GOP So Mad Obama Failed To Plan For GOP Destruction Of Obamacare

The other day we introduced you all to our new favorite people, the World Net Daily-style commenters recruited as plaintiffs in the latest Republican lawsuit to destroy Obamacare forever and ever. The case is called King v. Burwell , and it's a complex lawsuit, but let's try to spell it out: Under the Affordable Care Act, subsidies are provided to qualifying people in order to help them pay for their insurance, and they are provided by state insurance exchanges, and in states that were too lazy/wingnut to set up said exchanges, the federal government handles the subsidies.

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Simple, right? No, because according to the wingnuts who concocted the case, the law specifically says that the subsidies can only come from the state exchanges, therefore the government's handling of it in place of the lazy/wingnut states is illegal and Obamacare is dead to them. Despite the fact that the clear intent of the law was to help ALL AMERICANS get access to healthcare. The Supreme Court, for some godforsaken reason, actually agreed to hear this case, which basically hinges on two or three words in the text of the ACA, and some court-watching individuals are worried, because if the wingnuts win, literally millions of people could lose their health coverage, and that would be Bad.

And who is absolutely OUTRAGED by the consequences of this lawsuit, the idea of millions of people losing their healthcare, were it to be victorious? Of course, you are right, it is the GOP , whose think tank minions concocted the damn thing in the first place:

On the one hand, Republicans in Congress are urging the Supreme Court to strike down subsidies for health insurance provided to millions of people in more than 30 states. On the other, they are chiding the Obama administration because it has no plan to avert the hardship that could occur if they win in court.

The Republicans now have realized that a court decision in their favor poses political risks to members of their party, who are frantically trying to come up with alternatives to the Affordable Care Act and a strategy to respond to such a ruling.

Yes, they have to come up with a STRATEGY, just in case they win in court! Normally, when people go to court for a thing, their strategy for responding to that win is to say "I WIN!", do a press conference, and then go and have a cocktail or 12 to celebrate. Instead, the GOP (the "G" does not stand for "Govern") has actually put themselves into a situation where they are realizing that oops, this will hurt a lot of people if they win, so um...

OBAMA'S FAULT!

The No. 2 Republican in the Senate, John Cornyn of Texas, said the Obama administration’s top health official was treating Congress with contempt by refusing to discuss contingency plans if the Supreme Court blocked subsidy payments.

At a Senate hearing, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, repeatedly dodged questions from Republicans who asked about the court case, King v. Burwell, in which she is a defendant.

That provoked Mr. Cornyn, who told her: “You’re a highly intelligent, charming person, but you’ve refused to answer our questions. That does not strike me as trying to work with Congress, but rather contemptuous of Congress’s oversight responsibilities.”

John Cornyn is simply concerned, as a patriotic American, that the Obama administration is not completely committed toSparkle Motiongutting President Obama's single biggest accomplishment the way the Republicans are.

Also mad? Ted Cruz, the most ineffective, grandstanding failure in the Senate and thus a strong contender for the Republican nomination in 2016. Cruz said that "[t]he administration has done absolutely nothing to prepare for an upcoming Supreme Court decision that could leave millions of Americans unable to afford insurance thanks to this failed law.”

And that upcoming Supreme Court decision could have been avoided ENTIRELY if Barack Obama hadn't decided to reform healthcare in the first place, and it REALLY would have been nice if he had avoided being a Kenyan Marxist usurper and running for president and winning twice, and to be honest, if he could have avoided being black, that would have been helpful as well. The GOP would have been COMPLETELY willing to work with him to reform healthcare if he would have compromised in those key areas, or at least taken their suggestions into account, but now look what you did, Obama, millions might lose their health coverage due to YOUR irresponsibility!

For their part, Democrats are basically saying "!!!!!!!" and suggesting that, possibly, the Republicans are being big fat hypocrites:

“I find it ironic for Republican senators to argue that the federal exchange subsidies are illegal and then demand that the administration explain how it plans to repair the damage that will be done if their argument is successful and the Supreme Court rules in their favor,” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee. “It’s like throwing gasoline on a fire, then indignantly asking the administration for its plan to put out the fire.”

Why, it's almost like the GOP's opposition to Obamacare has absolutely nothing to do with healthcare or something. Anyway, Ted Cruz for president!

[ The New York Times ]