In a visit to NR’s New York office, Senator Ron Johnson said the fight against Obamacare is entering a new phase: “We’ve got to start talking about transitioning.” Johnson won his Senate seat in 2010 based in large part on his fierce opposition to Obamacare, which he still adamantly opposes as an assault on Americans’ liberty and criticizes in the harshest terms (look no further than his recent weekly radio address). But simple repeal is no longer enough, he believes. He says that Republicans have to acknowledge that the law now exists. “How do you repeal?” he asks. “Yeah, you can get rid of the law, but what do you do with what’s already there?” He continues, “Am I opposed to state-based exchanges? No.” He thinks “it may be that they can be usable.” “I’m all for repeal,” he stipulates, “but it’s there. What do you do with what’​s there? . . . .We’ve got to start talking about the reality of the situation.” He says that his approach, acknowledging the reality of the new structures put in place by Obamacare and offering a positive alternative, might be summarized as “repeal, dismantle, and transition to something better.”

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