Bonus Earworm of the Afternoon -- I Feel Fine

We're going to be fighting and fighting and fighting for a long time, but I have to say I currently feel better than I ever expected to before November 2018. So....

Goodbye, AHCA!

Don't let the door hit you...

From WaPo:

House Republican leaders abruptly pulled a Republican rewrite of the nation’s health-care system from consideration on Friday, a dramatic acknowledgment that they are so far unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“We just pulled it,” President Trump told the Washington Post in a telephone interview.

The decision came a day after President Trump delivered an ultimatum to lawmakers — and represented multiple failures for the new president and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).

The decision means the Affordable Care Act remains in place, at least for now, and a major GOP campaign promise goes unfulfilled. It also casts doubt on the GOP’s ability to govern and to advance other high-stakes agenda items, including tax reform and infrastructure spending. Ryan is still without a signature achievement as speaker — and the defeat undermines Trump’s image as a skilled dealmaker willing to strike compromises to push his agenda forward.

Time to sit back and watch the circular firing squad. There's no way Trump doesn't blame Ryan for this. He might even lose his speakership, and really has no heir apparent.

What happens beyond that fight is a mystery to me...

Earworm of the Afternoon -- The Luck You Got

End of the Week Gorsuch Update

After a week of fairly quiet hearings, the next steps for the Gorsuch confirmation aren't totally clear to me. It doesn't appear that they've set a date for the vote yet; the Republicans are going to have murky waters to navigate. Schumer says the Democrats are going to filibuster Gorsuch, which means he believes he has more than 40 votes against Gorsuch.

The Republicans could go "nuclear" -- eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, but conservatives have always been the least likely to want to get rid of it, since they've been in the Senate minority more often than not and often function better in the minority. As a result, they very well might not have the votes to change the Senate filibuster rules.

I'm not as convinced as I was a week or two ago that Gorsuch is getting through, particularly if the healthcare bill passes or the Russia scandal continues to snowball, because if the Republicans become even a little less likely to support Trump (like three votes in the Senate less likely), they're going to have a hard time finding the votes to invoke the "nuclear option."

Looks like that's it on Gorsuch until Monday; the Democrats did pretty well, given the circumstances.

I'll be back with more on the AHCA in the late afternoon after the 3:30 vote (or lack of it).

Friday Afternoon Health "Care" Bill Update

Watching Sean Spicer right now patronize the press skate all around about why the AHCA did not pass the House yesterday as he was adamant they would. It does not look like it's going to pass today. He's also, like his boss, explaining that healthcare is complex.

Oliver Willis has the latest in one retweet, along with his very deep, very profound, not-mocking-at-all commentary:

Wow. @DanaBashCNN reporting Ryan is going to show Trump the votes and tell him they don't have them. He'll ask what Trump wants to do now

— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) March 24, 2017

maniacal laugh
maniacal laugh
maniacal laugh
maniacal laugh
maniacal laugh
maniacal laugh
maniacal laugh
maniacal laugh
maniacal laugh https://t.co/SIIHhohu87

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) March 24, 2017

Meanwhile, Spicer is just pissed off, and I'm enjoying it. There's so much more than just the healthcare of 25 million people hangs in the balance, and that's a lot. He's telling the press that Trump is excited to move beyond this bill and to get to health insurance. Good luck with that.

Late Night Track - Dead Souls

The Daily Combover - March 23, 2017

Bob Marley once famously said, "...music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."

Just watched the totally biased and fake news reports of the so-called Russia story on NBC and ABC. Such dishonesty!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2017

But when reality crashes through the lies you put up around you? Oh yeah, that leaves a mark.

With the Republicans in Congress scrambling to come up with a bill evil enough for the Freedom Caucus to approve of replacing ObamaCare with TaxCutCare, Trump has been busy watching the news media finally starting to understand that they don't have to put up with the lies any longer.

That has left Trump and his allies in a constant stupor. Take for example, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. Nunes made veiled references to a piece of intelligence on the Trump surveillance investigation that would shake the country to its core, but then refused to say what it was, instead saying he shared it with the White House. When questioned by the media, Nunes crumbled.  He first said it wasn't pertinent to the Trump case before shifting to saying it was pertinent.

Whether or not Nunes steps down, it may be too late for Trump. Notorious softballer Chuck Todd had Ranking Democrat Adam Schiff on Meet the Press and asked him to comment on the state of the investigation. Instantly Old Ben became Obi-Wan Kenobi:

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the Ranking Member on the committee, was asked by Chuck Todd on "Meet The Press Daily" whether or not he only has a circumstantial case.

"Actually no, Chuck," he said. "I can tell you that the case is more than that and I can't go into the particulars, but there is more than circumstantial evidence now."

Questioned whether or not he has seen direct evidence of collusion, Schiff responded, "I don't want to get into specifics but I will say that there is evidence that is not circumstantial and is very much worthy of an investigation."

That is a shift from Sunday's "Meet the Press" interview, when Schiff only went as far as to say that there was circumstantial evidence of collusion and "direct evidence" of deception.

The walls are closing in. And Trump's only hope at this point in time is the evidence connecting him to Putin starts and stops with this guy:

I wouldn't bet on it.

Catch you on the flip side.

Hard to Tell Them Apart

Stumbled on this string of comments while trying to make sense of a Trump argument. Enjoy.

@realDonaldTrump remember this guy? He was paid by Russia to manipulate American politics towards a pro-Putin agenda. pic.twitter.com/dvEQla1Yin

— Alex Zalben (@azalben) March 23, 2017

@realDonaldTrump oh, sorry, I didn't specify which guy.

The guy in the suit and tie is the one owned by Russia.

— Alex Zalben (@azalben) March 23, 2017

@realDonaldTrump whoops, that's not clear either.

The guy who committed treasonous acts for Russia is the guy uncomfortably close to Ivanka

— Alex Zalben (@azalben) March 23, 2017

@realDonaldTrump oops, again, not clear.

I'm talking about the guy who maintained a residence in Trump Tower paid for with illegal funds.

— Alex Zalben (@azalben) March 23, 2017

Open Thread

Throwing my prediction of there -- there will be no Obamacare repeal vote tomorrow. What do you think? About that or anything else?

Earworm of the Afternoon -- Hey Sandy