Posted: Apr. 2, 2017 12:01 am

Health care talks in the U.S. House last month show how polarized that chamber is, and how some lawmakers would rather get nothing if they can't get everything they want.

For the past week, President Donald Trump and Republicans have blamed Democrats for the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the American Health Care Act.

That's a misdirection at best -- a lie masquerading as the truth.

There are 237 Republicans in the U.S. House. There are 193 Democrats and five vacancies.

Nobody in Congress ever expected that Democrats would vote to repeal or replace Obamacare.

With Republicans holding a 47-seat majority, it looked like the GOP could muster the votes without any need for Democrats.

However, the Freedom Caucus, whose members pride themselves on their conservative approach to government, derailed the health care reforms proposed by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Americans of all political stripes say they want the truth. If an attack is launched by terrorists, call them terrorists. If someone is breaking the law, call them criminals.

The uncomfortable truth for conservatives is that some of the most conservative members of the U.S. House were the ones who assured that Obamacare will be around for a while longer.

Several members of the Freedom Caucus, who frequently promised to do away with Obamacare, said the Republican bill did not go far enough.

Trump negotiated with them, but could not win their support.

White House officials were willing to help reduce insurance premiums by dropping the so-called essential health benefits that require insurance companies to cover the following: trips to an emergency room, prenatal and postnatal care, mental health and substance abuse services, prescription drugs, lab tests, preventive health screenings and vaccines, pediatric services, physical and occupational therapy, inpatient hospital care and outpatient care.

The problem with that deal-making tactic was that it scared away many of the more moderate Republicans who felt that many of those items should be in health care insurance policies.

Nobody believes that the U.S. Senate could pass the exact same bill considered in the House. So even if the Freedom Caucus had gotten all it wanted, that would not have been the final word on the legislation.

There are some in Congress, and some among American voters, who say they will never compromise on principles. That's good. Core principles should not be traded away.

Very often, passing legislation does not violate core principles. It requires making the best vote possible on that day and under those circumstances.

President Ronald Reagan famously said "the person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20 percent traitor."

If health care reform that eventually is sent on to the U.S. Senate has poison pill features that guarantee it won't pass -- inserted by either the political left or right -- all the House will have is a hollow, symbolic vote.

If all lawmakers want is a failed vote, but one they can put on campaign literature, they're not worth sending back to the U.S. Capitol.