Last week, members of the Freedom Caucus expressed sharp opposition to House Republican leadership's plan to provide refundable tax credits for people who purchase insurance.
That's such a bad idea the left and right could unite against it, but there's another major source of contention in their plans that could unite several factions against it.
Speaker Paul Ryan's plan calls for taxing employer-based healthcare which, obviously, would affect legions of people.
Objections also are being raised against a proposal to open up some employer-sponsored health insurance plans to taxation. Some Republicans worry that proposal is essentially a new version of ObamaCare’s much-reviled “Cadillac tax."
House committees hope to start considering repeal and replace legislation in early March, but the objections highlight that as specifics come out, opposition can intensify.
Ah, yes, the specifics.
The Affordable Care Act -- Obamacare -- barely touched employer-based healthcare for good reason. The vast majority of people depend on it and making it more expensive in the way Paul Ryan intends to risks igniting a firestorm of anger.
To be clear, a tax on employer-based healthcare would make up for their plans to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires who purchase extremely high-value insurance plans. This would be Paul Ryan's replacement for the so-called "Cadillac tax," except this tax could fall on average working people. The net effect would be to shift the burden of paying for things like pre-existing conditions from the wealthy to the middle-class.
This is just another redistribution of wealth, but in the opposite direction of Obamacare. The mechanisms that currently fund Obamacare would be redirected to fleece people who can't really afford it.
Paul Ryan is a lizard in a human suit.