#ThomHartmann @Thom_Hartmann blog: Republicans Secretly Love Big Government
by Thom Hartmann,posted Feb 20 2013 3:13PM
At least, 26 Republican-leaning states sure do. Despite over 30 attempts to repeal Obamacare, and Tenth-er arguments for social programs to be run by the states, 26 states haven't set up their insurance exchanges – leaving it up to the federal government. As of last Friday's deadline, only 17 states submitted plans for their own healthcare exchanges, and seven states declared they'll partner with the federal government.
Twenty-four of the 26 states that remain are led by Republican governors, many of whom have railed against the new healthcare law. Florida Governor Rick Scott has been one of Obamacare's loudest opponents, and even ran his own anti-Obamacare group, Conservatives for Patients' Rights, to pressure Democrats to oppose the legislation. But now I guess he's just fine with the federal government stepping in to administer healthcare exchanges in his state.
Harvard Professor Theda Skocpol, an expert on healthcare policy and politics, said, “all of this has a political side, too, and the GOP states are surely trying to situate their officials to cry blame against the national government every time any little glitch happens.” The Republicans think it's a win for them either way. When things go well, they'll take credit for allowing the exchanges to be set up, and whenever something goes wrong, they'll use it to attack Obama, and the federal government.
As more benefits from Obamacare roll out over the next two years, we need to remind people that it was Republicans that tried to repeal it more than 30 times. But this isn't just about a political win. This is about 30 million people having access to healthcare – something that should be a basic human right. No matter who takes the political credit, the American people win when it comes to Obamacare.
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