Charles P. Pierce: Now They're Eating Their Own
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a56433/republicans-healthcare-beef/
Now They're Eating Their Own
The Republicans are beginning to turn on each other.
By Charles P. Pierce
Jul 19, 2017
Over at Josh's joint, they have a nifty collection of quotes from Republican members of the House. You remember, the guys who actually passed a big tax cut bill that had some onerous and barely human healthcare provisions tucked into it. Their compadres in the Senate, of course, have left them out there on the limb while the country cranks up the old Stihl. Apparently, Speaker Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny starver from the state of Wisconsin, has sent out the word not to bad-mouth the upper chamber. This is working out just about how you'd expect. From TPM:
"We agreed that there was not much use in criticizing the Senate while they were going through their process and I agree with that. I just find it interesting to note the number of geniuses serving in the United States Senate," Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) told TPM, after a long pause and a deep breath, when asked how he was feeling Tuesday evening. "Politically it all still needs fixing whether the Senate does nothing, whether we walked the plank or whatever." After an extended diatribe about the process and all the "bovine scat flying around" on the policy debate, Amodei walked away only to return to admit he was "pissed" at how the Senate dropped the ball.
At least Amodei, who was an early critic of the House GOP bill before voting for the final version, heads home to a relatively safe district; President Trump carried it by double digits. Other Republicans who voted for Obamacare repeal aren't so lucky. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) barely won reelection last fall in a district Trump lost by 8 points, and is a top Democratic target heading into 2018. He nevertheless voted for the bill after remaining silent on his position up until the vote itself. And he's not pleased that Republican senators weren't able to get their acts together. "The Senate dropped the ball," he said, sounding a bit exasperated. "They had almost a blank palette and they scribbled on it and came up with nothing.
Senator McConnell and {Senate Republicans}, they failed to do their job."
The inability to do anything is one thing. The inability to do anything and then to cut your own throats in frustration, while undeniably entertaining, is not a formula for successful governing. The inability to do anything, and then to cut your own throats in frustration, and to do so while being heckled by the president* is no way to run a republic. I have grown tired of all this winning.