Terminal Trumpcare, Con't

GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan isn't taking the the fall for Trumpcare by himself.  On the contrary, he's going to bring the rest of the GOP along with him for the log flume ride on the River Styx.  Ryan spoke this morning on FOX Business:

House Speaker Paul Ryan is stressing that President Donald Trump had a hand in writing the beleaguered health care overhaul that Republican leaders hope to push through his chamber next week. 

The Wisconsin Republican says there is room for “improvements and refinements.” But he says its major components will stay “intact” because the measure’s House GOP authors wrote it with Trump and Senate Republicans. 

Ryan’s comments Wednesday come as GOP leaders struggle to dampen internal opposition to the measure. Party leaders hope Trump’s support will help them nail down votes.

And of course there's a reason everyone's running away screaming from Trumpcare on Capitol Hill: American voters absolutely hate it.

PPP's newest national poll finds that there is very little support for the American Health Care Act. Only 24% of voters support it, to 49% who are opposed. Even among Republican voters only 37% are in favor of the proposal to 22% who are against it, and 41% who aren't sure one way or another. Democrats (15/71) and independents (22/49) are more unified in their opposition to the bill than Republicans are in favor of it. 

The Affordable Care Act continues to post some of the best numbers it's ever seen, with 47% of voters in favor of it to 39% who are opposed. When voters are asked whether they'd have rather have the Affordable Care Act or the American Health Care Act in place, the Affordable Care Act wins by 20 points at 49/29. Just 32% of voters think the best path forward with the Affordable Care Act is to repeal it and start over, while 63% think it would be better to keep what works in it and fix what doesn't. 

When Jason Chaffetz said people might have to choose between an iPhone and having health insurance, he was actually speaking for a majority of the party base. 57% of Trump voters think that's a choice people should have to make, to only 29% who think it's not. But virtually no one would actually pick an iPhone over health care if that was the pick they were presented with- only 5% would go with the phone, to 85% who would choose health care.

Just 24%?  This is a minefield of landmines made of smaller, more dangerous landmines, and Trump's selling pogo sticks for profit. Even Republicans hate this thing, 37%? C'mon.  The GOP is going to get eviscerated in 2018 over this and they damn well know it.

So who's going to take the fall for Trumpcare?  Hopefully, all of the GOP, should it pass.  That's still possible, but I'm thinking Ryan doesn't have the votes. Even if he does, Mitch won't have them in the Senate, not for the House bill as is.

Then the fun really begins.