Washington Free Beacon contributing editor Daniel Halper said Wednesday on Fox News that repealing Obamacare is difficult because "politicians don't want to strip their constituents of government goodies."
Halper said that many Republicans who have voted for repeal in the past may be on a different page "now that it could actually be signed into law."
He also pointed out that the process is just getting started, and asked, "Does this skinny repeal become bulimic or anorexic, or by the end of the week, is a just symbolism and not anything substantive?"
Halper was referring to the "skinny repeal" of Obamacare that some Senate Republicans have proposed. It would entail passing a series of amendments that would dispose of a few key components of the Affordable Care Act that Republicans have identified as being particularly burdensome.
"Have you asked anyone in Washington why it is that Republicans have been pushing to repeal Obamacare for three election cycles now and now that it's actually a possibility at hand, they can't all get on the same page about it?" host Jon Scott asked Halper.
"Well, it's very hard to give entitlements, to give cheaper health care or to give subsidized health care, to give entitlements like any sort of entitlement and then take it away," Halper said.
"Politically, think back to Social Security reform for instance in what President Bush tried. It failed because people don't like when you mess with their entitlements," Halper added. "This is one of the reasons against Obamacare from the get-go. Once you put in an entitlement, it's very hard to take it away and I think that's what we are seeing here. I think people don't want to strip their constituents of government goodies."