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No plan doesn’t seem to be a realistic option. Moreover, they ran on repeal and replace. Now, the realities are what Rand Paul doesn’t seem to be interested in addressing. Can you get a clean repeal bill to pass with just Republican votes? No, it’s not. You need 60 votes. Now, let’s say we had some real hardcore Republicans (All like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul on this issue). Then MAYBE you could get the rules changed and force everything in with 51 votes. The reality of the situation is you have John McCain, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Susan Collins. All of these people need to vote in favor of the bill in addition AND the rule changes (which could apply to all other bills going forward (including when the Democrats take back power)). That is just not in the cards. There is a scenario where the Republicans put everything they want (as if they all agree) and then Pence overrules all the rules but that doesn’t seem realistic to me either. So then, how do you get Obamacare repealed with this reality? Answer: You can’t. Rand Paul’s principals are good here but he has absolutely no idea or plan on how to actually get those ideas or principals to come into law. He’s not seriously trying to govern he’s just complaining. What they are doing is gutting Obamacare through the current process and they can gut a lot of it with a slim majority of votes in addition to getting rid of regulations through Price (this doesn’t always get rid of them, it sometimes zeros things out. Part of the complaint is that they need to get rid of them in law and not just through the secretary and this should be able to be done through reconciliation; I happen to agree with that but I don’t know all of the details to be able to say conclusively that what I think it doable is indeed doable.). Once the law has been gutted you put clean bills in. I.e, a bill to lower drug cost (This is something that Democrats could vote for if there isn’t any repeal language in the bill but won’t vote for along with a repeal). You put an HSA bill or an “Across state lines Bill”. Depending on how the Democrats feel about all these positions you may be able to put them all into one bill. Again, you can’t squeeze them into a “Phase One” bill because that would neceessarily require Obamacare repeal language and no Democrat is going to vote for that. If you really think about it this is the best way you can get this done now. I agree, make the repeal portion as hardcore and complete as possible but as you know there are a lot of RINO’s in the Senate who are begging or MORE subsidies so a clean repeal isn’t going to happen. I don’t like Paul Ryan either but this one isn’t really on him. It’s on Mitch McConnell and the RINO’s and cowards in the Senate. It really is his way or keep Obamacare until it dies on the operating table. Politically that could be a disaster since the Republicans own every branch of government. Rand Paul and the naysayers don’t have a viable alternative, that’s the truth.