I mean any messing with basic assumptions of American law or policy is bound to cause an upheaval. I'm amazed at how well Obama has done in implementing his policies so far. I'd never though we would get universal health care or anything close to it...or for that matter, gay marriage as quickly as we have. Could the opposite be true with reverting policies from a Roe world to a Lochner world?
Well, a reverse 2010 with Democrats picking up 50-80 house seats and 6-12 senate seats immediately following those decisions would almost be a given. Beyond that, I am not sure. If Democrats could build Depression-era majorities off the backlash, they could change whatever they wanted, but I suspect the country is too polarized for that. But a literal return to Lochner might quickly lead to a constitutional convention. Imagine that Obama and Reid had killed the filibuster in 2009 and then passed single payer, card check, and repealed all of the Bush tax cuts and added a carbon tax. Would 2010 have been worse (e.g. 1894 was GOP +111 seats- 31% of the house flipped)? Would 2012 have been another Republican sweep?
I think there could have been, but I am not certain. I could definitely see a reverse 2010 if Roe v. Wade is overturned or ignored (where a state can basically price birth control or abortion out of legality) or the ACA is repealed (you can't really just repeal part of it) or ignored...or if Social Security gets replaced by a ACA-like system of banks, protocols and mandates, I can see the Democrats either retaking congress or imploding if they can't. The Republicans could probably get away with reimplementing the Reagan-era tax cuts of a 27% flat tax for the Middle Class ($65,000+) on up and a 10 or 15% flat tax on the working class and poor, passing a Federal Right to Work law or even one that removes collective bargaining, passing the House's sex tax and 20 week personhood law and allowing a pathway for convicted non-violent felons and domestic misdemeanants an opportunity to restore their gun rights. If passed over the course of 2017 and 2021 or 2023, these things alone wouldn't be an indictment on Republican control.
If the Republicans didn't retake the House in 2010 or the Democrats didn't retake Congress in 2006, I could have seen them splintering into independent factions and allowing one party control for like 10 or 15 years until a new party consolidates or one side and the country enters a depression or a desperate/futile war.
