The Ohio Republican, battered from three years of intra-party battles, was caught between at least three different GOP factions as he tried to craft a compromise agreement: Republicans who didn’t want to slash government health care contributions for Capitol Hill aides, members who thought repealing the medical device tax was a giveaway to corporate America and conservatives, who thought Republican leaders were too soft on Obamacare…

Boehner, Cantor and McCarthy face an ongoing dilemma: The House GOP Conference is like a balloon. Squeeze it one place, and a problem pops out somewhere else.

They have few, if any, tools to discipline conservative and tea party affiliated members. And they never whipped today’s proposal, assuming they could round up the votes for it without doing so.

Boehner’s closest allies say they doubt he can afford another round of back-and-forth with his conference. They think this battle is over.