After Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s American Health Care Act collapsed last week, Ryan attempted to make the excuse that the GOP is simply “rusty” at being a governing, rather than an opposition, party.

This is laughable and pathetic.

The GOP has controlled the House for 11 of the past 15 years, and controlled both houses of the Congress, a co-equal branch of government, for 9 of those years.

The GOP is being unsuccessful not because they are inexpert in governing in the service of their constituents, they are unsuccessful because they are not interested in governing in the service of their constituents.

The modern Republican party’s platform is little more than a rigid hyper-ideological agenda of tax cuts and the elimination of non-military government spending (government so small you can drown it in the bathtub). This agenda is almost entirely in service of their wealthy and corporate donors. They are uninterested in successfully advancing legislation to ends other than those.

If legislation does not serve the objective of enriching the wealthy, or removing regulations so that the wealthy may enrich themselves at the expense of others, then the GOP’s goal is failure.

The GOP’s healthcare debacle is the most telling example of this destructive and narrow strategy. After petulantly refusing to engage in developing the ACA back in 2010, the party focused all its efforts on bad-mouthing the new law, lying about it, undermining it, and seeking – fruitlessly – to repeal it. Despite near constant complaining, in 7 years they did not once advance legislation to improve it.

Their goal was the failure of the law, not the success of the American people.

And when given the full levers of power, they were unprepared for to contribute anything constructive and advanced a bill so bad, so hasty, poorly drafted, so fiscally irresponsible, and politically unpalatable (except to the rich who would benefit from the tax cuts) that it failed disastrously. A failure so epic that it must be ascribed not only to incompetence but a lack of interest in success.

And in the wreckage of Trump and Ryan’s American Healthcare Act, the so-called President promised continued failure:

ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2017

Make no mistake about it Trump, Stephen Bannon, Paul Ryan and the GOP want the United States government to fail. Because a successful government is one that might protect your rights, your environment, and your prosperity from the rapacious interests they represent.

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