I don’t accept it, but this will be one of the moments in time, in my estimation, when we will look back and say we should take any deal we can so long as it move the sticks down the field even if only a first down at a time. Why? Because what we have for the next 20 months, maybe, 44 months, is the most right wing government we will see probably ever again, barring some major world aligning event. Standing on principle and wasting 5% of the time we have to govern is completely unacceptable.
Reality:
We won this election and lost the popular vote by a few million. Do you really think they will not be mobilized next time in the mid west? Pulling this off again will be beyond difficult.
47 million people are on food stamps
50% of workers don’t make enough to pay federal taxes
You can stand on principle all you want, but if you are not at least stopping the bleeding and/or moving ahead, even if only a little, we are wasting our time.
I didn’t like it all that much, but passing that bill would have maintained momentum and given us cover for a fat ass tax cut thru the CBO. We needed to deflate their base too, weaken their energy. They are now amped and have been rewarded for their insane behavior.
Trump couldn’t get the GOP to agree. Give into the FC and the moderates fell off, etc. He’s not going to waste time with them if they can’t, or Ryan can’t, get their act together. He’s going to move left because he’s a man of action more than he is a conservative. Don’t get me wrong, he’s mostly conservative on most issues, but he’s not an ideologue which is why he’s happy to talk to anyone. He wants results and wants to get $hit done, I genuinely think he will deal with anyone from either party on equal footing.
Don’t ever think Trump won’t mix in a medicare for all concept with some blend of cross border competitive health care market for those who can afford it and present that as a grand compromise.
The one reason I disagree with you on this is that it is March of 2017, not the summer of 2018. In fact, I suspect the GOP cobbled together this shoddy, half-assed "fix" bill just to get it out of the way a year and a half before any of them are up for re-election. Maybe they even did it just to satisfy their Chamber of Commerce and insurance industry pimps and get a B+ for trying.
I think we should all reserve judgment on this until November-December of this year. Once the 2018 insurance renewal notices start going out in October, you'll see a dramatic change in attitude in Washington as every member of Congress scrambles to calm their outraged constituents. There will be a much stronger political will to get something effective done in Washington -- and by "effective" I mean ANYTHING that reduces insurance premiums for people and for employers.
Yes, trump lost the popular vote; guess what? The Republicans did NOT. Republicans outpolled Trump in every district and in every statewide election that Trump won. They also won districts that Trump did not win.
Chew on that for a second.
The claim that Trump did the best that any Republican could have done is one that I simply don't accept; not because it is or isn't true, but because we have no way of knowing that. It is a theory pinned to no experimental evidence whatsoever. Trump was the guy we ran with. He won. That's all we know. I voted for him. But I'm not going to blindly support him, and the FC shouldn't have either.
As for "getting $hit done." If it's $hit, I don't want it to be done. It's pretty simple, really. This isn't a basketball game. Being a "winner" means nothing if you're "winning" by doing the things Democrats want to do. Trump may think getting any bill means he'd have "won" but he isn't just Donald Trump anymore. He's now a man who took an oath to support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. And any time a President signs a bill that violates that oath, he hasn't "won." I don't care how "pragmatic" or "non-ideological" you are.