Now What, Republicans?

Saw this excerpt from an AP article yesterday: "Republicans are promising to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care overhaul if they win control of Congress. But with what? Not even they know. Some have proposed major changes to workplace coverage, even turning Medicare into a voucher plan. Many prefer small steps that tiptoe around political land mines. Others want a clean start.

'During the health care debate there was just as much division within Republicans as there was between the parties,' said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a leading adviser to 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain. 'It will be more visible now that Republicans may be in charge of one house because those divisions will come to the surface.'

Republicans appear have better than even odds of winning the House. At least 75 seats are competitive, the vast majority held by Democrats, according to a recent Associated Press analysis. The GOP only has to win 40.

One of the first acts of a Republican majority would be a vote to repeal what they dismiss as "Obamacare." But they haven't said much about what would replace it. A GOP bill rejected by the Democratic-led House last year is the closest thing to a starting point.

The Republican plan would cover an additional 3 million people by 2019, compared with nearly 33 million under the Obama health care law. It would lower premiums modestly for many small businesses and for people buying insurance directly. It wouldn't solve the nation's long-term cost and coverage problems. 'On a scale of 1 to 1,000, it's about a 5,' scoffs former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a senior Democratic advisor."