Obamacare as written is already gone, dismantled by its namesake. Obamacare itself has not, strictly speaking, collapsed of its own weight. Rather, it has been changed from its original, unworkable form first by Chief Justice John Roberts and then by the president into some new, unworkable mishmash. Obamacare per se is already gone. The question remains whether the law in some form will remain or whether the 2016 contest will be about what sort of plan replaces Obamacare. The latter is the odds-on favorite.
David Brooks on “Meet the Press” yesterday predicted (correctly, in my view) further undoing of the law in 2014: “The American people don’t like mandates anymore. We’re a much more individualistic culture. And every moment when the administration has been faced with either mandating something or surrendering on this bill, they’ve surrendered each time. They’ve weakened each individual mandate all the way along. So you have to expect they’ll weaken and surrender on the mandate down the line.” That is in effect leaving only the shell of Obamacare still in place, a kind of face-saver for the lame-duck president.
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