Senator Coons’ turn as the Whack-a-Mole.

Senator Coons’ turn as the Whack-a-Mole.

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Senate Democrats will never vote to repeal Obamacare. But once the deed is done, a surprising number of them say they’re open to helping Republicans replace it. [...] "If there is a path toward saving the best parts of Obamacare that are actually helping deliver affordable quality health care to millions of people while addressing some of the challenges, flaws and weaknesses of Obamacare, we should work hard with Republicans on that,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). “But we don’t know yet if they’re serious.”
Looks like we have to play whack a mole with Carper and Coons. As soon as we get one bipartisan Republican enabler in line, we have another pop up. Yes, let's accept Republican framing and say you are willing to work together on a replacement. Repeat after me, Chris: The replacement for Obamacare is Obamacare. If you want to improve it with a public option or a Medicare buy in or more cost controls, fine. Anything else is a non-starter, like repealing the mandate or cost control regulations on insurance companies.

The December 15, 2016 Thread

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Jonathan Chait: “Donald Trump’s surprising (though not unforeseeable) election has provoked a wave of fear and anger among his opponents. But much of it has been misdirected into denial or despair rather than effective channels of political mobilization. The clearest symbol of this misplaced energy is the campaign to persuade members of the Electoral College to deny Donald Trump the presidency.” “The first thing to note about this effort is that it is utterly hopeless… Second, and more important, denying Trump the presidency through an Electoral College coup is not a procedurally legitimate response… The final problem is that the campaign to prevent Trump’s election has turned the hopeless Electoral College gambit into a substitute for political organizing.” “But there are better measures of horror at Trump and Trumpism than support for a hopeless and questionable tactic. The correct response should involve the protection and engagement of normal politics.”