So how much are Republicans going to attack Obamacare?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Kind of hard when it's based upon Romneycare. However, there are some differences, for example Obamacare doesn't cover abortions.

[TheGlobalizer]

They'll still do it, and a lot.

[Secretary Polnut]

However much is based on lies... it won't matter - it will be merciless and largely baseless

[TheGlobalizer]

However much is based on lies... it won't matter - it will be merciless and largely baseless

Generally agree, though there is plenty to criticize about it.  (It's my job, and the stats are pretty scary.)

[Secretary Polnut]

However much is based on lies... it won't matter - it will be merciless and largely baseless

Generally agree, though there is plenty to criticize about it.  (It's my job, and the stats are pretty scary.)

Would be less-so had this happened a long-time ago... just saying, lol

[Lief]

Romney's shown that he has absolutely no problem getting on stage and blatantly lying, so I think he'll still make a big point of attacking it.

[Keystone Phil]

Get used to this type of stuff, fellow Republican. Thanks again, Romney supporters.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Romney's shown that he has absolutely no problem getting on stage and blatantly lying, so I think he'll still make a big point of attacking it.

true, but there's always the chance it could backfire, as in: "Romney attacks Obama for health care plan that doesn't go as far as the one he implemented as governor of Massachusetts"

[Ebowed]

However, there are some differences, for example Obamacare doesn't cover abortions.

Romney really handed that one to us on a silver platter.

[Jacobtm]

History students will forever be perplexed by the choice of Romney in 2012.

[Landslide Lyndon]

If Romney is fool enough to go there, then I don't think the Obama people will just lie down and not mention that he is essentially denouncing his own plan.

[TXMichael]

Do as I say not as I do
~Mitt Romney 2012

[oakvale]

It doesn't really matter that Romneycare is virtually the same as Obamacare. It's clear from the Republican debates that their strategy is simply to invent positions on issues and attribute them to Obama - he's apologising for America, etc. - so I expect we'll see ads about trenchcoated communists dragging grandma for her hospital bed and so on.

[Politico]

It is a state issue, not a federal issue. Furthermore, ObamaCare should not be forcing individual mandates upon everybody, nor should Medicare funds be cut because of ObamaCare. Medicare beneficiaries paid into Medicare for decades, and should not see Medicare funds diverted to Welfare Queens in Chicago, for example. Lastly, even if all of the rest of this did not matter, ObamaCare is wholly unaffordable at the federal level.

[Landslide Lyndon]

It is a state issue, not a federal issue. Furthermore, ObamaCare should not be forcing individual mandates upon everybody, nor should Medicare funds be cut because of ObamaCare. Medicare beneficiaries paid into Medicare for decades, and should not see Medicare funds diverted to Welfare Queens in Chicago, for example. Lastly, even if all of the rest of this did not matter, ObamaCare is wholly unaffordable at the federal level.

And then you woke up.

[afleitch]

There is probably now a fairly large voting base that regardless of what they may say in public are extremely thankful for 'Obamacare'; ideology matters not a jot once you start getting help. Obamacare is an electoral asset for the Obama campaign, Republicans would be foolish to attack it.

[Progressive Realist]

It is a state issue, not a federal issue. Furthermore, ObamaCare should not be forcing individual mandates upon everybody, nor should Medicare funds be cut because of ObamaCare. Medicare beneficiaries paid into Medicare for decades, and should not see Medicare funds diverted to Welfare Queens in Chicago, for example. Lastly, even if all of the rest of this did not matter, ObamaCare is wholly unaffordable at the federal level.

Channeling Reagan, I see? How gross.

[TheGlobalizer]

There is probably now a fairly large voting base that regardless of what they may say in public are extremely thankful for 'Obamacare'; ideology matters not a jot once you start getting help. Obamacare is an electoral asset for the Obama campaign, Republicans would be foolish to attack it.

Few people, thus far, are getting "help".  The main provisions that are in effect are coverage through age 26 (generally only tacking on a few years relative to prior state laws) and no pre-existing conditions for children.  IMO, still plenty of time to unwind it with limited impact, and the GOP won't go after the age 26 thing.  Pre-ex will probably be a tough call but I suspect they'll come up with a compromise position (maybe something like guaranteed issue + limited lookback on pre-ex).  Beyond those two, the mandatory coverage provisions ("essential health benefits") are still largely undefined and not something an individual sees every day.  Pre-ex doesn't apply to adults yet and the mandatory coverage / insurance exchanges aren't up and running yet.

Besides, they'll likely not see an immediate effect from repeal anyway; the plans are in force, and don't change immediately.  Unwinding would cause more frustration/expense for insurers than individuals (though insurers would also realize a better playing field), at least at this point.  It looks a lot like a messy government bureaucracy that few are seeing material effects from.

As to Romney, I think he keeps making the argument he's made before - in MA, he was governing a heavily Democratic state.  What was right for MA is not necessarily right for the country.  Most of the "red states" are fighting Obamacare, either formally through the SCOTUS case, or informally by declining to actively implement it.  I think he says something like, "If NY and CA want Obamacare, then they should pass Obamacare in their states, rather than forcing VA and MO to have Obamacare as well."

[Former Moderate]

Romneycare, as it's so lovingly called, was not something Mitt dreamt up one day and decided to force on the public. Instead, Romneycare was Romney's response to the Democratic legislature's attempt to craft a universal healthcare bill. The votes didn't exist to kill it, so Romney instead worked to make the plan the least offensive he could.

[Politico]

I think he says something like, "If NY and CA want Obamacare, then they should pass Obamacare in their states, rather than forcing VA and MO to have Obamacare as well."

This.

Romneycare, as it's so lovingly called, was not something Mitt dreamt up one day and decided to force on the public. Instead, Romneycare was Romney's response to the Democratic legislature's attempt to craft a universal healthcare bill. The votes didn't exist to kill it, so Romney instead worked to make the plan the least offensive he could.

And this.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I think he says something like, "If NY and CA want Obamacare, then they should pass Obamacare in their states, rather than forcing VA and MO to have Obamacare as well."

This.

Romneycare, as it's so lovingly called, was not something Mitt dreamt up one day and decided to force on the public. Instead, Romneycare was Romney's response to the Democratic legislature's attempt to craft a universal healthcare bill. The votes didn't exist to kill it, so Romney instead worked to make the plan the least offensive he could.

And this.

And this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu-VNAgfIsU

[Politico]

I think he says something like, "If NY and CA want Obamacare, then they should pass Obamacare in their states, rather than forcing VA and MO to have Obamacare as well."

This.

Romneycare, as it's so lovingly called, was not something Mitt dreamt up one day and decided to force on the public. Instead, Romneycare was Romney's response to the Democratic legislature's attempt to craft a universal healthcare bill. The votes didn't exist to kill it, so Romney instead worked to make the plan the least offensive he could.

And this.

And this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu-VNAgfIsU

Even in that video he is clearly talking about it in the sense of it being a state issue, not a federal issue. He has never flip-flopped on that. He also recognizes that ObamaCare is wholly unaffordable at the federal level.