Thoughts From The Dark Side: GOP House-Passed Health Measure ‘Cruel, Sloppy,’ A ‘Dog’s Breakfast Of A Bill’; Where Were The Republican Moderates?

USA Today: Trumpcare — A Dog’s Breakfast Of A Bill
The Republican health care bill that passed by a 217-213 vote Thursday in the House is likely to be studied for generations as an example of how not to legislate. This measure was neither subjected to hearings nor debated in committee. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimated that a previous version would have resulted in 24 million fewer people having insurance, has not "scored" its impact. Although the plan would have life-and-death consequences and reshape a big chunk of the economy, it was slammed through after a mere three hours of debate. No effort at bipartisan compromise was attempted. (5/4)

Bloomberg: The Shame Of The House Health-Care Vote
The dereliction of duty is breathtaking. In pushing the American Health Care Act through the House of Representatives, Speaker Paul Ryan and his Republican conference have voted to remake almost one-fifth of the U.S. economy. They did so without public hearings, without input from outside experts, without analysis by the Congressional Budget Office and without, finally, much compunction or consideration of the tens of millions of Americans it will harm. (5/4)

Los Angeles Times: The GOP's Healthcare 'victory' Was Anything But
Republicans created a myth about the Affordable Care Act, claiming that Democrats rammed it through under cover of darkness. For years they mocked then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s statement that “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” But this phrase was taken out of context: She was talking about how the news media had distorted the bill. At any rate, this story about the ACA was completely false. Democrats let the Congressional Budget Office carefully score the bill and if it was rushed it was with the slowest haste in legislative history — the process took more than a year. (Scott Lemieux, 5/4)

Detroit Free Press: Republican Health Bill Is Cruel And Sloppy
The debate over our six-year-old national health reform law is quickly being defined not as right vs. left, or Republican vs. Democrat, but as decent vs. indecent. That’s a harsh assessment, no doubt, and one that we don’t make lightly. (Stephen Henderson, 5/4)

The Washington Post: What Do Bigfoot And Moderate Republicans Have In Common?
But at the point that they vote to remake 18 percent of the economy without hearings, without expert testimony, without a public text of a bill even a day before their vote, without waiting for an estimate of either the budgetary or human cost of their handiwork — well, at that point, they lose any claim to “seriousness” or “moderation.” If there’s one thing to take away from Thursday’s health-care vote, it’s this: Next time you think these Moderate Republicans are going to save the United States from doing something catastrophically stupid, constructed from the whims of ideologue colleagues, disabuse yourself of the notion. (Catherine Rampell, 5/4)

Arizona Republic: Republicans Prove To Be Even Dumber Than Democrats
Not a single Democrat voted with Republicans in the House to pass the current version of Trumpcare.Only it’s even worse than that. Prior to the Affordable Care Act vote Democrats held hundreds of meeting and public hearings...None of that happened with Trumpcare (American Health Care Act). (EJ Montini, 5/4)

Bloomberg: The Senate Holds All The Cards On Health Care
If it's true that the entire health care reform effort since January has been one large exercise in blame-shifting, then Paul Ryan and House Republicans have successfully -- for now -- shifted blame for the failure to repeal and replace Obamacare over to the Senate. With 20 Republican defections, but with many Republicans in tough districts still having to cast tough "yes" votes, the House passed the American Health Care Act by the razor thin margin of 217 to 213. (Jonathan Bernstein, 5/4)

The Washington Post: What Senate Republicans Need To Do Right Now
With the House’s passage of the American Health Care Act, House Republican leaders have handed their Senate counterparts the biggest legislative weapon they have held in their entire careers. At this point, Senate Republicans should learn from a bit of wisdom often attributed to one of the wittiest and most clear-eyed Founders, Ben Franklin: “We must, indeed, all hang together,” he supposedly told the Continental Congress in 1776, “or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” If the 52 GOP senators agree to stay together and maneuver through the next month together, they could bring about a huge breakthrough for the country and a rejection of the gridlock that has consumed the Senate for years. (Hugh Hewitt, 5/4)

The New York Times: Don’t Take The Senate For Granted On Health Care
After the House passed a cruel and unpopular health care bill on Thursday, many people (including me, I’ll confess) immediately began talking about the likely effects on the 2018 midterms. Smart political observers believe that Republicans just increased their odds of losing House control, which would be very big deal. But there is plenty of time later to worry about the 2018 midterms. The focus now should be on the Senate. (David Leonhardt, 5/4)

Kansas City Star: The House Votes To Break Health Care. The Senate Must Fix It. 
The vote was 217 to 213. Every Republican member from Kansas and Missouri voted yes, including Reps. Kevin Yoder, Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler and Lynn Jenkins. But we shouldn’t get angry. We should use the House bill as a guidepost, because the GOP’s views about your health care are now crystal clear. (5/4)

San Jose Mercury News: Why Senate Should Reject House Health Care Bill
The health care bill narrowly approved by Republicans Thursday in the House is a disaster, not only for California but also for all 50 states. It has more fatal flaws than Donald Trump has hotels. The Senate should reject it out of hand and insist the House start over on a plan that could actually improve on our health care system. (5/4)