Republicans eat their own

Republicans are completely responsible for the King v. Burwell lawsuit before the Supreme Court that would remove the federal subsidies that make health insurance affordable for millions of people.   The original lapse in wording in the bill was apparently not what anyone intended.    When it was originally written, it was assumed that almost all states would set up their own insurance exchanges, which are clearly included in the federal subsidies.

Now it appears that winning the lawsuit at SCOTUS will impact Republican constituents more than Democratic ones -- by a whopping margin of 2 to 1.

When SCOTUS' original decision that took away the incentives to states to set up their own exchanges, the federal exchange plans suddenly jumped from the anticipated very few states to about two-thirds, as Republican governors and legislatures refused to set up their own plans.

Republicans are responsible in another way.   The problem with the text that is the basis for all this could be remedied in a one-hour session of Congress in which those four words -- "established by the state" -- could simply be removed from the ACA law.   But they adamantly refuse to even consider it.

Their intent, of course, was to make sure that President Obama's signature health care revolution did not succeed.    When it did anyway, Republicans entered a lawsuit to exploit a four-word phrase that should have been removed from the bill, but was overlooked.

They're apparently counting on having brain-washed the American people with "Obamacare = Bad" enough that anything bad that happens will be blamed on the Democrats.

Be careful what you wish for.   Now, if SCOTUS agrees with the plaintiffs and takes away the individual subsidies, an estimated 6 million will probably be unable to afford their newly acquired health insurance.   

Already, Republicans had gotten anxious and were scrambling to find some temporary fix, like delaying the implementation until after the 2016 election, because of the political fall-out for them.

A new report has been released by FamiliesUSA, advocacy and consumer support organization that favors the ACA.   Of the 34 states where it is anticipated that people will lose their subsidies, two-thirds of those states are Republican states.

That makes sense, and I'm not quite sure why it is news today.   With few exceptions, it has been those states with Republicans in control of state government, that have refused to set up their own state exchanges. 

That is why I say, in my headline, that "Republicans eat their own."   It would be fun to sing another round of "Schadenfreude" -- except that this would be a colossal setback for the health and well-being of this country.    Even the prospect of seeing your political enemy being held responsible for a disaster is not something to wish for on the backs of needy, suffering people.

Ralph