Originally Posted by
broncofan
For sure part of the problem is that Trump and Ryan were not entirely on the same page. When Trump said one version of the bill was "mean", Ryan could have asked him what then are its demerits. I don't know what they could have wanted that would not be anathema to the free-marketers but not also inhumane. The problem they always had was that the objections of many to Obamacare were never grounded in logic, and it was not such an easy area for them to just undo the changes enacted by Obamacare, since the damage would be obvious.
A big mistake they made imo was not dealing with tax reform first. Most people don't understand the tax code, it is difficult to trace the effects of tax policy, and they are probably not going to be divided on tax policy either. I hope I'm wrong but I think they're going to be more successful when it comes to taxes.