I know it in my bones, which are middle-aged, and "not what they used to be." It's the crawling sensation on my skin- which, in my family, has a history of basal-cell carcinoma.
I could go on about lung cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, car crashes... the scary stuff that tries to shuffle us quietly off this mortal coil, but I have a little raging against the lying of the right to accomplish, first.
The Republican Congress hasn't put forward an alternate version of the ACA yet because the American People will recoil in horror when they realize how severely they want to gut and bastardize Obamacare. They've had a political eternity to stew over the successes of the ACA, while their lobbyists and think-tanks have done as much "damage control" as possible. Now the SCOTUS is poised to wring the ACA's neck and set the stage for 2016, with semi-victorious Republicans, wounded Democrats, a President under siege, and the sky falling on everything under the ACA. Which is... everthing. Hear me out...
Now, there's been a LOT of mirth over the lack of a Republican counter-plan to the Affordable Care Act. That's fine. The left has been happy to point out the right's lack of preparedness to deal with the overwhelming crises in our medical care industry. Barrels of ink have been spilt detailing how this is a personal, or a racist attack on President Obama, himself... and while there may be some truth to that in the rank-and-file, that feels wrong, on a very deep level.
Obamacare was signed five years ago. That's forever in politics. The People won some amazing protections. Big 'Medicine' lost some big, big bucks. There are armies of lobbyists, lawyers, and ex-lawmakers on the "Re-Write the ACA" team. They know exactly what they want from Congress, and exactly how to get it. I have no doubt their version has been waiting in the wings for the right moment to sail through committee and head to a vote. The leadership, I'm sure, knows the basics, but not the fine print. Enough to know it's a Frankenstein's monster of gutted protections and corporate giveaways, like Medicare Part D.
No way are they going to show their hand early.
Were the President the buffoon some portion of the right sees him as, this fight would not be so deep, so bitter, and of such consequence. The law would suck, for starters, instead of being the "winning compromise" it is. Congress would have already "repealed" it, and all the amazing results we're enjoying, including the relief and freedom from fear I personally revel in now that myself, my wife, and my son are insured would never have materialized.
But it hasn't happened yet. The SCOTUS, however, is poised to strike a calamitous blow.
All the nuanced arguments on the soundness of the language of the law, despite the troublesome phrasing of one sentence don't matter when your opponents are bringing jackhammers and wrecking balls. There's enough room in that one sentence to cast doubt in the minds of the general populace. If SCOTUS could get away with calling Florida for Bush... So, if the subsidies fail, the light goes out of the ACA. I can spell out the dominoes that will fall, but I'll just start with the first and last few...
The working poor in non-state exchange states will lose their subsidies, and will fail to make payments on their health insurance. Large percentages of the newly-insured will lose their coverage, and eventually be forced to pay a tax penalty as well. Metrics on coverage, costs, etc. will reverse. LOUD noise will come from all quarters of the right on the un-constitutionality and unsustainability of the ACA. Withering fire will be directed at President Obama and congressional Dems to provide a fix to his signature accomplishment, which they can't do with the current legislature... so, well, hey! Isn't there an election coming up?
Really, what better way to plow the ground for 2016 than turn the tide on the health and economic benefits of the ACA, while keeping it around as the Democrats' stinking albatross?
Chief Justice Roberts is a businessman. I mean Big Business. I don't think there's been a more friendly court to our Corporate Citizens. They're practically United at the hip. Killing the ACA outright would have been bad for Business. Medical and Insurance companies are doing quite well, thank you very much, with the ACA. The problem they have is that it treats them like ...people. They have to take on the expensive customers. They have to work under cost caps. They have to GIVE BACK PROFITS. Who the hell does this President think he is? (Let that question simmer a moment.)
The financial elite do not operate under someone else's rules. But the Idea of the ACA is a keeper... Mandates, gotta keep those! Subsidies are excellent, those are definitely going to make a comeback. Seriously. I know you can see Boehner standing arm-in-arm with Jeb Bush as he signs the re-vamped "Citizens' Bill of Health Freedoms" into law with faith-based subsidies to Catholic Network hospitals to defray indigent care (don't even think of laughing) included, because the poor need a helping hand! But the expenses have to go.
So, after setting up Obama to be knocked down, what else will Roberts get besides the accolades of the jet set? This Shiny New Republican Court? Yes, there's sure to be a few retirements or deaths amongst the commie Supremes in the coming 4 to 8 years, so Jeb will pick some new friends for Chief Roberts. If you're wondering who, just imagine the worst.
And our beloved ACA, what will become of her, after we saw her held up by Jeb and Boehner in her trashy dress and tawdry makeup?
Last we see of her, she is doing quite well, with her own jet and offshore account. But we don't know the details. She doesn't talk to her old friends anymore.