What Republicans can — and can’t — do about ObamaCare
[...] The new Republican House majority will undoubtedly schedule a quick vote on repealing the health care law, perhaps as early as January. It will pass the House quite easily; not only will every Republican vote for repeal, but there are still a dozen Democrats in the House who voted no last March.
But that is as far as repeal is likely to go. The Democrats remain in control of the Senate, and Harry Reid, returning in triumph, is unlikely to even schedule a vote.
Repealing ObamaCare is just not going to happen while Obama is in office.
Some Republicans may be willing to take their symbolic victory in the House and call it a day. They shouldn’t. There are many things they can do short of repeal that can begin the step-by-step dismantling of ObamaCare.
At the low end of the scale, Republicans should use their new investigatory powers to hold hearings and force officials like HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to testify about the law. For example, since the law passed we have learned that health care spending will go up, not down as promised, and that millions of Americans will not be able to keep the insurance they have today. What does Sebelius think of that? [...]
The second half of the article goes into what could happen, and what is likely to happen, and why.
Thankfully, much of the worst aspects of Obamacare can be dismantled. Other aspects can be modified. The Republicans may now get a chance to give many of the GOP's good ideas a fair hearing.
Eventually, some sort of bipartisan solution will be hammered together. That is what should have happened in the first place. This long slog ahead of us to sort it all out, has been unnecessary and an incredible waste of time and resources. The uncertainty it has created for potential employers has been devastating to job creation and the economy. I think most of the voters resent it. I know I do.
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