The Obstructionists
Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they will do everything in their power to prevent, or at least slow down, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, known derisively as Obamacare.
Let’s take this apart. The ACA is the law of the land. Even the obstructionist-in-chief John Boehner had to admit that after Obama won reelection. It will be implemented, either efficiently or slowly and painfully. The GOP has chosen the latter. Aside from displaying a reflexive contempt for Obama and anything he stands for, the only reason to go down this road is to to score political points for the next election cycle.
The other choice, of course, would be to help implement the law so that the maximum number of Americans might enjoy its many benefits, and the inevitable tweaks to the program might be made expediently. That’s not the choice the Republican party has made. Instead, they’ve chosen to make the law as unworkable as possible, thus preventing as many citizens as they possibly can from getting health care. In some cases, this will mean confusion, delay, inconvenience and frustration, which will, in their calculus, benefit them at the polls.
In other cases—likely many cases—it will mean that people in desperate need of life-saving procedures and medicines will be denied the care they need. They will die.
The question we should be asking is how many American lives will the GOP sacrifice to embarrass the president and his party.
