It is with great pleasure that I rise in praise of Karl Rove, who now largely agrees with me that Republicans should place into the dustbin their bogus proposal to repeal ObamaCare. In my recent column in The Hill, "The 'Clinton Cash' con," I suggested that the new book by Peter Schweizer proves absolutely nothing on the matter of whether Hillary Clinton committed any wrongdoing, and it is a con to suggest or imply otherwise. I add today a discussion of another con game by Republicans, the suggestion that they will repeal ObamaCare, which they know they will not do, but pretend they will to give red meat to the right-wing base; a promise they know they will not keep.
And now comes Rove, on the op-ed page of The Wall Street Journal and the other places he inhabits, telling Republicans (correctly) that their pledge to repeal ObamaCare is a bad and politically stupid idea. Rove's acknowledges (correctly) that it will not be repealed, and warns Republicans (correctly) they could pay a heavy price with voters if the Supreme Court overturns ObamaCare and Republicans have to face endless news stories about the bad things that happen to Americans if ObamaCare is overturned or repealed and Republicans have nothing to offer instead (which they don't).
I believe Chief Justice John Roberts and a Supreme Court majority will uphold ObamaCare in its upcoming and monumental decision. I believe the court will agree with me that the legislative intent of the law is clear, that all exchanges should receive subsidies, and that they will agree with me that the havoc to healthcare and the painful damage to Americans from a decision against ObamaCare, or repeal of ObamaCare, would be a disaster.
Rove's surrender to ObamaCare, advising Republicans against pretending they would repeal ObamaCare, is politically very wise. Rove's fear about what happens to Republicans if the court does overturn ObamaCare provisions and the world witnesses horror stories of Americans being hurt because of Republican anti-ObamaCare politics — without any Republican policy to undo the damage — is politically brilliant.
Imagine daily stories on television about very ill Americans being stripped of healthcare, about children losing their insurance because they would no longer be covered by their parent's policies, about Americans with preexisting conditions being thrown to the insurance wolves without ObamaCare, and about huge insurance premium increases that would punish many millions of Americans because of the Republican war against ObamaCare.
When the first American dies because of the loss of ObamaCare, the world will witness the mother of all Republican and conservative cons: the death panels were not caused by ObamaCare; they were prevented by ObamaCare, and without ObamaCare, people will die and voters will blame Republicans for the real equivalent of death panels, created by the Republicans in their war against ObamaCare.
For once, Rove is right: Republicans should surrender in their war to repeal ObamaCare, and if they do not, Democrats will win big and Republicans will lose big — no matter how the Supreme Court decides.
