He did everything short of actually attempting to understand why House Republicans didn’t want to vote for it.
.. Either way, Trump went so far as to threaten primary challenges to those who didn’t sign on.
.. Some Republicans felt that the American Health Care Act wouldn’t do enough to lower premiums
.. The CBO score said that the bill would reduce the costs of insurance eventually . . . but increase them in the first three years. It’s fair to ask whether voters would feel warm to Republicans in fall of 2018 if a GOP replacement plan passed and they still found themselves paying too much for too little care.
.. Avik Roy pointed out that the AHCA “would lead to significant spikes in net insurance premiums for lower-income participants in the individual insurance market, with particular problems for those in their fifties and sixties.”
.. You can’t enact some of Republicans’ favorite proposals, such as tort reform and selling insurance across state lines, without either some support from Senate Democrats or the elimination of the filibuster.
.. almost no one in his caucus wanted to vote no. They wanted to get to yes but simply didn’t see enough good in the bill to make voting for it worthwhile.
.. when it came to the details of the legislation, Trump “either doesn’t know, doesn’t care or both.”
.. Ryan has learned that his wonky style of communication is wasted on Trump given the president’s lack of interest in policy details, Steel said. But he has come to value Trump’s eagerness to exert pressure on wavering Republicans.
.. It appears President Trump cared a lot more about getting a win than about what, exactly, he would be winning. And that lack of focus on the details helped deny him the victory he wanted so badly.