Progressives, emboldened by Republicans’ health-care failure, are trying to shift the political debate even further to the left, toward a long-standing goal that Democrats told them was unrealistic. In the three weeks that the American Health Care Act was debated in public, even some conservative allies of the president argued that it had become politically impossible to scale back health coverage. “Both parties should sit down and deliver more affordable health care choices,” he said after Friday’s debacle. That approach reflects how, despite Friday’s setback, Republicans have long benefited from attacking a “government takeover” of health care. Over more than two friendly hours, the elected Democrats got the most applause when they swerved left on health care.

Source: Washington Post March 26, 2017 23:02 UTC