While congressional Republicans are doing
whatever in hell it is that they're doing trying to come up with some sort of response to a potential Supreme Court gutting of Obamacare, Republican governors are also on the spot. If the court decides to strike down subsidies in the—mostly Republican—states using the federal insurance exchange, the most straightforward solution would be for governors to set up state exchanges. That is, if they cared more about their constituents
than they did about politics.
In Louisiana, where around 160,000 people would lose subsidies, Gov. Bobby Jindal is rejecting any fix to the law, as he makes a play for conservative voters.
Jindal wrote an op-ed in National Review this month arguing people would be better off with no subsidies because, without them, the mandate to buy insurance would no longer apply.
"Some on the right want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," he wrote.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has emerged in polls as a leading potential GOP White House contender, isn't completely ruling out a fix but says it should come from Congress. About 180,000 people in his state would lose subsidies. […]
In New Jersey, where 200,000 people could lose subsidies, Gov. Chris Christie has been silent on the issue. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
Put Florida Gov. Rick Scott in the
not my problem/blame it on Obama camp. Meanwhile, swing state Republican governor John Kasich (R-OH), also considering a run for president is actually considering a state-based exchange, as is Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who has actually started work toward that end.
All of which illustrates just how much chaos the Supreme Court could create and just how divided the Republican party is on the issue. Between the Jindal "let it die" camp and the Walker/Scott finger-pointing camp and the realists whose political careers in their own states could be destroyed, the GOP is in total disarray.