There's a rule in the Boy Scouts—or at least in the TV portrayals of the Boy Scouts. I don't know, I was too busy being a cool guy with a John Olerud baseball card in the spokes of my bike... But regardless, I'm pretty sure there's a rule in the Boy Scouts that says you should always leave a place better than you found it. I think it's fair to say that we should expect our elected officials to hold themselves to that same standard, but unfortunately, what with their shared distaste for poor people, Republicans don't seem to be taking that Boy Scout motto to heart.

Last night, during a late-night "Vote-a-Rama" (because making terrifying legislative decisions under the cover of darkness needs a fun name apparently), the Senate GOP began to lay the procedural groundwork to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This move is part of the wholly irresponsible strategy pioneered by Mitch McConnell, which would see Republicans repeal Obamacare before they have an actual replacement plan in place to help the 20 million Americans who would lose their insurance without the ACA.

Originally, they sold this plan as "repeal and delay." This basically set up a situation where they would repeal the law but delay the implementation of that repeal so they have time to figure out how to replace it. This would lead to a scenario where those millions who would see their care affected by the repeal would essentially become hostages that the GOP could use to make the law look like whatever they wanted, especially if they repealed just enough of the original act to claim an optics victory. This reaction to this plan could be summed up thus: "The fuck?"

So now the GOP has pivoted behind their glorious leader incoming president Donald Trump and are now selling the change as "repeal and replace."

We're going to be submitting, as soon as our secretary is approved, almost simultaneously—shortly thereafter—a plan. It will be repeal and replace. It will be essentially simultaneously. It will be various segments, you understand, but will most likely be on the same day or the same week—but probably the same day—could be the same hour. So we're going to do repeal and replace—very complicated stuff.

Oh, so I guess that means they have a plan ready. Wow. That's surprising and impressive. Let's hear from some Senate Republicans about that plan!

"I don't see any possibility of our being able to come up with a comprehensive reform bill that would replace Obamacare by the end of this month," said Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

How much do you want to bet that the plan is still exactly the same and that they are going to repeal this despite the fact that they have no idea how to replace it with something that works? Let's not mince words: If the ACA is repealed without a plan in place, Americans will suffer the consequences for what's little more than political grandstanding.