Axios

Peggy Noonan column in the Wall Street Journal, "House Republicans Repeat an Obama Error: Like the Democrats in 2009, the majority party's priorities aren't responsive to the moment":

"The GOP's first big legislative endeavor, the repeal of ObamaCare, has been understood as a classic fight between party leadership and the more conservative and libertarian wings ... I wonder if it will not also become a struggle between the leadership and the Trumpian core."

"The new bill lacks an air of appropriate crisis ... We are in the midst of the kind of crises that can do nations in. It is pleasant to chirp, as Speaker Paul Ryan does, of 'choice' and 'competition' and an end to 'paternalistic' thinking on health care. Is it responsive to the moment? Or does it sound like old lyrics from an old hymnal?"

Well, that didn't take long. Two days after Republicans in the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees voted to repeal and replace Obamacare, they're now being targeted by social media ads accusing them of doing things like voting to "strip away health care" from their constituents.

Save My Care, a grassroots coalition of health care advocates, is launching the five-figure ad buy, which will run the ads on social media and encourage voters to demand their representatives change their position before the bill reaches the House floor.

Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative hardliner House Freedom Caucus, is voicing what many health care experts are saying: The current Obamacare repeal and replacement bill being considered by the House would actually raise premiums.

That has huge political ramifications. Speaker Paul Ryan and the rest of House leadership are gambling conservatives will eventually vote yes on the bill when it comes to the House floor, because it is Obamacare Repeal. But if Meadows — backed up by wonks of all ideologies — can say the House bill is actually worse for people than Obamacare, then he is perfectly free to vote no on it.

Hospitals, doctor offices and the rest of the health care industry added 26,800 jobs in February, the first full month under President Trump.

But as Emily Evans, a health care analyst at Hedgeye Risk Management, pointed out Friday, the year-over-year growth rate of health care employment is slowing down. Hospitals are recording fewer admissions, and some health care organizations are reluctant to hire until the Obamacare replacement is sorted out.

Worth noting: Since Obamacare was signed into law in March 2010, the health care industry has added 1.94 million jobs.

The AP reports that the GOP's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare would also cut away another key provision of the law: $1 billion granted each year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fund public health programs.

• Removing the fund would cut 12% of the CDC's core budget.
• The money is used to fund vaccination programs, upgrade state labs that monitor infectious diseases, and support public health campaigns — plus, it provides all of the funds for the CDC's lead poisoning prevention program.
• "The elimination of the fund would be devastating to state and local health departments," said the chief of government affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
• Republicans say tough luck: Rep. Andy Harris blamed local public health officials for "not lobbying their legislatures adequately" for the funding they need.

If you've been watching House Speaker Paul Ryan over the years, you understand why he has more riding on the success or failure of the Obamacare replacement bill than just about any other Republican: because it's his baby.