"... But these voters were as real as it gets."

[babylonsister]

GOP Health Care Plan: More Repeal Than Replace
David Corn


Late on a damp and chilly night, a few weeks before the midterm elections, I was strolling down Lexington Avenue, returning to my hotel, when I heard a voice from the street call out, "Hey, it's David Corn of Mother Jones." I turned and encountered a middle-aged fellow who was part of a work crew laying fiber-optic cable beneath New York City's streets. I said hello, he told me he was a regular watcher of MSNBC, and introduced me to the two other members of his gang. We immediately started talking politics. These three guys, who each belonged to a Queens local of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, were dismayed by the prospect of the electorate handing the keys to the House to the Republicans.

"What are people thinking?" one of the men said. He told me that thanks to the health care reform bill President Obama and the Democrats had passed, he could now keep an adult son on his health insurance plan, rather than pay for separate coverage. "This is saving me thousands of dollars," this IBEW worker said. "Much more than any tax cut. And they want to take that away?"

It was as if I had walked on to the set of a Democratic Party campaign commercial. But these voters were as real as it gets. (They offered to take me into the manhole and show me the wild underworld of below-street wiring in NYC. Given that I was wearing a suit, I politely demurred.) And, yes, the Republicans do want to take that away. At least, that's the House GOPers' official position this week. On Tuesday, Boehner's Band begins debating its first major piece of legislation: repealing the health care law, lock, stock, and pre-existing conditions.

The obvious analysis is that the newly empowered Republicans are throwing one big bag to their tea party backers. After all, the Democrats who control the Senate won't repeal a bill they passed, and Obama would veto any such measure. Repeal is a moot issue. But the GOPers know that they will soon have to take several dives: They will not propose a budget that meets their promise of cutting $100 billion from the federal budget this year, and they will probably end up supporting a boost in the national debt ceiling (for otherwise the United States will default and possibly trigger a global financial crisis). They're doing what they can now, so later they can tell disappointed and angry tea partiers, "Hey, remember that health care repeal vote?"

Still, there's more to life than the tea party. Isn't there? Even for Republicans? And as the GOPers rush ahead with this symbolic vote to smother the health care law, non-tea partiers -- especially the millions of Americans who have started to benefit from reforms in the package -- might wonder: What about the "replace" in the Republicans' health care battle cry, "Repeal and Replace"?

more...

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/18/gop-health-care-plan-more-repeal-than-replace/

[babylonsister]

1. I'm kicking this; I like the reaction from the commoners in NYC.

:hi:

[Exilednight]

2. Let's see what his reaction will be in 2014 when they start taxing his

cadillac health plan. Just sayin.

[OhioBlue]

3. how do you know his plan will be taxed?

just sayin....

[Exilednight]

5. That's true. Before 2014 they could renegotiate their contract and

end up with a plan that does less than their current plan.

[treestar]

4. Good analysis

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. Here's the key

"This is saving me thousands of dollars," this IBEW worker said. "Much more than any tax cut..."

-------------------------

GOP tax cuts are not designed to save IBEW workers "thousands of dollars." They're designed to save electric company magnates tens of millions of dollars.