Thread by @ASlavitt

My view on last night’s tax vote: don’t dwell too long. They think they are just be getting started. 1/

I believe last night’s vote was baked months ago, seen internally to GOPers as necessary for party survival.

Collins, Rubio, Flake & Corker vote had more to do with fraternity than ideology. 2/

Negotiating for something for themselves or to show their power was all they ever intended.

The fact is they were all crap negotiators but once AL flipped & McCain was hospitalized, demands dropped & everybody fell in line. 3/

The fact that the bill was unpopular was an irritant, that every economist & deficit hawk saw it as a clear disaster just had to be lived with.

The prospect of passing no legislation in what felt like a closing window was unacceptable for a simple reason. 4/

It costs $20 million or more to run a Senate race or a competitive House race and those dollars generally don’t come locally and they don’t come without promises.

The single fact that 6000 lobbyists worked on the bill is the one I will remember. 5/

The immediate agenda once the tax is signed is all that matters now . . . 6/

CHIP and DACA and the size of zmedicare cuts are immediately on the agenda with the CR coming on Friday. As are the reinsurance and CSR amendments Collins asked for. 7/

GOP has focused so much on the tax bill and so much of that agenda they don’t like that much of it will get kicked to January.

The dynamic is horrifying.8/

In the new party roles, anytime something is done for people, Republicans want something in return.

Example: CHIP, DACA, Medicare all have price tags on them. Republicans insist on cutting the ACA, a border wall, and Defense spending.9/

And we are weeks for 2018...Republicans are ready to reach for much more.

Graham & Cassidy have already begun the process of trying to recruit Collins or Murkowski to do ACA repeal next year.

The White House and Paul Ryan promise to cut Medicaid and other poverty programs. 10/