"Art of the Deal President couldn't close," Chuck Todd summed it up on "Meet The Press" today with regard to the Republican's failed attempt to repeal Obamacare and replace it will the House Speaker Paul Ryan's engineered plan instead.
The man who is on record as saying that Donald Trump is a "tremendous closer" and who also happens to be the White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney didn't do the administration any favors in his appearance today. (The consolation being the didn't do any further damage, but how much more could you do really?)
Mr. Mulvaney said that there was plenty of blame to go around, but he said, "Washington won, and the folks back home lost."
He kept on this tact, not realizing how "deep the difficulty" was and how it was "a lot more rotten than we thought" in Washington, etc. But the fact is that Republicans lead by Mr. Ryan, backed by the White House, tried to jam a bill through in 17 days that would change the dynamic of 18 percent of the American economy. And they couldn't get it done with the biggest majorities in all branches of government since 1928. Mr. Mulvaney, once a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he would have voted for the bill, but he has the luxury to say that because he's not in that position. Mr. Mulvaney, like Speaker Ryan, is about tax cuts and dismantling social programs. He can blame Washington but the Republicans are Washington so they only have themselves to blame.
Hugh Hewitt thought The Washington Examiner overstated it when they said that not repealing Obamacare was the biggest broken promise in political history. A matter of perspective to be sure, but Republicans ran on this repeal three times and held over 50 repeal votes along the way. The biggest? Maybe no, but pretty damn big broken promise. (Mr. Hewitt's drunken euphoria about possibly getting a hard-right conservative Supreme Court justice, that he's blind to any rationale thought on any thing else, a shame really.)
When Chuck Todd asked Mr. Mulvaney why he could bring his former Freedom Caucus colleagues around to vote for the bill, he said, "I have no idea."
When asked why Republicans could put over 50 repeal bills on fmr. President Obama's desk but couldn't put one on President Trump's desk, he answered, "I don't know."
Being a 'yes' man is essentially good for nothing.
Mr. Todd also asked Mr. Mulvaney, "Why the rush?" And the director's explained that it was because there's so much to do. No... that's not the answer. The answer as to why the Administration is in such hurry was answered by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) who said, "This is the most important thing I've done in my political life."
Of course he was referring to the Senate investigation into potential ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, but by each passing day the situation is getting worse and worse and more and more individuals are lawyering up. That's why the rush on legislation.
There are two last things that caught my attention, discussed on today's "Meet The Press," and both concern House Speaker Paul Ryan. First, the Speaker's position is safe despite the failure to push a health care repeal bill through because as The Wall Street Journal phrased it, "No one want's to be Henry VIII's next wife." Ouch. But what does that say about Republicans? They own the majority throughout government and as Chuck Todd accurately assessed, no one wants the top leadership job so Mr. Ryan is safe.
And lastly, the president gave his vocal support to Paul Ryan in the face of this defeat on health care, but then tweeted this weekend to watch Jeanine Pirro's 9PM program on Fox, where her lead editorial was about how Speaker Ryan should resign or step down or be removed or whatever.
If the president... The president mind you... has a problem with the Speaker of House, he have the backbone to just come out and say it instead of playing these passive aggressive Twitter games promoting surrogates' programs to get across what you really want to say. So NOT the character trait of what we would define as a leadership quality.
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, NBC News; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network; Tom Brokaw, NBC News
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Friday, March 24, 2017
3.24.17: Seven And A Half Years... And Nothing to Show For It
The Republicans had 7 1/2 years to come up with their own health care plan while voting over 50 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In all that time they never came up with a bill that could accommodate, placate and resuscitate all their different factions - doctors' caucus, freedom caucus, the caucus caucus, whatever, and today...
Republicans, owning the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, couldn't even get a bill to the House floor for a vote. Basically, the day came to a hard stop when House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said, "Obamacare is the law of the land for the foreseeable future..."
And the president needed this badly. Mr. Trump needs to change the conversation away from Russia and his campaign, but without health care as a policy focal point, the press will be right back to it until the Republicans can get their act together on their next major initiative, tax reform, but who knows when that will be.
And if the president and the Republicans in the House get beaten up by the press for this failure then they just have to take the punches because they blew it.
Where was the deal maker? The leadership? The rank and file support? No where to be found. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price couldn't sell it. He sounded disingenuous about the whole thing, at best. Vice President Mike Pence was no help because he expanded Medicaid in his state of Indiana as governor so now as VP he's making the argument to repeal it and take people's health insurance away?
"Are all of us willing to give a little to get something done?" Mr. Ryan asked. He essentially asked for compromise but it was his caucus that plays zero-sum politics and doesn't believe in that notion, even though that's what politics is.
And the reason I mentioned tax reform earlier because if they repeat with that what they did with health care and they're just showing that they're incapable of governing. Never mind what they going to do to get Democrats on board. The president erred in trying to lay the blame on them; it didn't stick but then again I guess you give it shot.
But wow, now the Republicans have only one foot left because the AR-15 they were holding took the other clean off. They really shot themselves in the foot with this health care disaster.
Seven and a half years... 7! And nothing.
Republicans, owning the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, couldn't even get a bill to the House floor for a vote. Basically, the day came to a hard stop when House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said, "Obamacare is the law of the land for the foreseeable future..."
And the president needed this badly. Mr. Trump needs to change the conversation away from Russia and his campaign, but without health care as a policy focal point, the press will be right back to it until the Republicans can get their act together on their next major initiative, tax reform, but who knows when that will be.
And if the president and the Republicans in the House get beaten up by the press for this failure then they just have to take the punches because they blew it.
Where was the deal maker? The leadership? The rank and file support? No where to be found. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price couldn't sell it. He sounded disingenuous about the whole thing, at best. Vice President Mike Pence was no help because he expanded Medicaid in his state of Indiana as governor so now as VP he's making the argument to repeal it and take people's health insurance away?
"Are all of us willing to give a little to get something done?" Mr. Ryan asked. He essentially asked for compromise but it was his caucus that plays zero-sum politics and doesn't believe in that notion, even though that's what politics is.
And the reason I mentioned tax reform earlier because if they repeat with that what they did with health care and they're just showing that they're incapable of governing. Never mind what they going to do to get Democrats on board. The president erred in trying to lay the blame on them; it didn't stick but then again I guess you give it shot.
But wow, now the Republicans have only one foot left because the AR-15 they were holding took the other clean off. They really shot themselves in the foot with this health care disaster.
Seven and a half years... 7! And nothing.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
3.19.17: The Coming Political Theater and Where This Administration Wants to Take Us
I've resisted commenting lately because you have to wonder what more you can say about the Donald Trump presidency, which is essentially destroying the concept of what America represents. I distinguish between the concept of America and the country that is the United States of America.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney outlined a budget that increases defense, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, and support for veterans. Sure, easy to agree with veteran support, but nothing else in it makes sense given the fact that it cuts many programs that would benefit the president's base of supporters. Every time I hear Mr. Mulvaney speak, it more strongly confirms my thought that if left to him, his budget would tank this country financially.
President Trump sold his supporters empty promises and nothing more.
Chuck Todd thinks the Healthcare vote this week will be the biggest story, among many big stories to come this week. Paul Ryan's healthcare bill will pass the House, but the Senate, probably not. Fourteen million people are going to be taken off of the Medicaid expansion, and no matter how you twist that rhetorically, people are really going to negatively feel that. The tax credit plan in its replacement along with block grants to the states isn't going to work out. Conservative state governors will eventually eliminate from their budgets, states like South Carolina where Mick Mulvaney was a Congressman.
It comes down to whether you think healthcare is a right that Americans should have or not. Government is always going to be involved in healthcare in some way. Today's conservative philosophy (Paul Ryan's) is that government should not be responsible for providing it and that extends to Medicaid and Medicare. Speaker Ryan wants to phase these programs out, starting with the Medicaid expansion enacted through the Affordable Care Act.
I suspect that FBI Director James Comey will confirm some things tomorrow that we already know, namely Donald Trump's lie about the wire tapping, an embarrassment exacerbated by our dumbass President repeating it at the podium with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. George Will insight that Chancellor Merkel grew up in East Germany where being spied on by secret police was a way of life. That would never have even occurred as a remote thought to our president.
Honestly, commenting is so difficult when you have no evidence that this president can be trusted in any serious matter; 50 days in and our relationships with all of our allies are evaporating before our eyes and domestically he only plays into people's fears and blames someone else. Tell me why I'd want to tell my kid that I'd want him to grow up and be like this president. I'm still trying to figure that out.
America was the goal for every country in the world that aspired to have more freedom, opportunity and prosperity, and now with Donald Trump as president we've essentially surrendered that position. He does want America to lead the world any more. In voting for him, this is direction we've decided to go.
In the meantime, get ready for another week of high political theater.
Panel: George Will, The Washington Post; Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Katty Kay, BBC News
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney outlined a budget that increases defense, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, and support for veterans. Sure, easy to agree with veteran support, but nothing else in it makes sense given the fact that it cuts many programs that would benefit the president's base of supporters. Every time I hear Mr. Mulvaney speak, it more strongly confirms my thought that if left to him, his budget would tank this country financially.
President Trump sold his supporters empty promises and nothing more.
Chuck Todd thinks the Healthcare vote this week will be the biggest story, among many big stories to come this week. Paul Ryan's healthcare bill will pass the House, but the Senate, probably not. Fourteen million people are going to be taken off of the Medicaid expansion, and no matter how you twist that rhetorically, people are really going to negatively feel that. The tax credit plan in its replacement along with block grants to the states isn't going to work out. Conservative state governors will eventually eliminate from their budgets, states like South Carolina where Mick Mulvaney was a Congressman.
It comes down to whether you think healthcare is a right that Americans should have or not. Government is always going to be involved in healthcare in some way. Today's conservative philosophy (Paul Ryan's) is that government should not be responsible for providing it and that extends to Medicaid and Medicare. Speaker Ryan wants to phase these programs out, starting with the Medicaid expansion enacted through the Affordable Care Act.
I suspect that FBI Director James Comey will confirm some things tomorrow that we already know, namely Donald Trump's lie about the wire tapping, an embarrassment exacerbated by our dumbass President repeating it at the podium with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. George Will insight that Chancellor Merkel grew up in East Germany where being spied on by secret police was a way of life. That would never have even occurred as a remote thought to our president.
Honestly, commenting is so difficult when you have no evidence that this president can be trusted in any serious matter; 50 days in and our relationships with all of our allies are evaporating before our eyes and domestically he only plays into people's fears and blames someone else. Tell me why I'd want to tell my kid that I'd want him to grow up and be like this president. I'm still trying to figure that out.
America was the goal for every country in the world that aspired to have more freedom, opportunity and prosperity, and now with Donald Trump as president we've essentially surrendered that position. He does want America to lead the world any more. In voting for him, this is direction we've decided to go.
In the meantime, get ready for another week of high political theater.
Panel: George Will, The Washington Post; Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Katty Kay, BBC News
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