Of the many pathologies infecting the modern Republican party and conservatism generally is rosy thinking and a complete lack of foresight. The list is long: no one could have predicted that arming and training people like Osama bin Laden could backfire. Who could have predicted that tearing down Glass Steagal might crater the economy. Who knew that cutting taxes on the rich would not help the economy. Or that when you give arms to crazy dictators they do crazy things. Or that invading and conquering Iraq would be easy, so why have a plan B?
Sorry for all the hyperlinks, but it just kind of proves that pattern: these guys just aren’t too good at thinking ahead or pondering the “what ifs”. And so we come to the SCOTUS’s pending decision on King v. Burwell, the case which will determine if Obamacare’s subsidies to those of us that need them will continue. The GOP base, of course, is practically creaming their jeans that the court may gut Obamacare. But a few of the less-thick Republicans are getting worried because they have no plan at all for the aftermath of such a decision:
“It’s an opportunity that we’ve failed at for two decades. We’ve not been particularly close to being on the same page on this subject for two decades,” said a congressional Republican health policy aide who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “So this idea — we’re ready to go? Actually no, we’re not.”
Republican leaders recognize the dilemma. In King v. Burwell, they roundly claim the court ought to invalidate insurance subsidies in some three-dozen states, and that Congress must be ready with a response once they do. But conversations with more than a dozen GOP lawmakers and aides indicate that the party is nowhere close to a solution. Outside health policy experts consulted by the Republicans are also at odds on how the party should respond.
The party that has failed to unify behind an alternative to Obamacare for many years now has five months to reach an agreement. It’s an unenviable predicament, especially for the congressional Republicans leading the effort to devise a response — all of whom hail from states that could lose their subsidies.
It’s all rather delicious, in a whistling past the gallows kind of way. And by the looks of it, sheer chaos:
In an illustration of the depth of the struggle, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told TPM he would support the old Wyden-Bennett health care plan from 2009 if the court guts the ACA. But there’s one problem: that bill has an individual mandate similar to Obamacare, making it a political death-sentence for GOP leaders…
One big challenge, the Republican aide said, is that a GOP plan would be unlikely to cover as many people, making it an easy piñata for Democrats to pound. “That’s the brutal truth. We have a problem with that for very specific reasons. We don’t have good responses,” the aide said. “Show me the constituent in a town hall meeting who you can tell it’s OK for them to lose their health insurance.”
Read the whole thing. And when you get done laughing at the Republicans for once again painting themselves into a corner, start to get worried: this very reality could be coming any day now.