Why the Republican Party cannot allow healthcare reform to work
Why does the Republican Party fight so hard to destroy the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)? Some progressives and centrists might still wondering why the healthcare law remains the target of conservative attacks and why there has been dozens of attempts to repeal and defund it. Many believe it is ideology, and I would agree that conservatives are ideologically opposed to healthcare reforms. However there is a very important element that we need to look at; party politics.
Yes conservatives have staked it as an ideological goal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but why does it compel Republicans in Congress to vote over 40 times to repeal or defund healthcare reform? Especially now, on the eve of the health insurance exchange opening, why are Republicans still making healthcare reform an issue? Obviously, because they have to make sure the law fails.
Why are Republicans obsessed to see the law fail? Because they voted so many times to repeal it. The Republican Party has likely made a huge and long lasting political blunder. When the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, immediately after taking the House, Republicans rammed through bill after bill trying derail healthcare reform.
The problem was, as many of them probably knew, their votes were nothing but symbolic. There was no way the repeals could get by the Senate or the president.
The Republicans in Congress voted time after time to repeal healthcare reform because they calculated that the law was unpopular enough for them to win the 2012 election and ultimately repeal the law. Here’s the problem; Mitt Romney and the Republicans lost the 2012 elections.
Perhaps Republicans thought that by 2013, Obama would no longer be in office and the Senate would have ultimately been won. The Republican Party gambled everything on being anti-Obamacare to win an election. Having lost that election, they now are stuck with the platform they set up. The Republican Party simply can’t shift gears.
One reason why the Republicans can’t retract is because their hyped hysteria towards healthcare reform created a permanent dislike of the law among their base. Because the party lied and exploited the issue, their base has ultimately embraced the hysteria and made it a standard ideal for conservatives. It is something that the Republican Party cannot disown, simply because their base won’t allow them to.
Another reason why the party can’t change its tune is because of the political ramifications this will have in the next election cycle. If the Affordable Care Act is allowed to take full effect and work, then Republicans will ultimately be stuck with a track record of voting against a popular law forty plus times. Remember, not a single Republican in Congress voted for the ACA, and don’t think for a second that Democrats wouldn’t love to use that during election cycles.
If the Affordable Care Act becomes popular, then Republicans will have almost nothing to say when the question is asked “why did you vote against it?” It basically would become the equivalent of a Congressmen having voted against Social Security or Medicare/Medicaid. Imagine an entire party having voted against those programs.
Honestly, now is the time to really hammer away at Republicans over this issue. If they truly want to shut down the government over letting people get cheaper healthcare, then have at it. It’s worth noting, the ACA will still be fully funded if the government shuts down. An election is next year and if Democrats are serious about retaking the House they need to utilize this gift.
Once people get to know the reforms and see how they can benefit, then they will ultimately see how wrong the Republican Party was for fighting it. That is if the Democratic Party can take full advantage of the situation. That’s how politics works, unfortunately.
There’s one last danger that still needs to be prevented: The deliberate sabotage of the law as it starts to be executed. The GOP has already harmed the ACA’s rollout by essentially defunding the public education aspect of the law on the pretext that telling citizens about the ACA is a “political message”. The government should have spent all of 2013 reaching out to exchange consumers (the current uninsured and those who will no longer be insured) to explain how to navigate the exchanges. Instead, without the money that the law initially provided for public awareness (I believe it was about $200m) the HHS hasn’t been able to get any outreach done.
Yes Now you hit the nail on the head!!! This makes sense ….why the are acting like complete Crazed Fools!! (more than normally) LOL Great Read thank you!
Finally! thanks…this makes sense, except when you compare it to someone beating their head against a brick wall!
hysterical and cognitive dissonance ring true enough, as to the cause, common mental defect seems reasonable excuse as any.
Hope at least some Repub voters see your accurate statements and open their narrow minds, but wouldn’t be surprising if they are too ignorant and brainwashed to SEE how Obamacare IS GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE!!!
You hit the nail on the head Mr. Drury.
Your article reminds me of this quote by Frantz Fanon, that Imo, fits most of the Republican base to a tee, and especially the ones in Congress.
“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are
presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new
evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is
extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it
is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize,
ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.”
~ Franz Fanon,
Rykm 50 SO accurate and disturbing that Repub voters are Soooo stuck in delusional irrational mindsets!!! Republicans would be kicked to the curb even more if these voters would WAKE UP and realize Conservatives DON’T give a crap about their best interest, ONLY their own political games and huge Corporations that fill their pockets !! They have been DUPED in the most DESTRUCTIVE ways!!