Steve Benen’s post seeking to affix blame to Trump for the failure of the healthcare bill – much to Steve’s relief – is neglectful of one of the key players to fail in this little drama.
Speaker of the House Ryan.
I think it’s important to remember that Speaker Ryan’s primary achievement in this debacle was to deliver a terribly flawed bill that was built in an unprofessional manner, so awful that Ryan had to promise dubious Representatives that the Senate would improve it into something they would not feel shame over.
Well, I don’t know how the GOP representatives are feeling, but if I were one of them I’d be toting up my current losses vs my potential losses and giving a sigh of relief that all of the bastard children of infamy in the Senate failed by the grace of a few GOP Senators who know how the chamber should be run – and isn’t.
The undeliberate way the most deliberative body in the world has operated since the GOP took over the White House isn’t just a scandal, but indicative of the deep rot that seems to lie at the heart of the GOP. I shan’t indulge my proclivities towards speculation on that topic, because I want to bring a focus back on Speaker Ryan, whose style of passing the initial healthcare legislation seemed to be more in the way of childishly pleasing some unnamed master than deliberate and sober governing.
It is, in fact, his responsibility to pass legislation that is as good as it can be. Not dumb slop that hurts families across America, because governing, once again, is not a game. It’s one of the highest responsibilities a citizen can assume, and Speaker Ryan is not building a distinguished record, but rather a record of how not to behave.
McConnell, much like Ryan in that he seems to be trying to please some unnamed master, and Trump certainly have their own severe blots, but the Senate’s preeminence in the recent news should not be permitted to let Ryan escape blame and responsibility. In my view, his constituents should be letting him know right now that his performance, both in terms of what he wants to pass, as well as how he’s proceeding, has been absolutely terrible and unworthy of the office.
When will the Speaker begin to take his position seriously? When he’s face down in the gutter, wondering what just happened to him on Election night?
