On Monday, the president* said that "nobody knew healthcare was so complex." I do not believe this is generally the case. (Dude, have you ever read a health insurance policy or, worse, an explanation of benefits?) After all, he also said he was going to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on his first day in office. And the basic complication seems still to be caused by the fact that, out in the country, people are finally beginning to understand that Obamacare and the ACA are the same thing and that repealing "Obamacare" means losing the benefits you gained under the Affordable Care Act. As a country, we can be just a little slow.

Congress is back now and the issue is really going to get going. Things did not begin well. On Friday, Tiger Beat On The Potomac got a hold of a draft proposal for a Republican replacement plan and it was a four-course dog's breakfast.

The legislation would take down the foundation of Obamacare, including the unpopular individual mandate, subsidies based on people's income, and all of the law's taxes. It would significantly roll back Medicaid spending and give states money to create high risk pools for some people with pre-existing conditions. Some elements would be effective right away; others not until 2020.

The blueprint also virtually eliminates Medicaid and also allows insurers to gouge seniors. It proposes to replace these by block-granting Medicaid to the states and by reviving that most fundamental of conservative healthcare absurdities: the Health Savings Account. The basic philosophy behind the entire plan was expressed by Congressman Michael Burgess, Republican of Texas, who explained to Bloomberg News:

"We're not going to send an IRS agent out to chase you down and make you buy health insurance. If the numbers drop, I would say that's a good thing, because we've restored personal liberty in this country."

Did I mention that this guy's a doctor?

(But the House Cup for dickitude goes to former Senator Rick Santorum, who appeared on CNN to deplore those moochers who are freeloading off the ACA's protections for people with pre-existing conditions. And have I mentioned recently what a colossal dick Rick Santorum is?)

The fact is that they have no plan—or, more precisely, they have no plan on which many of them care to run in 2018. Some of the Republicans in the House don't see this as that much of a problem. But others, including those who had the basic courage to actually hold town hall meetings during the recess, have gotten both ears full from constituents who don't want to go back to choosing between Hamburger Helper and dialysis.

Republican governors have been making serious mouth-noises about how much they sorta, kinda like the Medicaid expansion FREE MONEY! Nevertheless, it appears that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has joined with Speaker Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny starver from the state of Wisconsin, to push the House plan on the White House, because, frankly, they don't have anything else. (Unsurprisingly, Ryan showed the white feather to his home constituency during the recess.) But freedom!, I guess.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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