And there you have it

House Republicans today passed their repeal of "Obamacare." Mark my words when I say that what is now a pejorative term will one day be mark of pride. That's not really the point though. The point is that maybe now this "debate" will be over with; now that House Republicans have fulfilled their campaign promise maybe they'll give up on their mission to undermine the well being of Americans.

I've spent enough time defending the law and I've spent enough time bashing Republican hypocrisy and disdain for Americans, so instead of doing either of those things AGAIN, I'll offer a simple question, or perhaps a challenge to Republicans.

Now that you've passed a repeal bill that will give insurance companies the right to steal from and screw over Americans and that theoretically will cost the government hundred of billions over the next decade, what's your plan?

I get the complaints. I get that the law may cost more than advertised. I get that it may be unconstitutional to force people to buy healthcare. It's fair to question the Constitutionality of the law, it's even fair to disagree with the CBO's analysis of the cost of the law. I get it. I disagree, and as you well know, I'm disgusted by the often blatant displays of hypocrisy, but I get it.

So you disagree, and now that you have a majority in the House of Representatives, you've passed a repeal bill that seems doomed to die. I'd like to think this will be the end of the debate, but maybe there is going to be more debate and maybe there will even be more reform. Maybe that reform will be a good thing, but again, Republicans, I ask you, now what?

Do you actually have a plan? I hear about "repeal and replace," but I haven't heard anything about the replacement. What does it look like? What is it going to do? Do you have any actual ideas or have you simply tried to save face, or rather save grandma from those...death panels!

I'm growing tired of the healthcare debate because it simply hasn't been a debate. It's been a set of ideas offered by Democrats and a refusal to cooperate or legislate by Republicans. The "debate" so far has been Democrats offering ideas and Republicans brushing them aside. So we ended up with a law that isn't perfect and now Republicans want to undo all the good parts of that law and replace them with...

I won't hold my breath.

But this leads me to my next and final point which is really the topic for a whole new post. I'm realizing that my frustration with the Republican party is due to the fact that they don't seem to have ANY ideas. What's the Republican plan for weening us off oil and coal and transitioning us to green and alternative energy? What's the Republican plan for reforming healthcare? What's the Republican plan for fixing the economy? These questions don't have answers. There doesn't seem to be a plan.

Maybe Republicans will prove me wrong and come up with a plan for some of these thorny and pressing issues. I certainly hope so, because the only idea they've offered so far involves giving insurance companies the right to revoke my coverage if I get sick.