Why Republicans have no alternate plan for health care

Paul Krugman began his April 11 column thus:  "When it comes to health reform, Republicans suffer from delusions of disaster."   Quoting a Rand Corporation study that 9.3 million adults have been added to health insurance rolls since September, he contrasts that with the continued bellowing of Republicans that "Obamacare is a disaster, a total failure."

He goes on to say that "they have no idea how to respond to these developments.  They can't offer any real alternative, because you can't have the good stuff in the Affordable Care Act, like coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, without also including the stuff they hate, the requirement that everyone buy insurance and the subsidies that make that requirement possible.   Their political strategy has been to talk vaguely about replacing reform while waiting for its inevitable collapse.  And what if reform doesn't collapse?  They have no idea what to do."

Krugman quotes health economist Jonathan Gruber about the states that rejected Medicaid expansion, for which the federal government would have paid 100% for 3 years, and then 90% after that.  Gruber said that the Medicaid rejection states "are willing to sacrifice billions of dollars of injections into their economy in order to punish poor people.  It really is just almost awesome in its evilness."

I'm not sure it's only, or mostly, to punish poor people, however.  I think it was a direct strike against the Democrats -- and President Obama in particular.   They cannot stand for him to win on anything, much less his signature achievement and legacy.

But it looks like all their efforts have failed to kill it . . . .  and now what is their campaign issue going to be?    Oh, I remember.   IRS scandal.  Benghazi scandal.  No amnesty for illegal immigrants.  And voter fraud.    All of which are essentially non-existent.

Their real strategy, of course, is:  (1) lie to the people through billionaire-backed tv ads and (2) make it harder for poor people to vote through oppressive voting laws.

Ralph