Clearly, they are caught.
The Republicans have made themselves the “party of no” in regards to healthcare, even getting to the point of blatantly stating that they would vote against any proposal no matter what it says. They have drawn the line politically (because obviously when there are real issues to be tackled, the best way to do it is to ignore the issue and argue over what the other side thinks the issues are), and by all appearances are not looking to concede in any way.
But at the same time they are not offering up solid plans to solve the problem. They’ve scrapped together some plans in the House, but most haven’t got much more than tax breaks and tort reform (which they were really into until President Obama was in favor of it).
So why haven’t they put together a full-fledged Republican Response Plan? Are the incapable (idiots)? Lazy? Uninterested in the welfare of the country? I’m sure it’s a combination of all these and more, but something more positive may underwrite their actions:
There are only so many solutions, and the democratic plans go through a good majority of them. Always pragmatic Barack Obama has found genuine answers to healthcare problems that could change the course of the medical industry in this country. Republicans agree with many of these, which is why if they created a plan they would probably include some of these - but they can’t. Because they vowed to oppose whatever came from the left, and to agree with even some of the ideas is closer to an endorsement then they would ever want to get.
Politics win over substance. And it’s all just one big game.