This is lunacy. Senate Republicans know that the assessment of their bill, when it comes out, will likely fall somewhere between "bad" and "very bad." But instead of allowing the CBO to deliver that news to the American people, and then having the courage to stand by their ideas and defend them on the merits, Mitch McConnell and company just want to ask their old pal Tom Price to make up a score for them. (Imagine trying this bullshit in any other context. "Sir, you can't fly this plane without a pilot's license." "Would you accept my tens of hours playing Star Fox 64 instead?") Call me a conspiracy theorist, but something tells me that a budget analysis proffered by Donald Trump's handpicked Secretary of Health and Human Services might not be objective.

Astute observers of the lawmaking process may be wondering how this student would affect McConnell's ability to pass Trumpcare through the budget reconciliation process, a procedure that allows a bill to pass the Senate with 50 votes instead of 60, but only if it relates to spending or revenue and doesn't contain provisions "extraneous" to the budget. How could the Republicans know if they are following the reconciliation rules without a CBO score, you ask? Easy! They're going to ask Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi—who is, of course, a Republican—to declare that their fake score complies.

One Senate GOP aide told IJR that budget projections for reconciliation measures don't actually need to originate from the CBO, though. Simply “a score” could do, and it would be up to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) to determine what qualifies as a score under the Budget Act.

Trumpcare is polling around 17 percent right now. It is as popular as Chris Christie, who nobody's liked for years. And yet Senate Republicans might try and plow ahead anyway by (1) concocting a fraudulent "score" for the bill out of thin air, and (2) asking one of their own to look the other way and declare the process on the level.

How about this. After eight years of moaning about the evils of the Affordable Care Act whenever they had a microphone stuck in front of them, Republican senators should do their fucking jobs and come up with a proposal that would actually improve this country's archaic health care system and help their millions of constituents live longer, healthier lives. Then again, doing so would require healthy doses of honesty, patience, and courage, all of which are things that Mitch McConnell has only read about in children's books.

Watch Now:

Two Trumps Confess to Conspiracy