Trump and Republicans can't fix healthcare because it requires actually caring.

As Americans continue to struggle with affordability and the cost of living, and as they face health care coverage costs that are poised to double or triple, the incumbent president could present a solution. Barring that, he might at least try expressing some semblance of empathy. Instead, four days after dismissing a question about this as “dramatic,” Trump suggested that he would appreciate it if reporters didn’t make the brutal choices tens of millions of consumers are facing “sound so bad.” The rhetoric was surprisingly callous, especially given the circumstances, but it was also of little help to Republicans on Capitol Hill. GOP leaders, eager to follow the president’s lead, have spent the past several weeks looking to the White House for leadership and guidance. Trump has responded with shrugged shoulders. Part of his hands-off posture is the result of his own illiteracy on health care policy (or any policy, really) and part of it is the result of learned experience: The White House recently intended to unveil a plan to address the problem, but officials pulled the plug when congressional Republicans balked at the proposed solution. But the other piece of this puzzle is even more jarring: As policymakers reach deadlines they have seen coming for months, Trump simply doesn’t care.