to get a job (and keep Medicaid or even find new coverage from that job) or remain unemployed and possibly lose their Medicaid. But again, that is going to be up to them. Nobody is just taking it away without options.

Lastly, nobody who votes Republican (probably ever) cares about how much other people are paying in taxes. That is a leftist thing to be jealous of rich people and have a strong desire to punish them for success. Either way, the tax plan will not change. There are no new taxes, only a permanent extension on what is currently in place. If Democrats want to turn around and actually "raise" taxes, then they can do so when they are in power. But there are no "tax cuts" coming for anyone. I doubt that keeping our same tax rates in place over the next sixteen months is going to cause any problems with most voters. But I promise you that the tax hike that would come if they did on extend the current tax code would affect a lot of people and there would be a whole lot of finger pointing. Who knows who would ultimately get blamed for that.

I suspect there will be another fight a year from now over the next budget. Perhaps it will be a different kind of fight focuses on other issues. But I also suspect that that fight will more than overshadow what is happening today.