This will end messily. The handful of Republicans who have been paying attention and kind of get how stuff actually works have convinced other Republicans that if they really mean it when they're talking about replacing Obamacare, then they can't actually get rid of all the taxes that fund it—and it's actually being considered.
GOP lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee discussed the possibility of keeping some of the taxes in place during a retreat last week at the Library of Congress, the sources say.
Even if some of the taxes are not removed as part of the initial repeal bill, it does not necessarily mean they will remain indefinitely. Some ObamaCare taxes could be dealt with as part of a larger tax reform bill later in the year.
Still, there is at least a possibility that some taxes could remain in place to provide revenue for a replacement healthcare measure. […]
Some conservatives have long pushed for repealing the entire health law, including the taxes. But other Republicans, including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), want to keep some of the taxes to provide revenue for a replacement plan. “There needs to be some source of revenue,” Cassidy told The Hill. He noted that various healthcare industry groups already worked out deals when ObamaCare was being passed in 2009 to give up some money in exchange for increasing coverage, which would help their business.
That Republicans are thinking about this is remarkable, because it would mean goodbye to some big tax cuts for the very wealthy. Maybe Republicans realize that it doesn't look so great to go taking away people's health insurance to give money to rich people.
But they'll probably get over that fast.
Because they still have the maniacs for whom tax cuts and immediate repeal without worrying about replacement mean everything. There's basically no margin for losing the tea party/Freedom Caucus types on this.
Resistance from Senate Republicans—including Cassidy, Susan Collins, and Lamar Alexander—also complicates this business mightily for both House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, where there's also no margin for lost Republican votes (even under simple majority vote) with the budget reconciliation tool they plan on using.
And that makes it that much easier—and more imperative as well—for Democrats to sit back and watch them struggle, offering no lifelines whatsoever.