For GOP, ‘repeal and replace’ has been nothing but a mantra on health-care law

By David A. Fahrenthold,
WashPost
Saturday, December 24, 4:59 PM

More than a year after Republicans first pledged to “repeal and replace” President Obama’s new health-care law, the GOP is still struggling to answer a basic question.

Replace it . . . with what?

The repeal-and-replace argument has been a central line of attack in the GOP’s anti-Obama assault, both on the presidential campaign trail and on Capitol Hill.

In Congress, the new Republican-led House took a symbolic vote to repeal the law in January. But since then, nothing has happened. The House hasn’t passed anything new to take its place.

On the campaign trail, both former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney have said they want to repeal the law.

To replace it, they have reused several ideas from 2008 GOP nominee John McCain. Instead of a mandate to buy insurance, the two current front-runners would offer ways to make insurance cheaper: new tax credits, new bargains on policies from out-of-state.

(More here.)