The Republicans Plan is to DELAY Obamacare's implementation...
The Republicans aren't stupid enough to shut down the federal gov't over Obamacare, because it would be a public relations disaster.
I believe that their goal with this dog-and-pony show about shutting down the federal gov't (besides appeasing the tea-baggers) is to keep Obamacare in the minds of the general public and stir up anxiety about how Jan. 1, 2014 is fast-approaching, etc. so they can gain leverage to try and force the White House to delay more and more parts of Obamacare to 2015 or 2016. Delaying the law's implementation will give the Rethugs enough time to capture the Senate and maybe the White House before people feel the benefits of the law. President Obama CANNOT give in to this! It's bad enough that he's already postponed two elements of the law for one year (and it's awkward that the White House can unilaterally decide to delay the implementation of a certain part of a law which has already passed Congress and been signed into law?).
Nevertheless, we need to get Obamacare fully-implemented on Jan. 1, 2014. This will give us time to work out any quirks and also give people the opportunity to start experiencing the benefits of the law before the 2014 midterms and the start of the 2016 presidential campaign.
NO MORE DELAYS. We've waited almost four years since the law was passed for it to be implemented, and the time is now.
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And since the whole idea of GingrichCare -- forced insurance with no public option -- was first conceived by the republicans, and this trojan horse was accepted by "democrats" and put into law... 
I think that he is trying to soften the opposition to it by trying to be flexible- though there is certainly a concern that he might wind up being TOO flexible to the point that the law becomes toothless in some respects. But at least most of the major elements of the law are still on track, with the remainder to follow within a year.
