Expecting the Gang of Five, led by mob boss Fat Tony Scalia, will rule in favor of the plaintiffs, the assumption has generally been that it would mean the end of the ACA. According to this article, things may not be so cut-and-dried. Theoretically, blue states that established their own exchanges can carry on as they have been, with about 15 million people receiving assistance through subsidies or expanded Medicaid. The 6 million people who get screwed would be red state residents who signed up through the federal exchange.
All factors considered, this might not be the worst thing in the world.
Added 4:48 PM on Monday 22 June:
In a recent email exchange, my bro wrote that he believed the Republicans will repeal most, if not all, of the ACA at the first opportunity, especially the parts pertaining to the individual mandate and denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
From what I've read, there are sections of the ACA that are extremely popular, and the pre-existing conditions rule is one of them. Reverting to the old rules will go over with voters like the proverbial lead balloon. Of course, covering people with pre-existing conditions is only feasible when things like the individual mandate expand the population of premium payers.
There are probably a lot of Republicans in Congress who are relatively sensible and would be willing to work on compromises to remodel the ACA. Unfortunately, sensible Republicans are pussies who let the lunatic fringe dominate the party agenda rather than face primary challenges. A minority of crazy tea party fuckwads are allowed to set the direction because they show up in force to vote in low turnout elections (like primaries and run-offs).
There have been some examples of this in Texas recently. In 2012, relatively sensible Republican David Dewhurst ran for an open U.S. Senate seat, and was opposed in a run-off by Rafael Cruz, one of the greasiest tea party bottom-feeders on earth. Cruz based his whole campaign on an accusation that Dewhurst was willing to compromise with Democrats. In a red state like Texas, winning the GOP primary is equivalent to winning the general election.
In the 2012 GOP run-off, the total vote was 1,111,938 and Cruz got 631,812 votes (56.82 percent). In 2012, there were 13.646 million registered voters in Texas, and 7.994 million of them voted for Mitt Romney in the presidential election later that year.
The votes Cruz received in the run-off amounted to roughly 4.63 percent of the registered voters in Texas, and roughly 7.9 percent of the 2012 Republican voters. Approximately 86 percent of potential Republican voters ignored the run-off altogether.
In my opinion, too many Republican politicians witnessed the Dewhurst defeat and decided it was easier to capitulate to the tea party crazies than risk losing their safe seats to primary challengers. There's not a lack of brains among Republicans, just a lack of intestinal fortitude.
All factors considered, this might not be the worst thing in the world.
Added 4:48 PM on Monday 22 June:
In a recent email exchange, my bro wrote that he believed the Republicans will repeal most, if not all, of the ACA at the first opportunity, especially the parts pertaining to the individual mandate and denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
From what I've read, there are sections of the ACA that are extremely popular, and the pre-existing conditions rule is one of them. Reverting to the old rules will go over with voters like the proverbial lead balloon. Of course, covering people with pre-existing conditions is only feasible when things like the individual mandate expand the population of premium payers.
There are probably a lot of Republicans in Congress who are relatively sensible and would be willing to work on compromises to remodel the ACA. Unfortunately, sensible Republicans are pussies who let the lunatic fringe dominate the party agenda rather than face primary challenges. A minority of crazy tea party fuckwads are allowed to set the direction because they show up in force to vote in low turnout elections (like primaries and run-offs).
There have been some examples of this in Texas recently. In 2012, relatively sensible Republican David Dewhurst ran for an open U.S. Senate seat, and was opposed in a run-off by Rafael Cruz, one of the greasiest tea party bottom-feeders on earth. Cruz based his whole campaign on an accusation that Dewhurst was willing to compromise with Democrats. In a red state like Texas, winning the GOP primary is equivalent to winning the general election.
In the 2012 GOP run-off, the total vote was 1,111,938 and Cruz got 631,812 votes (56.82 percent). In 2012, there were 13.646 million registered voters in Texas, and 7.994 million of them voted for Mitt Romney in the presidential election later that year.
The votes Cruz received in the run-off amounted to roughly 4.63 percent of the registered voters in Texas, and roughly 7.9 percent of the 2012 Republican voters. Approximately 86 percent of potential Republican voters ignored the run-off altogether.
In my opinion, too many Republican politicians witnessed the Dewhurst defeat and decided it was easier to capitulate to the tea party crazies than risk losing their safe seats to primary challengers. There's not a lack of brains among Republicans, just a lack of intestinal fortitude.
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