The ramifications of the GOP yielding to President Barack Obama and Harry Reid on the issue of the immediate implementation of Obamacare have been fully grasped by neither the Republican leadership nor the conservative media. Once the grossly misnamed Affordable Healthcare Act (AHA) has been fully implemented, the US House of Representatives will be unable to ever use the threat of a government shutdown again - for any reason.
Republicans have avoided any real consequences for holding the line on a one-year delay on the requirement that individuals register for the new law. In addition, they will eventually make hay out of the Democrats insistence that Congress and White House appointees be exempt from the law they passed and crafted. This shutdown is not the problem; it's the next shutdown that will count.
One could argue that the GOP has been hurt in the polls more than Democrats and that is true. President Obama, aided by an intentionally ignorant media, has done a good job of frightening citizens. Fearful or not; however, the only polls that matter, as any politician will tell you, are on election day. No one believes voters will still be frightened due to this issue more than a year in the future.
Yet, it is imperative that Republicans hold steady. The year-long delay for an individual participation requirement in AHA is reasonable and necessary. Reasonable in that the system is not ready and the effects and individual costs of the law cannot yet be anticipated. Necessary in that the implementation of Obamacare will almost certainly blunt any threat to rein in government spending by using the approved debt limit as leverage.
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| English: President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and senior staff, react in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, as the House passes the health care reform bill. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Republicans have avoided any real consequences for holding the line on a one-year delay on the requirement that individuals register for the new law. In addition, they will eventually make hay out of the Democrats insistence that Congress and White House appointees be exempt from the law they passed and crafted. This shutdown is not the problem; it's the next shutdown that will count.
One could argue that the GOP has been hurt in the polls more than Democrats and that is true. President Obama, aided by an intentionally ignorant media, has done a good job of frightening citizens. Fearful or not; however, the only polls that matter, as any politician will tell you, are on election day. No one believes voters will still be frightened due to this issue more than a year in the future.
There is no logical thought process in which the Left does not threaten Americans with a loss of healthcare in future debt ceiling showdowns.
Yet, it is imperative that Republicans hold steady. The year-long delay for an individual participation requirement in AHA is reasonable and necessary. Reasonable in that the system is not ready and the effects and individual costs of the law cannot yet be anticipated. Necessary in that the implementation of Obamacare will almost certainly blunt any threat to rein in government spending by using the approved debt limit as leverage.
