KICKING THE OBAMACARE CAN DOWN THE ROAD

There’s a dreary similarity to how Republicans blow opportunity after opportunity, because they all stem from the disdain and distrust the GOP’s major factions have for each other.

It’s conservative insurgents vs. moderate pros; flyover country vs. the D.C. beltway, or — as they’re viewed by their antagonists — the Hicks in the Sticks vs. the Establishment Squishes.

The Hicks propose rash courses of action and make unreasonable demands because they haven’t a clue about how government works, the Squishes think.

In battles with Democrats, Squishes often raise the white flag before the first shot is fired, think the Hicks.

There’s enough truth in these caricatures for both factions to feel vindicated.  But their focus on the flaws of intraparty rivals helps Democrats evade the scrutiny they deserve.

Obamacare is more unpopular than ever.  The latest to jump ship are moderate Democrats.  In a Washington Post-ABC News poll July 23rd, just 47 percent of respondents who identified themselves that way said they support the law; 46 percent are opposed.

That so many oppose Obamacare is unsurprising.  Every promise Democrats made about it has proved to be false.  It will raise substantially — not reduce — health insurance premiums for most families.  It will increase substantially — not diminish — what the government spends on health care.  Despite assurances, you probably won’t be able to keep your private health insurance plan or your doctor.

Obamacare is the main reason why they’re not hiring, businesses say.  It’s principally why they’re quitting the practice of medicine early, doctors say.  It’ll clobber innovation in medical technologies, analysts say.  Even former Democrat National Chairman Howard Dean thinks key elements are unworkable.

As more people learn how Obamacare will affect them, opposition rises.  Obamacare will "shatter" our health benefits, the chieftains of three of the largest trade unions said in an anguished letter to Democrat leaders in Congress last month. Next to experience buyer’s remorse will be members of public employee unions, as they learn they’re likely to be dumped onto Obamacare exchanges.

Because Obamacare passed the House in the dead of night without a single Republican vote, Democrats own it.  As wrath mounts, their nerves fray.

But angst may be as great among Republicans in Congress, because of a nasty dispute over how far to go to try to stop Obamacare.

Congress must pass a continuing resolution before the fiscal year ends September 30 to keep the government running.  Republicans should block it unless all funds to implement Obamacare are removed, said Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT.  He’s joined by the other young conservative stars, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Tex, Rand Paul, R-Ky, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. 

This can’t possibly succeed, and will backfire big time, the Squishes fear.  Most Obamacare funding is in the form of entitlements, which aren’t subject to annual appropriations, they note.  It can be cut only if the Senate agrees, which isn’t going to happen as long as Democrats are in control.

So in the end Republicans will have to back off, say the Squishes. The GOP will be blamed for hardships caused while the government is "shut down" (permitted to spend only as much as is coming in with tax revenues).  Attention will be diverted from Obamacare’s flaws.

This is essentially what happened when the government was "shut down" in 1995.  Which is why ever since Democrats have been trying to goad Republicans into shutting down the government again, and why hardcore conservatives such as Sens. Tom Coburn, R-OK and Richard Burr, R-NC, who remember what happened then, say the Lee plan is "dishonest," and "madness."

One faction offers a hopeless kamikaze charge.  The other, doing next to nothing in the face of a grave threat to liberty and to the economy.  There’s another choice.

He’ll delay for a year enforcement of the employer mandate, President Obama announced, a decision he has no legal authority to make.  The administration also plans to go forward with subsidies for Obamacare even though it has no means yet to determine if applicants are eligible — an invitation to massive fraud.

If Republicans insist on delay of all of Obamacare for a year, they’d be on moral and legal high ground, be more in sync with public opinion, and may find allies among Democrats in the Senate who are unwilling to support repeal.

For this strategy to work – kicking the Obamacare Can down the road until repeal is possible with another president — Republicans in each faction would have to acknowledge those in the other have a point, and to stand together.  For some in both factions, that is, evidently, a higher price than they are willing to pay.

Jack Kelly is a former Marine and Green Beret and a former deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration. He is national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.