Should Republicans back down on health care?

With the public's opposition to the health-care law waning, pushing repeal could get risky for the GOP

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) says it may take time to replace "Obamacare," but "we will get this done."
(Image credit: Getty)

As House Republicans launched debate this week on repealing the health-care law, public opposition to President Obama's signature legislative achievement may be softening. A new poll finds that 40 percent of respondents say they support the law, which would expand coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans, while 41 percent oppose it. (By comparison, after the November midterms, only 38 percent supported it and 47 percent were opposed.) Only one in four Americans now want to scrap the law entirely. Should the GOP cool its fervor for repeal? (Watch an AP report about health care opposition)

After the symbolic House vote, the GOP should drop repeal: Even if the House pushes this "charade" through, says Dan Amira in New York, "the hilariously named 'Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act'" will be stopped in its tracks in the Senate. The GOP should drop the matter after this "symbolic protest" — otherwise, Republicans will actually have to come up with a viable approach.

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