Wiretap: While GOP stuck in bid to repeal Obamacare, Dems moving on to single-payer

While Republicans are stuck trying to repeal Obamacare, unable to even get the latest Trumpcare bill onto the Senate floor, Democrats are moving away from Obama’s signature plan and inching toward what they’ve long hoped for — a true single-payer plan. Via Vox.

In tossing out the ultimate threat to his Republican colleagues, Mitch McConnell warns that if they can’t repeal and replace Obamacare, they may have to — gasp — negotiate with Democrats to fix the problem. You may ask: Why would that be so bad? It’s a very good question. Via New York magazine.

In the closing days, a group of governors launched an attack on Donald Trump’s attempt to repeal Obamacare. As the Senate Republicans were lost in disarray, John Hickenlooper — yes, Colorado’s own Hick — was leading the way, along with Ohio Republican John Kasich, to try to broker a bipartisan solution. We may never see bipartisanship in Washington again, but we also may never see Trumpcare. Via The New York Times.

The ambitious Republican agenda, which includes slashing taxes and rewriting the entire tax code, can’t go anywhere until Republicans either pass a new health care plan or risk whatever credibility they have left by giving up on healthcare altogether. Via The New Yorker.

From The National Review: If Republicans can’t find a way to pass healthcare legislation, they’d make it clear to anyone paying attention that they’re not ready to govern.

George F. Will predicts that “repeal and replace” will turn into “tweak and move on.” And Barack Obama will eventually be proven right, he says, when he likened Obamacare to “a starter home.” Via The Washington Post.

If there’s one lesson that Trump could learn from the GOP healthcare debacle, in which the majority party once again can’t put together a majority vote, it’s that too many Republican senators just aren’t afraid of him. Via The Washington Post.

CNN has to retract a Trump-Russia story and the twitter-in-chief, looking for some kind of victory, took a full swipe at FAKE news. Meanwhile, deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders lectured the press for CNN’s mistake while publicly pumping James O’Keefe’s latest video. Via The New York Times.

We don’t know whether the Trump campaign had anything to do with Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign, but we do know that the Trump presidency has aligned perfectly with everything Vladimir Putin could have possibly hoped for.  Via The Atlantic.

Richard L. Hasen: If you’re having doubts, it’s fair to say that there’s at least one promise that Trump has definitely kept. In no time at all, Neil Gorsuch, as touted, has established himself as very much the new Antonin Scalia. Via The Los Angeles Times.

Will Bunch: It’s time for journalists to stop just complaining about the no-camera rules at most White House briefings. It’s time to turn on the freaking lights. Via The Philadelphia Daily News.

Photo by Michael Fleshman, via Flickr: Creative Commons