Danger Ahead: Mike Pence Would Pick Up Where Paul Ryan Left Off — Stephanie Kelton

Same old, same old. The push for repeal began with the passage of the New Deal and the push won't end until it is repealed or effectively neutered by privatization. The push for austerity of which this is just a part risks another depression, and some would argue that it guarantees it.

The Lens
Danger Ahead: Mike Pence Would Pick Up Where Paul Ryan Left Off
Stephanie Kelton | Professor of Public Policy and Economics at Stony Brook University, formerly Democrats' chief economist on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, and an economic adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders

Geopolitics Links — 28 May 2021

Belarus

Moon of Alabama (staying up to date)
Ryanair Incident - Email Warning Received Before Plane Entered Belorussian Airspace

Irrussianality (a voice of reason)
More Thoughts on Belarus
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

TASS ((Russian state media)
Integration of Russia, Belarus should not be rushed, Putin says

China

The Intercept (transnational global capitalism]
Anti-China Trade Bill Is Big Boost for Big Tech
Ryan Grim

Sputnik International ((Russian state-sponsored media)
Republicans Send Letter to Pelosi Requesting Democrats Hold China Accountable for COVID-19

Moon of Alabama
The 'Lab-Leak' Theory Is Not Of Equal Value - Promoting It Furthers The China Hawks

RT (politicizing science, what could go wrong?)
‘Poisoned by politics’: WHO’s emergencies chief calls for end to ‘disturbing’ discourse around probe into pandemic origins

Sputnik International (another small step for humankind)
Chinese ‘Artificial Sun’ Experimental Fusion Reactor Sets World Record for Superheated Plasma Time

RT (Russian state-sponsored media)
Beijing accuses Tokyo of ‘whitewashing’ plans to dump nuclear wastewater into sea as Japan reportedly blows $18mn on PR op

ECNS (Chinese news service)
Xi says China to strengthen BRI cooperation with Austria

Global Times (Chinese state-sponsored media) (tit for tat)
China urged to increase sea-based nuclear deterrent amid US intensified strategic threat
Zhang Hui

China’s Tech Emissions Are Set To Double By 2035

Irina Slav

Syria

Sputnik International (Assad wins with over 95% of the 78% voter turnout)
Syria’s Victory Stuns NATO Enemies

Elsewhere

Strategic Culture Foundation (US State Dept alleged Russian state-sponsored media)
The United States Is a Serial Nuclear Aggressor Whose Moral Bankruptcy Threatens World Peace

Editorial

Oilprice

Germany Pumps $10 Billion In Hydrogen In Bid To Become Global Leader
Tsvetana Paraskova

TASS
Russian Navy heavy missile cruiser kicks off drills in Barents Sea

Sputnik International

Russia & Pakistan agree to build gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore in biggest deal in decades

Federal murder investigation to be opened in Capitol Police officer's death — Evan Perez and Paul LeBlanc

This incident just got a whole lot more serious

CNN
Federal murder investigation to be opened in Capitol Police officer's death
Evan Perez and Paul LeBlanc, CNN

See also

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the Capitol Police, said Friday he's asked the police chief to provide all communications during the pro-Trump riots...

The Hill
House Democrat probing any 'inside' support from police amid Capitol riot
Cristina Marcos

Links — 1 July 2020

Irrussianality

Afghan Tales

Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

Mint Press News
Afghan Bounty Scandal Comes at Suspiciously Important Time for US Military Industrial Complex


Public Outcry Follows Gilead Decision to Charge $3000 for COVID Drug that Costs Pennies to Produce

Alan Macleod

India Punchline
Russian bounty killing forces Trump’s hands on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service

Internationalist 360º
Afghanistan War Exposed: An Imperial Conspiracy
Abby Martin

Internationalist 360º
The Bloody Horrors of Pinochet Showed How Capitalism Will Respond When It’s Threatened

Moon of Alabama
New Law Liberates Hong Kong From U.S. Interference

RT
US sanctions move for Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline spells end of Transatlantic bond – German ex-Chancellor Schroeder

RT
Beijing orders AP, CBS & other US outlets to submit information on China operations in tit-for-tat media war with US

SouthFront
First Results Of Russian Vote On Historic Amendments: Turnout Is About 63%. ‘YES’ – Over 70%

Sputnik International
Russia Working With Taliban, But Not in Way NYT’s ‘Anonymous Sources’ Claim, Pentagon Report Finds

Sputnik International
CHOP No More: Police Clear Seattle's 'Protest Zone' After Emergency Order - Photo, Video

Sputnik International
Indian Alternative to Chinese App TikTok, 'Chingari' Hits 5 Million Downloads

Sputnik International (How dumb is that?)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘Symbolically’ Quits Chinese App Weibo Amid Tensions

Sputnik International
Hong Kong: Boris Johnson Promises BNO Passport Holders a Route to Citizenship

Sputnik International
Huawei Beats Samsung in Global Smartphone Sales, Named 6th Most Innovative Tech Firm Amid Trade War

Middle East Eye (Told ya)
US Secretary of State urges Turkey not to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque

Sputnik International
RussiaGate 3.0 & Afghan Peace Talks: Who Benefits From Pushing "Russia Bounty" Narrative?

Strategic Culture Foundation
Russia Bounty-Hunter Story Another Pulp Fiction Release

Finnian Cunningham

TASS (Didn't realize that the Russian Federation had one.)
Over 77% of voters support constitutional amendments in Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region

The Unz Review
Bill Browder, a Billionaire Accused of Being a Fraud and Liar

John Ryan

Zero Hedge
WaPo Admits 'Russian Bounties' Info "Deemed Sketchy" After Pentagon Says "No Corroborating Evidence"
Tyler Durden

The ‘Whistleblower’ Probably Isn’t: It’s an insult to real whistleblowers to use the term with the Ukrainegate protagonist — Matt Taibbi

CIA plant. I was going to use a question mark with that. Decided not to. Duh.

Rolling Stone
The ‘Whistleblower’ Probably Isn’t: It’s an insult to real whistleblowers to use the term with the Ukrainegate protagonist

Matt Taibbi

See also

The connection between the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Ukrainian government was veteran Democratic operative Alexandra Chalupa, “who had worked in the White House Office of Public Liaison during the Clinton administration” and then “went on to work as a staffer, then as a consultant, for Democratic National Committee,” Politico reported.

Chalupa was working directly with the Ukrainian embassy in the United States to raise concerns about Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and, according to Politico, she indicated that the Embassy was working “directly with reporters researching Trump, Manafort and Russia to point them in the right directions.”

The Ukrainian embassy political officer who worked at the embassy at the time, Andrii Telizhenko, stated that the Ukrainians “were coordinating an investigation with the Hillary team on Paul Manafort with Alexandra Chalupa” and that “the embassy worked very closely with” Chalupa....

The activity of the Chalupa family (Alexandra, Andrea, Irena) is not new news. It was reported in the alternative media back when and apparently the MSM is just now discovering it. Just search on Alexandra, Andrea, and Irena Chalupa. 

Daily Wire
BOMBSHELL: Audio, Email Evidence Shows DNC Colluded With Ukraine To Boost Hillary By Harming Trump, Report Says
Ryan Saavedra

Clarissa — Kardashianization of Politics

Journalists simply follow ratings. The Kardashians have a huge following. When you see a woman who is a parody of a star on the Kardashians, you’ve got to put her on to attract viewers. I tune in for her like I don’t for Elizabeth Warren or Paul Ryan because she’s simply so goshdarn funny. It’s the Kardashian-type funny but it’s still entertaining.

Alexandria the Great Ocasio-Cortez.

The "younger generation" is about being natural and part off that means "not politically correct," let alone "serious." The older generation — the folks on the way out — grew up in an environment in which success meant "being serious," so as to establish gravitas and finally be recognized as a "very serious person" (VSP). That's out now. The mask is off.

This short blog post captures it. 

"The times they are a-changin'." (Dylan's Nobel in Literature is looking a lot more prescient. If you haven't yet read his Nobel lecture, it's good.)

Clarissa's Blog
Kardashianization of Politics

Clarissa

See also

The Establishment answer — wishful thinking.

Face the Nation — CBS
Commentary: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez becomes the Sarah Palin of the Left

See also

Bonus pic. Alexandria the Great, Stephanie Kelton opposite, Pavlina Tcherneva behind (Twitter).

Three "power ladies" to be reckoned with. Wait, make that "high power ladies," as in, "You ain't seen nuthin' yet."

Some Recent Links for Karl Marx 200

Monthly Review
The Multiple Meanings of Marx’s Value Theory
Riccardo Bellofiore

The Guardian — The Long Read
Yanis Varoufakis: Marx predicted our present crisis – and points the way out

Yanis Varoufakis

vox.eu
Marx and modern microeconomics 

Samuel Bowles

YouTube
Mark Carney warns robots taking jobs could lead to rise of Marxism

Michael Roberts Blog
Marx 200: Carney, Bowles and Varoufakis
Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts Blog
Managers rule, not capitalists?
Michael Roberts

Naked Keynesianism

Sraffa and Marxism or the Labor Theory of Value, what is it good for?

Matias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

Monthly Review
Marx’s Open-Ended Critique
John Bellamy Foster

Paul Cockshott's Blog

Smith, Marx and Unproductive Labour

Paul Cockshott

Ernest Mandel

Marx’s Theory of Money

Karl Marx
The Power of Money

The Week
It's time to normalize Karl Marx

Ryan Cooper

Real-World Economics Review Blog
Marx, 200.0
Merijn Knibbe

Triple C

Links to downloadable papers

Michael Roberts Blog
Marx and Keynes in Berlin

Michael Roberts

Quillette
Man of Yesterday: Karl Marx and His Place in History
Robert Darby

New Politics
200 Years of Karl Marx

Geoffrey M. Hodgson

TRNN
200th Anniversary of the Birth of Marx and a Revolution in Understanding History

Paul Jay interviews Dr. Gerald Horne holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston

Radical Political Economy
Bicentenary of Marx’s Birth, His Legacy and His Last Laugh (1818-2018)

Cyrus Bina | Distinguished Research Professor of Economics and Management at the University of Minnesota, Morris

Jacobin
Marx the Journalist
An Interview with James Ledbetter

Truthout

Marx's Relevance in Today's World: A Reflection on His 200th Birthday
Jean Batou, Translated by Robert James Parsons, Le Courrier , Truthout| Op-Ed

SIREN: Paul Ryan has told confidants that he will announce he won't run for reelection

From Axios. He might be caught up in knowledge about the illegal surveillance on the Trump campaign...

SIREN: Paul Ryan has told confidants that he will announce he won't run for reelection https://t.co/TVielDxaOx

— Axios (@axios) April 11, 2018

PCR - The Result of Mueller’s Investigation: Nothing

Love him, or loathe him, one thing for sure is that PCR is right on the ball about Russiagate, and one thing we want is peace with Russia and China, so that's why I post his articles here. KV

Reprinted in full.

Paul Craig Roberts

Robert Mueller discredited himself and his orchestrated Russiagate investigation today (Friday, February 16, 2018) with his charges that 13 Russians and 3 Russian companies plotted to use social media to influence the 2016 election. Their intent, Mueller says, was to “sow discord in the US political system.” https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-russia-indictment/u-s-charges-russians-with-2016-u-s-election-tampering-to-boost-trump-idUKKCN1G023G

What pathetic results to come from a 9 month investigation!

Note that the hyped Russian hacking of Hillary’s emails that we have heard about every day is no where to be found in Mueller’s charges. In its place there is “use of social media to sow discord.” I mean, really! Even if the charge were correct, considering the massive discord present in the last presidential election, with the Democrats calling Trump voters racist, sexist, homophobic white trash deplorables, how much discord could a measly 13 Russians add via social media?

Note also that the Trump/Putin conspiracy is also not present in Mueller’s charges. Mueller’s charges say that the Russians’ plan to sow discord began in 2014, before there was any notion that Trump would run for president in 2017. The link of the plot to Putin is reduced to the allegation that the plot was financed by a St. Petersburg restauranteur whose connection to Putin is that his business once catered official dinners between Russian officials and foreign dignitaries.https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-russia-indictment/u-s-charges-russians-with-2016-u-s-election-tampering-to-boost-trump-idUKKCN1G023G

Finally, note that Mueller’s release of his charges in the face of dead news weekend means that Mueller knows that he has nothing to justify the massive propaganda onslaught against Trump for conspiring with Putin with which the presstitutes have regaled us. If the charges amounted to anything, they would have been released on Monday morning, and the presstitutes would have been handed by the FBI and CIA the news stories to file with their papers.

How did the 13 Russians go about sowing discord? Are you ready for this? They held political rallies posing as Americans and they paid one person (unidentified) to build a cage aboard a flatbed pickup truck and another person to wear a costume portraying Hillary in prison clothes.

How much money was lavished on this plot. A monthly budget of $1.2 million, a sum far too small to be seen in the $2.65 billion spent by Hillary and Trump and the $6.8 billion spent by all candidates for federal elective offices in the last election. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/election-2016s-price-tag-6-8-billion/

Mueller claims to have emails from some of the 13 Russians. If the emails are authentic, they sound like a few kids pretending to friends that they are doing big things. One of the emails brags that the FBI got after them so they got busy covering up their tracks.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has fallen for Mueller’s ruse.

Remember what William Binney, the person who designed the NSA spy program, said: If any such Russiagate plot existed, NSA would have the evidence. No investigation would be necessary.

One can conclude that Mueller and Rosenstein are fighting for their lives now that it is known that their spy requests for FISA court approval were based on deception. See: https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/02/05/will-conspiracy-trump-american-democracy-go-unpunished/ Mueller has produced this silly indictment of individuals who are not the Russian government in the hope that it will keep the attention off the FBI’s deception of the FISA court.

As a special prosecutor Mueller has demonstrated the same lack of intergrity that he demonstrated as FBI director.

PCR - The Result of Mueller’s Investigation: Nothing

David P. Goldman — Trump triumphs with release of House FBI memo

The House Intelligence Committee memo on abuse of power by the Federal Bureau of Investigation appeared just after 12:00 pm Eastern time, and American political life never will be the same. The House Republicans make a persuasive if not prima facie case that senior FBI officials used a fake dossier paid for by the Democrats to get a court order for electronic surveillance of the Trump campaign. If the charge sticks, America will have a real life instance of the sort of scenario found in pulp thrillers—a rogue intelligence agency operating in the darkness and abusing its power to manipulate elections.

This is political plutonium.

"Political plutonium" indeed.

Asia Times
Trump triumphs with release of House FBI memo
David P. Goldman

Also

Sic Semper Tyrannis
The FBI and CIA Failed Coup Against Trump Unravels

Publius Tacitus

also

Consortium News
Nunes Memo Reports Crimes at Top of FBI & DOJ

Ray McGovern

also

Given all that, I imagine that i) those believing that the Trump collusion story is made-up nonsense, and the President is a victim of a conspiracy of Democrats and their allies in the ‘deep state’ will feel vindicated; while ii) supporters of the collusion theory will see the release as further evidence that Republicans are just trying to divert attention because they have something to hide. The primary result, therefore, will simply be a hardening of positions on both sides and an accentuation of the already sharp divisions in American politics. In short, the show will go on.

Irrussianality
My thoughts on that memo
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

This is far from over. It's only the beginning of the dénouement. Both sides are lining up their positions and the result portends to divide America along a gigantic fault line with the tectonic plates violently striking each other.

Example.

"Nothing-burger."

VOX
The Nunes memo is a dud

Zach Beauchamp

Also

Putin did it.

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said Friday that President Trump's attacks on key U.S. institutions are tearing at the seams of the country's democracy in the same vein as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If you look at the institutions that the president has attacked – the Department of Justice, the FBI, the judiciary and the media – I mean, I would argue that all of those institutions are part of what makes this country free," Speier said on CNN.

"And the democracy is going to start to erode, and you got Vladimir Putin there smiling. I mean, it's like he gave Donald Trump the script."...

The Hill
Democrat: It’s like Putin gave Trump a ‘script’
Max Greenwood

Also

NYRB does a hit job on Vladimir Putin. Not quite "Putin is Hitler," but close.

New York Review of Books
Putin: From Oligarch to Kleptocrat
Ruth May | professor of global business in the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business at the University of Dallas, and a King fellow of the university

Ruth May is behind this one, too.

Verified Politics
Dallas News Just Published A Bombshell Report Linking Trump, McConnell, Ryan to Putin
Benjamin Locke

Strong on innuendo and inference, weak on evidence. 

Newsday Editorial Board — First shots in war on Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security

Poverty is not a scam. Neither is old age or infirmity or serious illness. But making poverty and the need for help look like a scam is a common political strategy, and it’s one President Donald Trump’s administration sought to rekindle last week when it allowed states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients in “test” programs.

Such a change, based on fiction about who the 70 million Medicaid recipients are and how almost $550 billion in state and federal Medicaid funding is spent each year, won’t save any taxpayer dollars. Nor is it intended to. What it does is spawn news stories that reinforce a message Republicans have promoted since President Ronald Reagan: The GOP brings down mostly minority “welfare queens” riding high on government largesse in their Cadillacs...

Conservative policy rationale is to make it more painful to be poor by punishing poverty in order to incentivize those in poverty to be more "productive." Basic stimulus-response Pavlovian-Skinnerian behavioral psychology.

But this strategy also has a darker side in creating social divisions that can be exploited politically. The GOP sees "the poor" as a major Democratic constituency that Democrats shower with largesse when in power in order to curry favor to get votes and energize the base. The GOP sees that as a strategic opportunity to attack by creating scapegoats.

Democrats under Bill Clinton realized that the GOP base was really the moneyed class that provides the bribes contributions and so, attacking the rich is self-defeating. Clinton took GOP adviser Dick Morris advice to "triangulate" and attack the poor to please the donor-base. Robert Rueben had already suggested that the Democrats cozy up to Wall Street, since that is where the big money is.

So, now the proles and precariat are left out in the cold with the prospect of a colder season coming.

The new job requirements for Medicaid might not be legal and likely will be challenged in court. Either way, the rules won’t save much even if they do take effect. Since only 70 million Americans get Medicaid and 255 million don’t, the proposals might not cause much uproar. But be warned: As a statement of intent and a first shot across the bow, they should.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have been clear about wanting huge across-the-board cuts in Medicaid and Medicare. The cuts have been included in budget proposals they have introduced, and in their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Ryan has said cuts to those programs, along with restructuring Social Security to save money, are his primary legislative objectives, although he concedes they probably won’t happen in 2018....

Newsday
First shots in war on Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security

The Editorial Board

Jessie Hellmann — White House: Trump hasn't shifted on not cutting entitlements

President Trump has not changed his position on protecting entitlement programs from funding cuts, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.

After last month's GOP victory on tax reform, many Republicans are calling for changes to the social safety net as a way to cut government spending. But, asked about Trump's repeated campaign pledge to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Sanders said he doesn't support cuts to the programs.

"The president hasn't changed his position at this point," she said at a White House briefing, adding that conversations with lawmakers are ongoing.
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has set his sights on entitlement reform for 2018.

“We’re going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,” he said in an interview last month.

Medicare and Medicaid “are the big drivers of debt,” Ryan said, “so we spend more time on the health-care entitlements, because that's really where the problem lies, fiscally speaking."

Ryan said Trump is beginning to warm to the idea of slowing the spending growth in entitlements....

The kicker.

The White House has said it doesn't consider slowing down Medicaid growth rates to be funding cuts....

The Hill
White House: Trump hasn't shifted on not cutting entitlements
Jessie Hellmann

Never out of "money" ?

Nehlen (Ayn Rand fan-boy Ryan's nemesis and btw increasingly cozy with alt-right) makes an interesting observation:

We never hear about welfare or food stamps running out of money, but we're constantly told about Social Security running out of money. Funny how that works.

— Paul Nehlen (@pnehlen) December 15, 2017

Picked up by alt-right on cue:

Also never run out of money for wars. https://t.co/hnAT8zRAFX

— RAMZPAUL (@ramzpaul) December 15, 2017

They (alt-right) all are recovering libertarians... something to keep an eye on.

Ryan Grim — Watch What Trump Does, Not What He Says. He May Not Actually End DACA.

Trump’s base, riled up by two years of campaign rhetoric and presidential statements against immigrants, is thirsty for more enforcement actions. But people close to Trump say he genuinely does not want to end the program. They said Trump is loath to punish someone who was brought to the U.S. as a young child with no say in the matter. That doesn’t mean, however, that Trump’s personal feelings will save the program.

For DACA recipients and millions of their friends and family linked to their fates, it means that their fight is starting again, and much of the politics play to their advantage.
One major hint that Trump may not follow through comes in the form the announcement’s delivery vehicle. On Monday, the administration said Sessions will make the announcement at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. When have you ever known Trump to shy away from the cameras?

For signs of whether Trump actually intends to deport nearly a million recipients, pay far more attention to the six-month delay than the report that he has “decided to end” the program. During those six months, he’ll ask Congress to deal with the issue. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., has made the politics easy for Trump, having already come out against ending the program.

Either Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., fail to act — giving Trump an opening to quietly extend the program again while blaming a do-nothing Congress — or Congress will pass something, and the program gets a blessing from the legislature. In both cases, DACA recipients could retain their protections....

Grim's report fails to mention that American business is for keeping them, and what US firms what US firms get.

The Intercept

Watch What Trump Does, Not What He Says. He May Not Actually End DACA.
Ryan Grim

Malcolm Jaggers — ‘True Conservatives’ Can’t Win, Only Undermine Trump

This DACA showdown, which one has the feeling will not end well, has in it all the big questions which bedevil old fashioned, tired conservatism. Namely, we have to ask ourselves if “illegal immigration” is a question of legality or a question of culture. Are we annoyed at people not having their papers in order, or are we trying to preserve the European character of the country? If the issue is one of mere paperwork, why Paul Ryan has a fix for that.…

Republicans don’t seem to understand how Trump won the presidency; something near impossible for any Republican to do. He won because of a nascent desire of Western Civilization to survive. “True conservatives” such as Paul Ryan see that as problematic. Such true con’s see Trump as naïve in wanting to build a border wall or end DACA. What makes them have such arrogance, though, to condescend to Trump? What exactly is their mandate? Last time I checked, it was Trump who actually represents the agenda of the American people.

It doesn't get much clearer than that.

So the reactionary strategy seems to be to put conservative Republican office holders on notice that unless they fall in line with the Trumpistas, they will lose primaries or elections.

The radical strategy is similar. Progressives are saying pretty much the same thing to the New Democrats.

US politics is in flux and who knows how it will shake out.

ALTRIGHT.COM
‘True Conservatives’ Can’t Win, Only Undermine Trump

Malcolm Jaggers

Tyler Durden — Goldman Explains What The Repeal Of Obamacare Really Means

It's looking more and more like Trump made a big mistake in letting Paul Ryan to dominate the agenda, as we foresaw here at MNE.

Zero Hedge
Goldman Explains What The Repeal Of Obamacare Really Means

Tyler Durden

David Haggith — Trump Obamacare Repeal Blew Up Bigly Because of a House Divided Against Itself

David Haggith explains how the three factions of the Congressional GOP could not arrive at compromise and perhaps never will be able to do so.

It is hard to say exactly who was in each group because no vote was taken to put members on record, but this appears to be generally how things fell apart:

1) By far the largest group would have consisted of the house’s largest conservative faction (172 members), known as the Republican Study Committee, probably joined by members of the House Republican Conference who do not identify with any particular faction. I’m talking here about the group that solidly supported President Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on the AHCA as originally drafted.
The Republican Study Committee — formed in 1973 to keep an eye on the party’s moderate leadership during the Nixon-Ford years — is the House’s oldest active faction....

2) The smallest, rewest, and most conservative faction of the House Republican Conference, called the “Freedom Caucus,” was established in 2015 to battle then Speaker John Boehner, particularly to fight his approval of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act). These members of congress can be seen as the present rabble rousers because this is the faction that was willing to shut down the government in the original fight against Obamacare. ...

3) A larger faction of the House Republican Conference consists of about fifty people, who are the left-most Republicans in the House of Representatives (meaning only that they are moderates since no one in the Republican party is a leftist). This group was established in 1994 as the “Tuesday Group” when Republicans took control of the House under the more conservative leadership of Newt Gingrich. Gingrich rallied Republicans around his Contract with America. The Tuesday Group formed to resist Gingrich’s more conservative positioning of the Republican party.

The actual battle went like this: Unquestionably, those aligned with the Freedom Caucus felt the original AHCA bill, as proposed by Paul Ryan, did not go far enough in repealing Obamacare. Therefore, the group of Republicans who were with Trump and Ryan modified the bill to strip out more of Obamacare by taking down some of its Medicaid provisions and other benefits in order go gain some of the more conservative votes. That resulted in those aligned with the Tuesday Group (the most moderate Republicans) feeling the bill now went further right than they could tolerate. As a result, the Republicans lost some moderate votes when they compromised to pick up more conservative votes, and they never gained all of the conservative votes. So, they could not find a majority that could agree on any bill, and they had already thumbed their noses at Democrats completely, so they certainly wouldn’t get any help there....

The Great Recession Blog
Trump Obamacare Repeal Blew Up Bigly Because of a House Divided Against Itself
David Haggith

Gabriel Sherman — Why Steve Bannon Might Be the Winner of the GOP’s Health-Care Civil War

The failure to repeal and replace Obamacare would be a stinging defeat for Trump. But it would be an even bigger defeat for Paul Ryan, who has all but staked his Speakership on passing this bill. And in the hall of mirrors that is Washington, the big winner to emerge out of the health-care debacle could be Steve Bannon. That’s because Bannon has been waging war against Ryan for years. For Bannon, Ryan is the embodiment of the “globalist-corporatist” Republican elite. A failed bill would be Bannon’s best chance yet to topple Ryan and advance his nationalist-populist economic agenda.…

Palace intrigue.

New York Magazine
Why Steve Bannon Might Be the Winner of the GOP’s Health-Care Civil War
Gabriel Sherman

Charlie Spiering — Donald Trump Blames Democrats for Health Care Failure, Promises Better Plan in the Future

President Donald Trump signaled he was finished with trying to repeal and replace Obamacare, telling reporters at the White House he was ready to move to tax reform.

The purpose of the Ryan Plan was supposedly to make space for tax reform.

Breitbart News
Donald Trump Blames Democrats for Health Care Failure, Promises Better Plan in the Future
Charlie Spiering

Also

Exclusive — Discussion About GOP Replacement to Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House Intensifies in White House, Congress

Matthew Boyle

Kevin Robillard — Koch network pledges to defend Republicans who vote against GOP health bill

The Koch brothers' network of well-funded outside groups says it will spend millions to protect Republicans who oppose the party's health care bill from political fallout.
Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners, the Koch network's big budget grass-roots activism and advertising groups, are teaming up to create a "seven-figure" reserve fund to support lawmakers who buck President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan on the health care vote, as the threat of primaries looms over some opponents of the bill. The Koch groups will spend the money on paid media, direct mail and grass-roots canvassing.

Freedom Partners called the GOP bill "Obamacare 2.0" and said it falls short of truly repealing the 2010 law....

The Koch groups argue that the GOP's bills refundable tax credits to make health coverage more affordable are a new entitlement….

The GOP goes to war with itself over purity versus practicality.

Politico

Koch network pledges to defend Republicans who vote against GOP health bill

Kevin Robillard