The GOP masterminds behind Obamacare's 'death spiral'

[DonViejo]

By Dana Milbank Opinion writer March 14 at 6:18 PM

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) says Obamacare is in a “death spiral,” and he should know: He’s the one who cut the power to Obamacare’s engines and pointed its nose downward.

President Trump says, “ObamaCare is imploding and will only get worse,” and he should know: He’s the one who placed the explosives under Obamacare’s foundation.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), co-author of the GOP health-care bill, says of Obamacare: “We’ve arrived at the scene of a pretty big wreck.” And he, too, should know: He’s the one who dumped oil and tire spikes on the road.

This is some prodigious cynicism, even by Washington standards. In the past couple of months, the Trump administration and the new GOP Congress have done all they could to undermine Obamacare, and now that their efforts are beginning to succeed they’re claiming Obamacare is collapsing under its own weight.

The Affordable Care Act may or may not be in the death spiral Republicans have long craved, but it has definitely deteriorated since the Trump administration and the new GOP Congress assumed power. And no wonder: They sabotaged it.

They withdrew TV and online advertising encouraging people to sign up for coverage during the crucial period before the deadline. The White House issued an executive order and took other actions that strongly implied it would no longer enforce the “individual mandate” requiring people to sign up for coverage. And the constant promises of imminent repeal have spooked both insurers and individuals from participating.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gop-masterminds-behind-obamacares-death-spiral/2017/03/14/ad798b5a-08ed-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html?utm_term=.6c8b0ecd399b&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

[Marcuse]

1. Don't forget Rubio's poison pill

Rubio claimed credit for "the death spiral" during his campaign.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/us/politics/marco-rubio-obamacare-affordable-care-act.amp.html

[KPN]

2. This has always been the GOP's strategy. Gaming the system.

They have intentionally, relentlessly cut the legs out from under federal initiatives that don't align with their ideological worldview by cutting program funds -- to guarantee poor performance which they can then label as "failed liberal programs" that take hard-earned money out of working Americans' pockets.

Public education is one of the best examples of this.

When are the masses ever going to f'ing wake up to GOP gaming and greed?

[stopbush]

3. "Starve the beast" has been a RW mantra for decades.

Defund or underfund programs, then claim that they're failing because they're bad programs. In the meanwhile, take the funding for these programs and give it to the rich in tax cuts while telling the rubes that you're the party that is watching out for them.

[Bill USA]

4. the GOP is a terrorist organization using the same destructive techniques ISIS uses. Do things our

way or we destroy everything. The difference between the GOP and ISIS is ISIS kills people. The GOP kills their livelihoods (by blowing up the economy, killing jobs).

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