The big news for now, of course, is the collapse of the American Health Care Act, or the Republicans' efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, or, as a reasonable person might call the AHCA, "Wealthcare." But let's look back, shall we, all the way back to that history-making Congressional hearing with FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers. Remember that? The one where Comey verified there is an ongoing FBI investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign? The one where Rogers and Comey both actually fact-checked a Trump tweet that was sent during the hearing, telling Congresspersons that what Trump claimed was not, in fact, what they were telling Congress? Seems like so long ago, right?
That was Monday. It took five days to get from that to Friday's epic Trumpcare debacle. Five. Days.
Remember back during the transition and the early days of his Presidency, when Trump was telling us all that his crew was running like a "fine-tuned machine" and that we needed to ignore any media reports to the contrary? This fine-tuned machine is not so fine-tuned after all, it seems.
(Remember the "early days of his Presidency"? Heck, he's been in office for barely two months!!!)
This brings me to my pertinent notion about the AHCA. It was an insanely flawed piece of legislation, something thrown together by GOP hacks and Paul Ryan's assistants (there's a lot of overlap there, true) that the Republicans were desperate to whip together and put up for a vote on March 23, because that was the 7th anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act and there's nothing more important to Republicans than symbolism (nothing except tax cuts for the rich, I mean). So they threw together this mess of a bill, figuring their Republican majority in the House would vote for anything that got rid of Obamacare, and tried to ram it through without giving time for an official CBO score or to let people realize this bill would take health insurance away from tens of millions of Americans while at the same time giving a huge tax break to the wealthiest Americans. No time for that! What was important was: This bill is better than Obamacare because it uses less paper.
Seriously. That was the main selling point, at least at the March 7 press conference. Not that 14 million or more Americans would lose health insurance. Not that those with incomes over $200,000 per year would receive huge tax breaks. Not that health services for the poor and elderly would become less available and more expensive. Nope - "it's better because it's smaller. See?"
Another point: One of the hallmark complaints about Obamacare from Republicans is that it was "rammed down our throats," that Democrats put together this terrible law in a tremendous rush, without proper vetting or study, and voted it through in the dead of night in a short window during which the patriotic GOP didn't have enough members in the House and Senate to stop it. Except the entire process of getting the ACA through took about 15 months, with multiple public speeches by the President to urge support, with months of debate and consideration of things like a public option, eventually resulting in a bill that should have been the health insurance industry's best buddy. Fifteen months. While the Republicans were hoping to have the AHCA put together and voted through Congress in about two months - something they threw together at the last minute even though they had the past seven years to actually develop a reasonable, thoughtful replacement. Contrast and compare, folks, and you decide which one would have been "rammed" down anybody's throat.
The rest of the AHCA saga is pretty well known by now. Hardcore House Republicans weren't happy because the bill kept too many features of the hated Obamacare. When Trump and Ryan worked to remove even more options from the bill, moderate Republicans began to waver, even as these concessions weren't enough to make the conservative side happy. So, eventually, by March 24 the whole thing fell apart without even coming to a vote in the House.
So naturally, Trump blamed Democrats for the bill's demise. Because if anyone should have stepped up to save an unpopular bill that would hurt tens of millions of Americans while putting more dollars in the pockets of the rich, while at the same time ending the landmark Obamacare legislation carried through while the Democrats held Congress ... why, of course, it should have been the Democrats, right? Pay no attention to the 237-193 GOP lead in the House, which means they could pass bills with zero Democratic votes even if 20 GOP Congress members were out of town, or avoiding town halls, or policing public bathrooms, or anything other than casting a vote in the House.
Of course, Trump was pulling out all the stops, working tirelessly to create a Deal (because he's good at those, you know), and never taking a break in the struggle ...
The total buffoonery of this administration would be pretty darn hilarious ... if only this ineptness wasn't hurting the lives of millions of Americans, making this country a laughing stock around the world, and raising the possibility of a misguided comment, tweet, or action starting some kind of armed conflict. Yeah, except for that, it would be pretty funny.
(And I'm not discounting the fact that Trump associates like Steve Bannon aren't actually inept, but truly have nefarious intentions towards progressivism and our American democracy as it's developed over the past two centuries. But as for Trump and his top appointees? Yeah, inept buffoons is pretty much on the nose.)
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