GOP divided over new course after House health care debacle

Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday he’s going to give battered House Republicans another crack at a health care overhaul. He asked them to reflect on the party’s failure. They wouldn’t say what was on the table now that wasn’t being considered last week. Trump has already set his sights on a new challenge.

“And we saw good overtures from those members from different parts of our conference to get there because we all share these goals and we’re just going to have to figure out how to get it done”, he said. The bigger issue may be the President himself, who made clear his patience had run out on the issue and was champing at the bit to move onto tax reform. First, though, Congressional Republicans need to find a governing coalition. We now have a chance to go back to the drawing board and do this right.

SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE: Hey, Kelly.

DAVIS: Oh, they think it’s significant. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). “I hear some encouraging sounds from the House and talked to my Republicans here”.

The Clinton administration tried for 18 months to get health care reform through Congress. Here’s what he had to say.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: In 1991, the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City was deeply in debt and so was Donald Trump. “The form will have to change some”, said Representative Morgan Griffith of Virginia, adding that there remains a strong desire among conservative activists to undo the law. But my point here isn’t that I think the GOP is about to move to the left of Obama on health policy. But as the day went on, I think people on the right came to the view that this idea was being taken too seriously-not only by liberals and (therefore) by many journalists, but by some on the right, and perhaps even by the president. And like their Obamacare repeal, it’s not clear they can pass anything.

The retreat on the party’s top legislative priority was not only a jarring defeat for President Donald Trump and Republican leaders, it also raised questions about whether the GOP could muster the unity needed on other issues. Now we’re stuck with Obamacare. “And I think people are willing to do that”.

You know what would be really nice? But the two sides appear far apart on what “bipartisanship” looks like.

And members of the Republicans’ House Freedom Caucus couldn’t care less and refused to vote for the bill because it wasn’t cruel enough. But the reality is doing that means a lot more concessions and moving legislation that is a lot less conservative, particularly on things like tax reform.

But Greg Walden, a Republican from OR and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, sounded optimistic on Tuesday.

Democrats, however, are opposed to tax cuts for the rich. “Other people lost a lot of money, bond holders, etc”. Is he lagging behind the mood on the Hill, or will he steer the debate in his own direction – toward minority leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer?

Emerging from their first conference meeting since the setback, Republican members said the message from their leadership was direct: it’s time to unify. Talks of a reboot are surprising, as Ryan seemed pretty defeated after the bill was pulled and got roasted by Papa Roach in the process. Is Speaker Ryan facing any kind of similar pressure? Even if Republican megadonors who would be gouged by those taxes were somehow convinced to sit this one out, “Republicans want to raise the price of almost everything you buy” is a dead-fish plan from the start.

Partisanship was one of them.