How Republicans' ObamaCare repeal will die

Paul Ryan's plan is already in big, big trouble

Paul Ryan is not having a good day.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Republicans in the House unveiled their long-awaited plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Monday, and the reception it got was so overwhelmingly negative that it has to represent some kind of milestone in American politics. With a mere seven years to prepare for this moment, Paul Ryan and the rest of the GOP leadership came up with something that's both a policy nightmare and a political catastrophe. And now we can see how the repeal effort will die.

Not that its death is assured, mind you. Republicans still control both houses of Congress and the White House; if they can stay unified, they can pass almost anything they want. But the reaction to this bill shows that unity on this issue will be awfully hard to come by.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.