Yes, repeal health-care reform -- on one condition

By Matt Miller
WashPost
Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Fine. I'm willing to repeal Obamacare. On one condition.

Republicans need to pass a law that the Congressional Budget Office certifies will cover the same number of uninsured as the Democratic health reform does - 30 million. And it has to do it at lower cost.

If I were President Obama, this is what I would be saying this week. And in the State of the Union address next week. And every time the question comes up.

The logic is simple. If Republicans are serious, they have to accept that it's a national priority to make sure that every American has basic health coverage. Thirty million isn't enough, of course, because the ranks of the uninsured still hover around 50 million. But since Democrats could only muster the will to cover 30 million, that's all we can expect the GOP to match as a measure of seriousness. (Though I'd be happy to see them shame Democrats with a plan to cover more).

The reason Obama should frame the debate this way is that there is no chance the Republican House will pass such a bill. That's because the GOP does not view the presence of 50 million uninsured in a wealthy nation as an issue that needs to be addressed.

(More here.)