Conservatives Brace for the Possibility Obamacare Won't Totally Suck

[Playinghardball]

Leaders of the Republican Party are still predicting that Obamacare will be a disaster, one that will wreak havoc on American health care. Most of their allies in the media say the same thing. But a small group of conservative intellectuals has been warning that the law might not be so apocalyptical—that, with full implementation about to begin, wholesale repeal may no longer be possible. That argument may be starting to sink in, if a new article in the Washington Examiner is indicative.

The article, “Are Republicans Fooling Themselves About Obamacare?,” comes from conservative writer and pundit Byron York. Here’s what he writes:

…a lot of thoughtful conservatives are looking beyond Oct. 1 to Jan. 1, the day the law (except for the parts the president has unilaterally postponed) is scheduled to go fully into effect. On that day the government will begin subsidizing health insurance for millions of Americans. (A family of four with income as high as $88,000 will be eligible for subsidies.) When people begin receiving that entitlement, the dynamics of the Obamacare debate will change.

At that point, the Republican mantra of total repeal will become obsolete. The administration will mount a huge public relations campaign to highlight individuals who have received government assistance to help them afford, say, chemotherapy, or dialysis, or some other life-saving treatment. Will Republicans advocate cutting off the funds that help pay for such care?

The answer is no. Facing that reality, the GOP is likely to change its approach, arguing that those people should be helped while the rest of Obamacare is somehow dismantled.

More at: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113994/obamacare-implementation-conservatives-brace-it-working#

Found on the ObamaDiary

[unblock]

1. if they really thought it would totally suck, they would gleefully implement it

and hang its failure like an albatross around the democrats' collective neck for decades.

of course they know it will create a constituency with entrenched interests in preserving it and thanking democrats for making it happen.

why else would they fight it tooth and nail?

[louis-t]

2. Why do you think they keep having votes to repeal it?

They know once people find out it works, they're done. It's the equivalent of a warship that is losing a battle and begins firing every gun they have in hopes of getting in a lucky shot.