hmmm.....a small carrot traded for a very very big stick?
Someone give me the argument for this...
I understand letting it crumble is good.
But, I also understand that getting rid of individual and employer mandates would ALSO let it crumble.....
At least I find this interesting.
I think the general idea is that Obama and the ‘rats will be over a barrel if/when the subsidies are deemed illegal, and that they’ll have to accept just about any deal to keep any part of the ACA alive.
If that is a correct assessment, the “brass ring” is the gutting of the worst aspects of the ACA - the participation and coverage mandates, and the rest is just mop-up work if a Republican is elected in 2017.
If the Democrats refuse to take the deal, the GOP can point out that they offered to extend the subsidies, but that the ‘rats held them up for partisan purposes. It’s a little riskier, because the GOP isn’t good at this game, and the ‘rats can possibly flip this as the GOP holding the subsidies hostage.
Still, there are two general positive outcomes: the GOP actually gets concessions that essentially destroy the core of the ACA, or the removal of the subsidies creates a huge public outcry against the ADA (with possible GOP collateral damage).
The only way this isn’t a “win” is if the GOP just postures, but then folds. Unfortunately, this is too likely of a possibility for me to get in any way excited about this possibility.