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This has been quite a week in Washington, a week full of terror, intrigue, suspense, backstabbing and outright chaos. While we might not have been able to predict the particular contours of the catastrophe that complete GOP rule has been, we should have known it would turn out something like this.

Guess what, America: This is what you get when you elect Republicans.

It goes much further than their repugnant and disastrous effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but all the contemporary GOPs pathologies could be seen there: their outright malice toward ordinary people, their indifference to the suffering of their fellow citizens, their blazing incompetence, their contempt for democratic norms, their shameless hypocrisy, their gleeful ignorance about policy, their utter dishonesty and bad faith, their pure cynicism, and their complete inability to perform anything that resembles governing. It was the perfect Republican spectacle.

Its remarkable to consider that there was a time not too long ago when the Grand Old Party was known for being serious, sober, a little boring, but above all, responsible. They were conservative in the traditional sense: wanting to conserve what they thought was good and fearful of rapid change. You might not have agreed with them, but there were limits to the damage they could do. The devolution from that Republican Party to the one we see today took a couple of decades and had many sources, but its fullest expression was reached with the lifting up of Donald J. Trump to the presidency, this contemptible buffoon who may have been literally the single worst prominent American they could have chosen to be their standard-bearer. I mean that seriously. Can you think of a single person who might have run for president who is more ignorant, more impulsive, more vindictive and more generally dangerous than Donald Trump? And yet they rallied around him with near-unanimity, a worried shake of the head to his endless stream of atrocious statements and actions the strongest dissent most of them could muster.

With their repeal effort dead for now, Republicans still need to make some difficult health insurance decisions. The Post's Paige W. Cunningham explains what comes next. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

So now we see the results of putting this party and this president in charge. Lets take a little tour around the news and see whats going on, shall we?

I could go on and delve into the presidents plan to blow up the Iran nuclear deal, or the climate-denial initiative at the Environmental Protection Agency, or all the fossil-fuel lobbyists now staffing the Interior Department, or any of a hundred abominable policies and programs. But the point is, were getting just what we should have expected. Donald Trump isnt an aberration, hes the apotheosis of contemporary Republicanism.

Senate Republicans attempted to pass a "skinny repeal" bill that would undo some portions of the Affordable Care Act on July 28, but the bill failed after three GOP senators voted against it. (The Washington Post)

Republicans dont care about making an honest case for their priorities; Trump lies nearly every time he opens his mouth. Theyre unconcerned about the details of policy; he knows less about how government works than your average sixth-grader. Theyre indifferent to human suffering; he literally advocates destroying the individual health-care market so he can blame Barack Obama for the lives that wind up ruined. They advocate a mindless anti-government philosophy; he has so much contempt for governing that he puts his son-in-law in charge of everything from solving the opioid crisis to achieving Middle East peace. They whine endlessly about the liberal media; he spends hours every day watching Fox & Friends and takes advice from Sean Hannity. Trump is the essence of the GOP, distilled down to its depraved and odious core.

America was given a reprieve last night, saved from the Republicans cruelest plans by a Democratic Party that stood strong, thousands of activists and ordinary citizens who organized in opposition and the GOPs own incompetence. But this what you get when you give todays Republican Party complete control of the government. Have no doubt: There are more horrors to come.

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This is what you get when you elect Republicans - Washington Post

Sen. John McCain says defeat of the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act is a chance for a fresh start. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

Sen. John McCain says defeat of the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act is a chance for a fresh start.

Updated at 3 p.m. ET

The day following the defeat of the latest attempt to overturn the Affordable Care Act, Republicans predictably expressed disappointment, Democrats relief, and both sides uncertainty over what, exactly, comes next.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., issued a statement that pointedly reminded GOP voters that the House upheld its end of the deal and approved a bill repealing and replacing Obamacare.

"Unfortunately," Ryan said, "the Senate was unable to reach a consensus. I am disappointed and frustrated, but we should not give up. I encourage the Senate to continue working toward a real solution that keeps our promise."

Speaking to a audience of law enforcement officers on Long Island, N.Y., President Trump said, "They should have approved health care last night, but you can't have everything, boy oh boy." He added, "They've been working on that for seven years, can you believe that? The Swamp. But we'll get it done, we're going to get it done." Trump also stated that he "said from the beginning, let Obamacare implode and then do it. I turned out to be right, let Obamacare implode."

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, though clearly pleased with the outcome of the vote early Friday morning, insisted it was "not a time for celebration, it's a time for relief." He praised Republican Sen. John McCain as a hero for his vote against the Senate GOP repeal plan, calling it it an "amazing moment" one he hopes will be "a turning point where the Senate turned back from it's partisanship and started to work together."

In his own statement, McCain said the failure of the GOP plan "presents the Senate with an opportunity to start fresh. It is now time to return to regular order with input from all of our members Republicans and Democrats and bring a bill to the floor of the Senate for amendment and debate."

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, another of the three Republicans to vote against the GOP plan (Alaska's Lisa Murkowski was the other), said she is pleased that Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has said he will hold hearings on reform measures.

Schumer suggested the two sides could find consensus on measures aimed at shoring up Obamacare, saying, "Nobody has said Obamacare is perfect."

But whether there's much appetite among Republicans for merely tweaking the health insurance program remains to be seen.

Trump tweeted after the GOP plan was defeated that the next step should be "let Obamacare implode, then deal."

Schumer called that approach "sabotage," and said he hopes Republicans in the House and Senate "will turn a deaf ear on that."

Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., was critical of Trump, saying, "He never really laid out core principles and didn't sell them to the American people."

Whether repeal of the Affordable Care Act is really, most sincerely dead, as the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz was pronounced, remains to be seen.

After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor, "I regret that our efforts were simply not enough at this time." He denounced Democrats' opposition to Republican efforts to "find a way to something better than Obamacare," adding, "It's time for our friends on the other side to tell us what they have in mind. And we'll see how the American people feel about their ideas."

He concluded his remarks by saying, "It's time to move on," naming the next legislation on the agenda for Friday.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement that "cutting taxes for middle class families and fixing our broken tax code" is at the top of his list when Congress returns from its August recess.

At a House GOP conference Friday morning, Ryan reportedly recited the lyrics to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," a metaphor he suggested for the sinking of the GOP's seven-year journey to repeal Obamacare.

Traveling Friday afternoon, President Trump responded to questions about the health care vote by saying, "It's going to be fine."

GordonLightfootVEVO via YouTube

Continued here:
Congress Emerges From Another Health Care Failure Without A Clear Path Forward - NPR

BBC News

Republicans 'frustrated' after healthcare fiasco BBC News Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he is "disappointed and frustrated" by the Senate's failure to repeal the Obama-era healthcare act. He is among several lawmakers to express frustration after three Republican senators opposed a bill to scale ... Republicans wave the white flag on their last best chance to repeal ObamacareWashington Post Republicans try to pick up the pieces after healthcare defeatReuters 'Wait for the show': how John McCain helped torpedo the Republican health planThe Guardian Stuff.co.nz all 2,638 news articles »

Excerpt from:
Republicans 'frustrated' after healthcare fiasco - BBC News

Rep. Dave Trott (pictured in 2014) shocked a room of GOP lawmakers when he said the president had been unhelpful on health care.

As House Republicans vented about the Senates failure to repeal Obamacare at a private meeting Friday morning, one member suddenly stood up to pin the blame on someone else entirely: President Donald Trump.

Rep. Dave Trott shocked the room when he said the president had been unhelpful on health care, according to sources at the meeting. The second-term Republican from Michigan worried aloud that constant White House infighting was distracting from the Republican agenda and he said he felt the president could have done more to get the bill across the finish line.

Story Continued Below

Trott was simply vocalizing whats on many members minds already, even if few say so publicly for fear of retribution. Hill Republicans are increasingly worried that Trumps penchant for drama and the constant bickering in the West Wing is going to crush their agenda.

This week, for instance, Republicans would have preferred to see the president spend more time shepherding the Senates floundering repeal effort rather than knocking Attorney General Jeff Sessions, several told POLITICO. As for Trumps new communication director, Anthony Scaramucci, Hill Republicans were dumbfounded by his comments earlier this week attacking now-former chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon.

The drama continued into Friday, when Priebus resigned days after Scaramucci called him, in an interview with The New Yorker, a f------ paranoid schizophrenic and accused him of trying to c--- block him in the West Wing. All that came after press secretary Sean Spicers departure, which was also triggered by Scaramuccis arrival and the ongoing war within the White House.

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Theres a level of conversation coming out of the White House of the likes of which nobody has ever seen before, said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who seconded Trotts comments during the closed-door GOP conference meeting. And so, as a consequence, not only do you have the normal impediments to legislative change, but youve got additional impediments that are self-created within the White House that impedes the presidents ability to lead.

Of course, Sanford has never been a Trump fan. The president, through budget director Mick Mulvaney, threatened to recruit a primary challenger against him if he voted against the Houses health care bill this spring. Sanford ultimately backed the bill.

But nowadays, Sanford is far from the only Republican criticizing the White Houses dysfunction. Two weeks ago, House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) fumed that the White Houses ongoing drip-drip in the Russia scandal was distracting from Republicans message.

Speaking to a gaggle of reporters off the House floor Friday before Priebus' departure was announced, Sanford said he agreed with Trotts comments, though he did not mention Trott by name.

That which is weird is getting weirder at the White House, Sanford continued. The new [communications director] has said things that are bizarre by any standards. And, consequently, they get covered things that have nothing to do with improving peoples lives.

A Trott spokesperson said the congressman is exasperated by the gridlock in Washington.

It feels like every time the House passes substantive legislation to better the lives of the American people it fails to come to fruition, the spokesperson said. Theres plenty of blame to go around, but Rep. Trott is focused on finding consensus and uniting the party so he can deliver real solutions for his constituents.

Some Republicans are frustrated with Trump, not just his staff.

They felt he should have spent more time talking about health care than tweeting about Hillary Clintons email practices. They also believe his comments about the Russia controversy make the matter only more prominent in the headlines.

Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican who voted against the House repeal bill, said the health care effort was doomed from the start in part because of Trump. The president, he argued, "never really laid out core principles and didnt sell them to the American people.

Usually the executive has to provide a plan and go out and sell it, he said. It was never really sold.

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Republicans complain about White House infighting - Politico

If anyone has a question about the different priorities of our two major political parties, I suggest checking the "Votes in Congress" column in each Monday's Post-Dispatch. Several votes during the week of July 17-21 are proof positive that Republicans value profit at all cost, including the health and safety of American families.

On July 18, the topic was whether states should improve air quality on a schedule laid out in the Clean Air Act. St. Louis-area Republicans in the House all voted to push that question to 2025. We are talking about ground-level ozone or smog, which is well-known to be harmful to our health. Television weather forecasters tell us how bad the "air quality" is each evening, and the Missouri Department of Transportation puts signs on highways telling us to cut back on driving. Is that any way to solve this problem? Is our health less important than the profit for polluters?

When the Democrats in the House tried to add an amendment to that bill that would keep the current standards schedule in place if evidence could be shown that dirty air is harmful to outdoor workers, children and senior citizens, all the St. Louis-area Republicans nixed that amendment. Kudos to Rep. William Lacy Clay for putting the health of area families above corporate greed.

Steve Reed Manchester

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Republicans value profit over the health of American families - STLtoday.com