Posted by Michael Wonder on 25 Jul 2018
The Republican war on Obamacare — what has it achieved?
25 July 2018 - For nearly a decade, Republicans have opposed the Affordable Care Act.
They have fought Obamacare in Congress, the courts, and the states and, since 2017, from the White House. Given the scope, intensity, and duration of this campaign, it is worth considering what it has achieved.
Opposition to the Affordable Care Act has generated considerable political benefits for Republicans. Obamacare has been an important mobilisation tool; conservatives see it as embodying numerous government pathologies, including excessive spending, taxation, redistribution, regulation, and violation of individual liberty. During most of the ACA’s existence, public support for the law has been tepid, partly because of its many problems but also because of Republican opposition and false charges that it created “death panels” and “pulled the plug on grandma.” Anti-Obamacare sentiment probably helped the GOP make extraordinary gains in the 2010 elections.
