GOP hammered for "smarmy" attempts to kill Obamacare

Congressional Republicans are getting hammered, justifiably, for their latest “smarmy” and hypocritical attack on Obamacare, as they view the 1-year delay in the business mandate as an opportunity to move in for the kill.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is at the head of this pack – a group that is the political equivalent of a mob armed with pitchforks – claiming so very disingenuously that delaying the business requirements but maintaining the health insurance mandate on individuals is hurting the little guy.

 "I never thought I'd see the day when the White House, the president, came down on the side of big business but left the American people out in the cold as far as this health care mandate is concerned," said Cantor, feigning outrage.

So, Cantor is now concerned that government policy is bowing to Big Business at the expense of the working poor and middle class? Isn’t this the same GOP leader who quietly cheered every time a state turned down the Medicaid expansion aspect of Obamacare? 

Cantor and other Republican lawmakers also fail to mention that the Obamacare approach – giving the uninsured tax breaks so they can buy private insurance at an online marketplace – was and still is a conservative idea that was previously championed by Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 presidential standardbearer.

They also consistently talk about Obamacare as if it is a new system for all of America. No, the business mandate will affect less than 4 percent of the nation’s employers and only about 2.5 percent of the population will be using the health care “exchanges” to purchase coverage.

Over at Slate, they are having a field day pointing out the hypocrisies of Cantor and House Speaker John Boehner as demonstrated by the lawmakers’ sudden shift from countless attempts to repeal Obamacare to complaining that the new timetable is unfair to the uninsured.

While Cantor prepares a 38^th House vote for repeal, the GOP leadership is banging away at the idea that the new set-up is unfair and individuals deserve the same relief.

The Washington Post's Matter Miller takes it from there:

“The same relief? How dumb do they think Americans are?

“‘Relief’ from the certainty that they’ll have access to group health coverage no matter their health status?

“‘Relief’ from income-based subsidies if they need help to buy a private health plan?

“‘Relief’ from finally knowing that they can never go broke from serious illness in one of the richest countries on earth?

“’Relief’ from the job-lock that binds countless Americans to large employers when they’d rather start a business or work on their own, but fear that if their family has any health issues they’d be left to fend for themselves?

“’Relief’ from at last joining the community of advanced nations that view health coverage for all as an essential feature of a decent society, a view embraced decades ago even by conservative icons such as Margaret Thatcher?”

The editorial board at USA Today, takes a slightly different approach in attempting to shame the Republicans’ overtly political and damaging approach.

USA Today recalls that the Republican-backed Medicare prescription drug program of 2006 suffered through a far more rocky rollout than Obamacare. Yet, no one on Capitol Hill called it a “train wreck” or attempted to sabotage the new law. There were glitches and literally tens of thousands of stories about seniors who couldn't navigate the system or get the help they needed. Eventually, however, “goodwill, patience and sincere effort by just about everyone involved ironed out the kinks” in Medicare Part D, USA Today noted. “It's so popular now that no one would dare try to eliminate it.”

The nation’s largest newspaper pointed out that Republican tactics regarding opposition to Obamacare have been shady from day one, particularly the fear-mongering (such as “death panels”) that continues three years later regarding potential loss of medical care by individuals.

Here’s a taste of the editorial:

“Having lost in Congress and in court, they (Republicans) are now using the most cynical of tactics: trying to make the law fail. Never mind the public inconvenience and human misery that will result.

Their assault is under way on several fronts. The most disturbing is a concerted attempt to keep the public ignorant about how to use the health care exchanges where uninsured people will be able to sign up for coverage beginning Oct. 1.

First, Republicans limited the use of government money to spread the word. Then, when the administration reached out to the NFL and other major sports leagues for help in publicizing the new health care exchanges (through public service announcements), the opponents resorted to intimidation.

Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, fired off a letter to the NFL … (and) in a particularly smarmy warning, McConnell and Cornyn told the NFL to let them know whether the Obama administration retaliated against the league for not cooperating — the clear implication being that if the league did help inform the public about ObamaCare, Senate Republicans had their own methods of retribution. It is an appalling abuse of power, and the NFL meekly yielded.”