* Trump desperately needs to be seen as keeping his promises and Ryan needs to show his effectiveness as a leader. Countering this is the desperate need of Republican members of Congress to get reelected in 2018 or 2020, and the present bill includes outstanding ammunition for Democrats to use against them.

* I think it works for the benefit of all in Congress to delay a vote until after the midterm election. Republicans can have their cake and eat it, too, shifting blame onto “obstructionist” Democrats, and Democrats can look tough by voting against every unpopular/expensive aspect of any proposal.

* Artificial deadlines on complicated issues are useful for pushing things along but difficult to achieve in practice.

* Congress goes into recess after April 7 and only comes back on April 24. Very unlikely that such a controversial, impactful bill makes it through both houses in just the 36 days that Congress will actually be active before April 30.