Increasingly, we Americans occupy alternate universes. President Trump: “To be honest, I inherited a mess! It’s a mess!” Stephen Colbert: “No, you inherited a fortune; we elected a mess.” There is very little common ground left … only battling perceptions of reality. Neither side seems to have much use for […] Read more »
With his presidency off course, what will Trump learn from the health-care debacle?
Sixty-five days do not ultimately define a presidency, especially the first 65 of a new president’s first term. That’s as true for President Trump as for other presidents who suffered early setbacks. But without some serious stocktaking inside the White House after the failed effort to replace the Affordable Care […] Read more »
Why Wasn’t Obamacare Repealed? The Answer Is the Party, Not the President
… While it’s certainly true that both the president and the speaker made mistakes in handling the health care issue, it’s inaccurate to portray the demise of the AHCA as primarily a consequence of individual failures of leadership or strategy. … The real obstacle to the passage of health care […] Read more »
Trump Becomes Ensnared in Fiery G.O.P. Civil War
President Trump ignites a lot of fights, but the biggest defeat in his short time in the White House was the result of a long-running Republican civil war that had already humbled a generation of party leaders before him. A precedent-flouting president who believes that Washington’s usual rules and consequences […] Read more »
The Obamacare Fight Is About Way More Than Health Care
… In many ways, the two parties, while focusing on the technical details of health care, are also debating fundamental questions about the role of government, work, income redistribution, race, class and Barack Obama. This is not just a debate about health care premiums or your ability to choose your […] Read more »
If Health Bill Is Killed in the House, Ideology Will Be the Main Reason
The bill to replace Obamacare is struggling to gain support from House Republicans, but not necessarily because of how the plan would affect their constituents. … Instead, the health care debate is splitting House Republicans along ideological lines, with few signs that members are being pulled off familiar terrain by […] Read more »