This Is So Bad

I've got a new piece at Shareblue, co-written with my colleague Matthew Chapman, about Speaker Paul Ryan being unintentionally honest about repealing Obamacare:

Ryan in particular seems to understand the tightrope his party is walking on healthcare reform. Yet in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Ryan made a promise to insured Americans that was highly revealing:

[C]learly there will be a transition and a bridge so that no one is left out in the cold, so that no one is worse off. The purpose here is to bring relief to people who are suffering from Obamacare so that they can get something better.

Ryan later clarified that he only meant no one would be "worse off" during the transition, and was making no promises about the replacement plan.

It is a promise he could not possibly make, given that he is well aware that there will be fewer people with healthcare access. Those people will certainly be "worse off."

But those people are not his primary concern. A careful reading of the above reveals who is: Ryan says "the purpose here is to bring relief to people who are suffering from Obamacare."

Who is suffering from Obamacare? Not the estimated 20 million people who are covered by it and have healthcare access as a result.

Spoiler alert: It's insurance companies. Head on over to read the whole thing.