For Mr. Boehner...How Much Is Enough?



For Mr. Boehner…How Much Is Enough?  As the Obamacare farce continues its agonizing premier, a very important question is emerging.  Having seen the damage to the Republican label resulting from the government shutdown be erased and surpassed by Obamacare’s damage to the Democratic and administration labels, it is obvious why Mr. Boehner is not anxious to discuss steps to improve the viability of Obamacare.  Given the methods used to pass the legislation, the freeze out of the Republican positions on health care, and the chest-thumping, end zone-dancing that Democrats joyously participated in upon its passage, one can hardly blame Boehner’s willingness to let the Dems stew in their own juices.  But the reality is that even if Republicans retain control of the House and somehow manage to seize control of the Senate in 2014, it is incredibly unlikely that they will do so at a level sufficient to override any Obama veto of an Obamacare repeal initiative.  That means that we, the American people, are saddled with this accursed legislation for at least another three years.  Therefore, the pertinent question to me is this: When does the utility of doing nothing to fix Obamacare become a bad investment for the Republicans?

It is difficult to believe that Republicans will do anything other than continue to remind the public of how Obamacare came to be, how they had nothing to do with it, and how they repeatedly predicted the very flaws in the law that are now becoming painfully evident.  Given the fact that Obamacare is the Democratic present to the Republicans that keeps on giving, revealing chapter after chapter of bad consequences, it would in fact be politically foolish for the Republicans to join in the effort to retool it.  In behaving this way, they have the legitimate defense that Obamacare is 100 percent Democrat, period.  It is also a good faith defense that the law is so fundamentally flawed that it cannot be amended sufficiently to create any reasonable prospect of success.  It is not an unreasonable position to say that it must be repealed to cure it; it is just unrealistic.  Now reality has never been a burden to our elected officials in WDC, but it will eventually become evident to the point that the public recognizes it.  That is when the game must change.

Once the 2014 mid-term elections have come and gone and the Republicans have deservedly milked every ounce of partisan benefit possible from Obamacare, logic tells us that some type of bi-partisan effort must be undertaken to seal this leaky vessel known as Obamacare.   It is difficult, and frankly frightening, to estimate the damage that will be done to our society by this legislation between now and January of 2015, but we are likely condemned to a constant stream of executive actions, administrative fixes, individual horror stories, and unfounded propaganda about the law until that date.  Perhaps there might be a few, a small handful of thoughtful individuals huddling together over the next year in preparation for that opportunity….Nah, what was I thinking!