Be Very Afraid

Matt Fuller’s lay of the land on TrumpCare is really good, if terrifying:

After the House passed its health care bill last week, Senators looked apt to take that dramatically conservative plan, stick it in a filing cabinet, and start over with a more moderate bill ― one that may never be able to pass the House on the way back.

But Democrats may overestimate the level of disagreement between the two chambers. And if the last two months have proved anything, it’s that we’re underestimating the ability of Republicans to accept a flawed bill in the name of winning.

We may also be surprised by what House conservatives could accept from the Senate.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) has already been working with Senate Republicans on what changes House conservatives could live with, knowing that the Senate bill will probably undo some cuts to Medicaid and perhaps a key amendment that brought conservatives onboard in the first place.

I hope the Freedom Caucus will play some heighten-the-contradictions, but I worry that they won’t. As for “moderates” in the Senate…I’d be shocked if they didn’t roll. This is a real crisis. I just wish legislation revolved around the president half as much as most people think it does.