So How Dead Is the Health-Deal?

A couple of bloggers have very different opinions on today's outcome.

President Donald Trump faces three irreconcilable factions: the GOP establishment, conservatives, and Democrats. ... The most difficult faction to deal with is the Republican establishment — not because they are politically strong, but because on policy issues like health care, they are convinced that they have all the answers and that Trump just does not understand.

So he let them make the first move... and he exposed two things about them: first, that they had not come up with a plan that was ready for prime time; second, that they had not done any of the political legwork necessary to sell their plan to voters.

No doubt about that.

...Trump will not make the next move. He will let the conservatives move first. They are the big winners in the first round — much more so than the Democrats, who are enjoying the spectacle of Republican dysfunction but have no role to play yet.

The conservatives will proceed with their demand for a full repeal of Obamacare. And then they will face the ire of voters who are deeply unhappy with Obamacare but upset about losing the paltry, expensive health insurance they currently have.  That, too, will strengthen Trump...

So?

...Trump will turn to the moderate Democrats and offer them a deal — perhaps catastrophic health coverage in exchange for repealing Obamacare....

Hmmmmmm.

A different look at it came from Owen.

...Obama won. Obamacare is here to stay. Our nation is worse off for it.

The first scenario has plausibility, with one yuuuuuuge concern:  where does one find a "moderate Democrat"?  If Trump can't find any of them--and he may not--Owen's end-game is on until the collapse of the economy.

Then along comes Grim.

...Hopefully the Trump administration learned that Congress is a co-equal branch that can't be just ordered to support a policy whether it makes sense or not. Failing that, hopefully at least Congress learned that about itself today.

They can take their time and get it right, or they can just repeal O-care with a one-year delay to give time for alternative solutions appear, either at the state level or from the market itself. Or they can do nothing and hope it all falls apart someday on its own, which would still be better than this. Under the circumstances, killing this bill was the best idea.

Here's the thing.  Ryan just could not bring himself to take away all the benefit-mandates.  Creating the catastrophic plan and dumping the rest is a great option (albeit easier said than done.)  But it seems that nobody wanted to try it.

Well, maybe now they'll have a chance.  The Bill is Dead.