GONE – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:  The Republican Party, which for seven years promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, last night failed to pass a repeal measure in the U.S. Senate.  Three senators, Collins of Maine, McCain of Arizona, and Murkowski of Alaska, failed to go along.  All Democrats, like the robots they are, voted against.  From Bloomberg: 

A months-long effort by Senate Republicans to pass health legislation collapsed early Friday after GOP Senator John McCain joined two of his colleagues to block a stripped-down Obamacare repeal bill.

“I regret that our efforts were simply not enough, this time,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor after the vote. “This is clearly a disappointing moment.”
“It’s time to move on,” he added after pulling the bill from the floor.

The decision by McCain to vote no came after weeks of brinkmanship and after his dramatic return from cancer treatment to cast the 50th vote to start debate on the bill earlier this week. The GOP’s “skinny” repeal bill was defeated 49-51, falling just short of the 50 votes needed to advance it.

Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also voted against it.

It wasn’t immediately clear what the next steps would be for the Republicans. The repeal effort had appeared to collapse several times before, only to be revived. And several Republicans pleaded for their colleagues not to give up, even as President Donald Trump blasted the vote.

COMMENT:  We can't blame only the Republicans, and certainly not only Senator McCain.  The party's lack of preparation, and the utter refusal of the Democrats to assist constructively, guaranteed failure.

As the story said, it's hard to know what the GOP will do next, but one thing it must do is turn to tax reform and give the American middle class a tax cut by the end of the year.  If it cannot do that, it has no argument for re-election, and we may well see a Democratic House elected next year, a House whose first item of business will be to impeach the president.

Republicans in Congress hold both houses.  They have a president willing to sign legislation.  So far, on important items, they're batting zero.

July 28,  2017