You don’t have the votes, you don’t have the votes.

“Republicans streaming out of the House GOP conference meeting on Friday afternoon told reporters that the legislative effort was dead and that leaders were moving on to other agenda items, such as tax reform. During a news conference at the Capitol, House Speaker Paul Ryan attributed the setback to Republicans’ newfound status as a governing party. “We’re feeling those growing pains today,” the Wisconsin Republican said. “We came up short.” “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future,” he added.”

Chris Jacobs last night predicted that the over/under for votes for the AHCA was around 175 – and this bill looked to be headed for the under. So how does this happen? Whose fault is it? And what can be done to prevent it from happening again?

Yes, AHCA failure is a failure for the president, but it’s much more a failure for House leadership and Paul Ryan. They had seven years to prepare for this moment, and they failed to do so sufficiently.