I'll be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't pass. The GOP know how bad a loss here will look, and they also know they can retool it in the senate and send it back for another House vote. Passing it is now the only way to keep editing (the ultimatum isn't so much 'pass THIS or pass nothing' as it is 'pass it in the house so I get a win, or you're done revising it'). And even if they ultimately can't find a compromise that works, it will still provide Donald with a weekend's worth of good press...which is all he wants out of it anyway.

I didn't understand it could still be edited, so thanks.

we need to get you some schoolhouse rock

I seem to remember a Mike McCready track that wasn't too interesting.

I mean, that assumes that they feel McConnell can be counted on to resolve all the problems and find survivable compromises, which is


But it's also their only path to having a health care bill now. Unless enough Republican legislators have the balls to call Trump's bluff.

We're gonna need an updated version that explains reconciliation.

The House will pass a bill today. Then we'll find out if they actually want it to become law. If they go the reconciliation route, they do. If they don't then they'll let Democrats filibuster it and have to take the blame for it.

Hey, brah, I fucking know that. I fucking know that this is going to go bad for a lot of people. My point is that instead of affecting the "non us" that Trump voters want to hurt, it will affect everyone.

At this point even a win won't result in a "Donald Trump is a dealmaker" headline. He has looked like a resource-less bully throughout, in a way that is going to embolden Republicans that disagree with him and injure his ability to get other desired policies in place.

This is really their official account.

In general the thing that made Obamacare bad is the cost.

The problem with healthcare in general is cost.

The republican plan does absolutely nothing to address costs except for shifting the burdens around.

The only real way to reduce costs is to bargain as a larger group and or control/subsidize. HSA's are a great idea, the idea that tax credits are the solution is pretty silly really.

We're either going to have to vastly expand medicaid and medicare or just go all in and put everyone on it.

What we call "insurance" now is not insurance it's managed care. We're all in the same buying pool and the prices are completely made up out of thin air.

The 1940's plan of getting healthcare from your employer is pretty much dead so trying to roll back the ACA for the old way isn't going to fly. People are going to hate it, a lot of people will lose coverage, nothing will happen to the ridiculous costs of care, and employers are going go to cheaper policies with less coverage because they need to compete. The same is going to happen to higher education soon too because the loan system we have makes no sense and the costs in that realm are also vastly out of step with their actual value.

If the republican's really wanted to build a better system, they would stop worrying about the ACA and start writing laws that allow for more government control over drug and service costs for medicare and medicaid.

As it stands health insurers can either get with the program and survive or wait until the next democrat president gets universal health care passed. The systems we have and the systems we had are untenable for the majority of the people in this country.

Yes, but to expand, I'd say the obvious fixes would be to enact regulations on costs for prescription meds; and tackling environmental and nutritions issues that lead to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

That's the very first thing I would do. Start negotiating drug costs or even buying up a few drug manufacturers.

Preventative care/ Prenatal/Postnatal care.... That's just common sense.

This group should be staying in their lane and trying to reduce costs first before doing anything grandiose... alas... They certainly are making Barack Obama look like a great president though.

No vote.

Somewhere, Steve Bannon just vomited blood into a hollowed out pig's skull.

"I alone can fix it.*"

*Some restrictions may apply.

Well, it is Friday.

Nice modding, ruddo (I assume?).

Trump asked Ryan to pull the bill and there is a Ryan news conference at 4pm.