[Jim in CT]

Obamacare was not only a fiscal disaster (premiums skyrocketed for huge numbers of Americans) but a totalitarian nightmare. Forcing Catholic nuns to pay for other people's abortions is not altruistic; it is evil, and twisted, unconstitutional, and degrading. It was forced on us under the veneer of generosity. So I certainly think Obamacare as such ought to be dismantled.

Poor people in this country have long benefited from taxpayer-funded health care (Medicaid, et alia) and charitable funding for health care (such as at Catholic hospitals). So the idea that we were all stepping over the corpses of the poor on our way into our "rich people" hospitals to get surgery to improve our golf swings was a ridiculous canard.

But there is a very genuine problem with people who face the possibility of losing their life's savings or their homes when they face catastrophic illness, and that should never happen in a civilized society.

Likewise, insurance companies ought not be able to drop clients who turn out to be "bad bets." Insurance is gambling, and the dealer doesn't get to say, "Yes, you got Blackjack, but I don't want to pay you your winnings."

And it is clearly the purview of the government to provide for poor people with pre-existing conditions, at least when those pre-existing conditions are not their fault. How you go about this without the totalitarian individual mandate (if that bothers you, it doesn't bother me) is by having the government provide insurance for people in this category.

By all means, gut Obamacare like a brook trout. But replace it with something which fulfills the obligation we all have to take care of those who would be helpless without it, while respecting everyone's religious freedom.