Thursday's Supreme Court decision keeping Obamacare subsidies in place for people on the federal exchanges set off a(nother) mighty chorus of Republican whining. But as loud as that whining is, it's not enough to cover up what's missing: a real Republican plan to replace or improve the healthcare law.
Some Republicans gave lip service to the idea of coming up with their own plan as they responded to the Supreme Court's decision. According to House Speaker John Boehner, "Obamacare is fundamentally broken" and "we will continue our efforts to repeal the law and replace it with patient-centered solutions that meet the needs of seniors, small business owners, and middle-class families." Sen. Rand Paul promised that "As president, I would make it my mission to repeal it, and propose real solutions for our healthcare system." Jeb! Bush is raising money off the need for a president "who will repeal and replace Obamacare with a conservative solution."
But ... guys? It's been five years and your party still hasn't come up with an actual plan to replace Obamacare. Like, you've voted dozens of times to repeal it, and you like to say "repeal and replace," but we still don't know what that replacement would look like because you haven't told us.
Even as the Supreme Court decision approached, with the fate of subsidies for six million people hanging in the balance, Republicans were all it's coming—no really, we have a plan, but the supposed fix they unveiled was unworkable. If they couldn't come up with anything when it was possible that they'd take heavy political damage from six million people losing their health insurance, why would we ever believe Republicans are going to come up with a real plan to replace Obamacare now, when it's out of immediate danger from the Supreme Court? Answer: We shouldn't believe it. They're not going to come up with a plan. They're just going to keep promising to repeal Obamacare by way of throwing red meat to their base. But to everyone else, it's going to be increasingly obvious what a cynical ploy that is.