Obamacare Dead Plan Walking

By Paul Jacob It is those newly subsidized that Schumer is counting on to raise a squawk. And since one big effect of ObamaCare was to throw people off their unacceptable" insurance plans and into better" subsidized plans there are plenty of people who can protest. Why it is almost as if ObamaCare were designed to fail in every way but politically. Say it aint so Chuck. For all Trumps savvy about the politics of repealing the ACA Prez 45 seems to know little about the policy predicament. No more than he understands free trade no more than he knows what the past tense of lead" is. (It is led" in case you forgot.) Sure he is right to call ObamaCare a lie from the beginning" but that does not mean that he or anyone else dares tell the deeper trickier institutional truths. Still Obamacare can be repealed. But replacing it would be a disaster. The best plan is no plan. Repeal all the regulations. The federal government should completely deregulate the markets and prevent states from ruining interstate markets in insurance and health care. Do what the Commerce clause was designed to do. And chuck the FDA while we are at it. The case against it is well known. Unfortunately not much chucking is likely. And certainly not if Chuck Schumer gets his way or proves himself an extraordinary prophet. He is counting on Republicans to do nothing. Despite signs that theyre cooking up something. Big. But if Congress actually does what they say they are going to do which Peter Suderman of Reason summarizes as repealing the law now but leaving it in place while legislators figure out a replacement it will backfire. Suderman astutely judges the current congressional repeal and delay" plan tactically foolish." The Republican majorities in the House and Senate are not a stalwart bunch. They lack the courage of their alleged free-market convictions. They are afraid of the backlash they would get from the press and Democratic voters. And no health care system socialist free-market or in-between can provide the one body part they need most: Backbone.