"This is the closing of the first chapter of America's health-care saga," Rep. Paul Ryan says from his office, which is adorned with reminders of contests of the non-political kind: hunting mementos and a Green Bay Packers helmet. "We are witnessing the beginning of a whole new kind of health-care politics, the likes of which we have never seen before." Ryan, a 40-year-old Wisconsin Republican, says Republicans have a fight on their hands, and he is ready for combat. As Democrats scrambled this past week for votes, he's been listening to Metallica on his iPod and strategizing about how best to counteract Obamacare. Sunday night's passage, he says, "was a rude awakening and a big wake-up call," but also a call to action for Americans and, especially, for the GOP."
"We need to establish a set of metrics and benchmarks to measure the sector going forward, keeping a close eye on all of the Democrats' claims," Ryan says. "From cost to quality, we will need to be vigilant in making sure that their assertions are actually substantiated with facts, and I have every reason to believe they won't be. "Repealing Obamacare should be the goal, he says, "but with the political plurality you need to do that-- a new president, 60 senators, and a majority in the House that is a pretty tall order."
