Sometime very soon, the Supreme Court will rule on the Affordable Care Act's constitutionality, possibly killing the law. What's more, even if a court majority sides with the administration, Republican policymakers may very well have a chance to eliminate "Obamacare" altogether early next year.
And that creates a conundrum for the GOP. After screaming bloody murder about the law for three years, Republicans have successfully convinced many Americans to oppose health care reform. At the same time, much of the country has grown to like, want, and expect many of the law's protections.
What will Republicans do about this? They have no earthly idea. For example, ThinkProgress caught up with Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) the other day, and despite his fierce opposition to the law, he's fully on board with many of the law's key provisions.
For those who can't watch clips online, West expressed his support for allowing young adults to stay on their family's plan until they're 26, protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions, and closing the Medicare prescription drug donut hole. In other words, this right-wing opponent of Obamacare is comfortable keeping the most popular parts of Obamacare, despite already having voted to kill these benefits, and despite the policy measures that interconnect the popular and unpopular provisions.
What's more, it's not just West -- Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who's also voted to eliminate the entire law, also said protections for young adults should remain in place.
For three years, Republican policymakers thought it was simply enough to whine incessantly about health care reform and how much they hated President Obama's reform package. Now, it's slowly dawning on them that the larger questions need answers.
As a Republican health care aide told Sahil Kapur, "I do think some Republicans are finally starting to realize they could be the dog that caught the car."
There's no easy way out of this. "Repeal and replace" is already dead, and the Republican base has demanded, in no uncertain terms, that every letter of the Affordable Care Act has to go. No matter how effective the policies are, no matter how popular they might be, no matter what the consequences might be of repeal, conservatives will tolerate nothing less than the old, dysfunctional health care system. No exceptions.
Just two weeks ago, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) adopted the same line, telling reporters, "We voted to fully repeal the president's healthcare law as one of our first acts as a new House majority, and our plan remains to repeal the law in its entirety. Anything short of that is unacceptable."
So, for Washington's most powerful GOP official, the only "acceptable" outcome is one in which tens of millions of Americans lose their health care coverage, seniors pay higher prescription drug costs, small businesses lose their tax breaks, and the deficit goes up by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.
In 2009, Republicans said they agreed with 80% of Obamacare. In 2012, it's down to zero.
What's unclear at this point is what happens if and when the dog actually catches the car. The American mainstream wants many of the law's benefits to stay in place; the GOP base expects all of the law's benefits to disappear. No one knows what'll happen, but as a rule, Republicans don't ignore their base often.
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Ow! Ow! The stupidity hurts ...please make it stop.
How does a lunatic like Allen West come to be? Anyway, this is your GOP Duh-merica! Vote early, vote often for your favorite 1%'er! The GOP shows that you can lie, cheat, steal, ignore your constituency and still get elected to office! It's not tragic, it's funny!
Lunatic implies he is only crazy during the full moon phase, I would assert his derangement is more of a constant.
Seriously, Mr. West displays all the familiar behavioral traits of the Authoritarian Personality. The contradiction, the fearmongering, the scapegoating, the desire for power without merit, lack the ability to self-reflec the high level of cognitive dissonace.
It is a Psychological disorder. There is much research and even a 90% accurate test to determine ones submission to authority.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
http://www.truth-out.org/right-wing-id-unzipped/1329147417
Apparently I am one of the few who like Obamacare. The only thing that would make it better is if it were universal. It is heartbreaking that the GOP have managed to brainwash people into thinking that it is a bad thing when it is so needed. The supremes have become too political for me to have confidence that they will look at the merits of the bill to base the decision.
I am in Ohio, and I would like to believe that Ohioans have had enough of the TP policies shoved down our gullets and vote the other direction, but people don't pay attention or are easily swayed by ads that blatantly lie. I know that there are three (me and my very lefty kids) votes in Ohio that will vote for a full democrat ticket this election (and probably every election from now on). We are actually starting to become pretty active locally, but it almost feels hopeless if the GOP win anything.
This guy is Col. Urkel. What a douche!
First off, Republicans aren't really against Obamacare - they're against the Presaident who signed it into law. If the exact same bill had passed and been signed by a GOP President (and it could have, since so much of it is based on GOP ideas), they'be all for it.
Romney has a TV commercial that claims he's going to replace Obamacare with "common sense" healthcare. I would Romney to explain what he has in mind that's more common sense than all of these elements of Obamacare that are so popular with all but the extreme right. Of course, I know he wouldn't have an answer for that.
Oh, and Romney said earlier in the primary season that he would repeal Obamacare and let the states handle it however they choose, but now he's promising common sense replacement in his administration? Wouldn't that be a federal plan by definition?
A question for those of you who are against Obamacare - how has your coverage changed since the bill was signed? My guess is that it hasn't. You can still choose your providers. Nobody is making you do anything differently. But some fools believe that this is somehow government-run healthcare now.
Finally, Republicans are dogs in this analogy. My dog is filing a formal protest to the negative comparison.
There's no mystery about what conservatives do in cases like this - they pass their own bills embodying the reforms, with special goodies for big-money interests. Notable historical examples are Disraeli's Reform Bill of 1867 and Bush's Medicare Part D.
Better trolls please.
Wasn't I hearing complaints that Bush spent too much on Part D, adding to our current deficits? Yet here you are lobbying for more money to be spent on Part D? Did I miss something along the way. For that matter, the donut hole was covered by Part C which is being cut.
Quite frankly, I see so many conflicting claims that it's hard to believe anyone on healthcare. It's as good a reason to cancel the whole damn thing as any. Ignorance of the law is not only an excuse it's SOP.
I don't think anyone has a problem with Medicare Part D. The problem with Part D was that Bush got the bill through, but Congress didn't make a plan to pay for it (no tax increase, no budget cut somewhere else, etc.).
Maybe they're starting to figure out that if Obamacare doesn't pass, the American People are going to start burning their insurance cards, it will be much like when Americans started burning their draft cards. Refusing to pay taxes is sure to follow. Most of us have already been thrown out of our houses. We have nothing to lose.
For it before he/they was/were against it but now for parts of it without all the other pages.. It's highly questionable that the GOP will honor even the portions that Mr. West says "we" should keep as the key mantra to GOP "policy-making" is to undo everything that has so far been done. Does bald-faced liar ring a bell? And like skepto above states: they (will) pass their own bills embodying the reforms, with special goodies for big-money interests. Bingo!
Right you are you Trollop, even if the Court passes this peice meal it sticks. Just like Bartender2 says below, the dog is impaled on the bumper.
President Kennedy said it better I think. "A temporary arrangement is as close as you get to a permanent policy." Something like that.
As far as Mr. West goes, roadkill is the best compliment I can say.
Correction: John Kennedy said "There is nothing more permanent than a temporary arrangement."
Not for one moment do I believe that crazies like Alan West even support one LINE of the ACA...he is running for re-election and they have taken their cues from Walker in Wisconsin. LIE LIE LIE, get re-elected and then screw you over while insisting that a) they ALWAYS told you they were going to do it and b) it's for your own good.
Most Republicans agree with the provisions of the healthcare law EXCEPT that it is mandatory for everyone to get coverage. And while I understand that argument, in the long run, it is cheaper for us as a country if everyone gets insurance. If not, we have the same broken system we have now. Under that system, if you have no insurance and end up in an emergency room, if you don't pay your bill, the hospital forwards it to some government agency that picks up the bill. TRANSLATION: THE TAXPAYERS PONY UP THE CASH TO PAY FOR EVERYONE ELSE!!!!! That is the main issue that the Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on: should this be mandatory? But we force people to get insurance for their cars in order to register them (at least we do in New York State) and that is okay, so why not health insurance? I think it is a win-win although we should just have Medicare for All and put an end to the fraud in the system by having it all run by the government. I know, that is Commie talk!!! Whatever...
As someone already astutely pointed out, the Tea Party nuts oppose the law because they just don't like that there is a black man in the White House. Seriously, the undercurrent of racism is an unfortunate part of the TP movement. What they stand for (smaller government) isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, the fraud and waste in our government on the local, state and federal level are bloated, but instead of taking a scalpel to the problem areas, the TP'ers just want to kill the entire patient. Neither answer is a solution to the problem. Smarter government is what we need, but with all the money thrown at politicians by special interest groups, there is no way we are going to get it unless the people rise up and say enough.
And can I just point out that many of the provisions of the healthcare law don't go into effect until 2014? So can't we just wait for a couple of years, see what is working, what becomes fraudulant (because you KNOW someone will game the system), and fix the problems as we go along? Let's not be rash, folks. Give the law a chance to be fully implemented and see what happens.
Like where I live in Florida where there is a 1mill Hospital district tax ($275 on a $275,000 house) to care for indigent patients.
Socialized medicine at its finest
We all pay for those who don't, so someone explain to me how they can argue against the mandate
Well said George. I really dont expect the supremes to countermand their corp buds and take out the mandates.
George, I call it Medicare, part E - Medicare for Everyone.
But more importantly, when we were debating Obamacare, before it became a law, I argued to one of my co-workers who was opposed to it and Medicare part E, that I wanted whichever was the BETTER of the two choices. I don't care which one is better. I just want that one.
If Medicare is better, than why should I have to wait till I'm 65 to finally be able to get the "really good" insurance? Or, if Obamacare is better, then I want it to last my lifetime. I don't want to have to switch to poorer insurance coverage just because I am old.
This points out the stupidity of having two systems, one for young and one for old. Whichever is a better plan, let's make that the plan for ALL of us. Please!
"What's unclear at this point is what happens if and when the dog actually catches the car." The dog is impailed into the bumper once the driver slams on the brakes.
Be careful who you vote for this November, be very careful.
a little more from the financial times on the gop's confusion over what to do if the law is overturned
http://tinyurl.com/7e3ehhe
it is easy democrats are for the people and republicans could care less about us all . Us elderly have seen this for years as republicans even want to take away our social security that we have paid into and the rich or wealthy have not sorry we all cant get free healthcare like our politicians do
After watching Newt Gingrich on Hardball with Chris Matthews I couldn't help but see how the modern day radical right is sucking the life out of their once rational thinking politicians. It's psychological mutilation, too bad and sad actually, that they are too blind to see this.
I am a bit confused. Are you saying that Newt was once rational? Gingrich was born psychologically mutilated (or mutated.) Please clarify if I misread your post.
I'm smart. I'm charismatic. I'm well read. I'm passionate and can give one hell of a speech. IF ONLY I WAS HEARTLESS! I could make millions being a preacher or right wing politician. Instead I struggle trying to bring my company back to life in this environment. Damn, I suck.
Today, here in Ontario, I went to renew my Health Card. With it, in hand, I can go to my doctor as often as needed, go to the hospital, have surgery and stay until ready to go home and---just go. NO BILL.
It's not free. It just seems that way. We pay for our health care through our taxes.
I retired 12 years ago. I have and will continue to have coverage from my Benefits till the day I die. My dental is covered to up to 80%. I get $500 each for Chiropractic, physio, Accupuncture and Massage every year.
If I am sick in another province, I can present my Ontario Card and they will take care of me and, simply, bill Ontario.
Even Sarah Palin who, once ,had to use our system, thought it was WONDERFUL but not for Americans..
The U.S is the ONLY western country without a National Health Care (it's--horrors--socialism) You are also the only country trying, through the courts, to find ways of repealing what you have thanks to Obama (that dastardly liberal!)
So, please, answer me this, terriel:
Children love their parents because:
When they need shelter, parents provide,
When they are hungry, parents feed them
When they are sick, parents care for them
When they are in trouble or distress, parents will help them
Americans love their country, but:
When they need shelter, the country will not provide or help find
When they are hungry, the country will not feed them
When they are sick, the country will not care for them
When they are in trouble or distress, the country will not help them
And now the GOP wants to repeal Obamacare, Medicare, Social Security, hesitate to pass Obama’s Jobs bill, refuse to fund relief for hurricane Irene, are in an active war against women's health (though according to Boehner, it's a FICTION--all those anti women's care bills they are signing all over the country are not real, they don't exist). lol--NOT
Americans love their country;
Why can’t the country love them back?
George, we, too, in Canada, were opposed to Universal Health Care when it came in. Now, it defines us.
2014 isn't far away (unless the Mayans are right and then the argument is moot) but, by then it may REALLY be moot if the Supreme Court quashes it. That would make all the Tepartiers so happy (until they get sick) and Mitch "let's make Obama a one term president" McConnell will get drunk with glee.
It is so sad that there are no thinking people left in "Amercia". There is NO solution to US healthcare costs without shifting the majority (if not all) primary care doctors away from 'fee for service' and to salary. It seems to work for every other of the 25 advanced developed economies. I guess there's no money for corporations (and therefore politicians) in a healthy populace that has disposable income to spend on non-medical insurance & treatments.