Blow By Blow: A Comprehensive Timeline Of The GOP’s 4-Year Battle To Kill Obamacare

[ProSense]

Blow By Blow: A Comprehensive Timeline Of The GOP’s 4-Year Battle To Kill Obamacare

By Igor Volsky on March 23, 2014 at 10:55 am

The Affordable Care Act celebrates it fourth birthday on Sunday, just as its first enrollment period comes to a close.

It has been a long battle to get to this level of implementation — and the fight hasn’t ended yet. From Republicans’ initial resistance to repealing Obamacare in its entirety to their relentless effort to chip away at the law by targeting individual provisions, withholding funding, and undermining implementation, the party is showing no signs of abandoning its anti-Obamacare crusade any time soon.

On this anniversary, ThinkProgress takes a look back at all of the milestones in the GOP’s ongoing campaign to undermine a law that has defined national politics for half a decade:

MARCH 23, 2010: An immediate push to repeal.
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APRIL 2010: Republicans actually take credit for parts of Obamacare.
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MAY 2010: Republicans offer a 9-page alternative.
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JUNE 2010: Republicans make first effort to repeal the individual mandate, while arguing parts of reform should be better funded.
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AUGUST 2010: Republicans continue to attack HHS education campaigns.
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SEPTEMBER 2010: Republicans go after reform’s regulations.
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OCTOBER 2010: “There will be no insurance industry left in three years.”
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NOVEMBER 2010: Republicans re-take House in midterm elections.
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JANUARY 2011: The first vote to repeal Obamacare.
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FEBRUARY 2011: Governors seize on court ruling to abandon implementation.
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MARCH 2011: Republicans discover Obamacare bombshells.
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APRIL 2011: Vulnerable Americans “wouldn’t survive” with “socialized medicine.”
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MAY 2011: Republicans link Obamacare to Romneycare.
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JUNE 2011: Obamacare “ends Medicare as we know it.”
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AUGUST 2011: Obamacare’s birth control coverage will result in “dying civilization.”
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SEPTEMBER 2011: Lindsey Graham tries to block implementation of reform.
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OCTOBER 2011: Obamacare will force the nation to “go to a single-payer system.”
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FEBRUARY 2012: The contraception wars begin.
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MARCH 2012: McConnell says he no longer wants to vote on repeal.
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APRIL 2012: Republicans go after prevention.
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MAY 2012: Catholic groups sue over contraception requirement.
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JUNE 2012: Supreme Court upholds Obamacare, Republicans turn back to repeal.
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JULY 2012: More than a dozen governors refuse Medicaid funds following Supreme Court ruling.
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AUGUST 2012: Romney/Ryan hit Obama for cutting Medicare funding.
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SEPTEMBER 2012: Hobby Lobby files suit to deny contraception coverage to its employees.
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NOVEMBER 2012: “Obamacare is the law of the land.”
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FEBRUARY 2013: Jindal suggests delaying Obamacare to avoid sequestration.
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MARCH 2013: Headed towards a government shutdown.
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APRIL 2013: House freshman ask for an opportunity to vote on repeal.
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MAY 2013: Republicans seize on IRS targeting scandal to undermine reform.
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JUNE 2013: Critics outspend supports of the law 5:1.
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JULY 2013: Republicans threaten to block government funding bill.
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AUGUST 2013: States refuse to enforce Obamacare provisions.
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SEPTEMBER 2013: “I intend to speak in support of defunding Obamacare, until I am no longer able to stand.”
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OCTOBER 2013: Republicans seize on the Obamacare rollout debacle.
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DECEMBER 2013: Republicans agree to 2-year funding deal to focus on Obamacare repeal.
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2014: The 51st vote to repeal Obamacare.
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http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/03/23/3417482/gop-opposition/

That is an amazing compilation.

Robert Reich on Obamacare: It’s Working Despite Misinformation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024699353

ACA Tide Turns: Protesters Arrested In GA, GOPer Schools Scottie
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024695722

Forecast Shows Obamacare Beating its Enrollment Goal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024697984

I Stand Corrected... And This IS The Way You Do It... Bravo Dems !!!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024706284

Statement by the President on the Fourth Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024713702

Obamacare: It's Obama's signature achievement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024695694

[ProSense]

1. Koch FAIL

Koch Group Yet Again Fails Fact Check On Obamacare Horror Story
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/koch-obamacare-ad-politifact-false

Koch brothers use Republican activists in latest anti-Obamacare ads
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/25/1280254/-Koch-brothers-use-Republican-activists-in-latest-anti-Obamacare-nbsp-ads

The "Party of Stupid" FAIL:

Louisiana Wants Billboard Criticizing Jindal Over Obamacare Taken Down
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024629702

Ad Blasts Jindal After State Demands Pro-Obamacare Sign Be Taken Down
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024640083

[Thinkingabout]

2. K & R

Thanks for the info, if the GOP worked as hard for progress as they do for failure we would be much better today.

[ProSense]

3. Republicans hate the poor. Krugman:

Enemies of the Poor

Paul Krugman

Suddenly it’s O.K., even mandatory, for politicians with national ambitions to talk about helping the poor. This is easy for Democrats, who can go back to being the party of F.D.R. and L.B.J. It’s much more difficult for Republicans, who are having a hard time shaking their reputation for reverse Robin-Hoodism, for being the party that takes from the poor and gives to the rich.

And the reason that reputation is so hard to shake is that it’s justified. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that right now Republicans are doing all they can to hurt the poor, and they would have inflicted vast additional harm if they had won the 2012 election. Moreover, G.O.P. harshness toward the less fortunate isn’t just a matter of spite (although that’s part of it); it’s deeply rooted in the party’s ideology, which is why recent speeches by leading Republicans declaring that they do too care about the poor have been almost completely devoid of policy specifics.

Let’s start with the recent Republican track record.

The most important current policy development in America is the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, a k a Obamacare. Most Republican-controlled states are, however, refusing to implement a key part of the act, the expansion of Medicaid, thereby denying health coverage to almost five million low-income Americans. And the amazing thing is that they’re going to great lengths to block aid to the poor even though letting the aid through would cost almost nothing; nearly all the costs of Medicaid expansion would be paid by Washington.

Meanwhile, those Republican-controlled states are slashing unemployment benefits, education financing and more. As I said, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the G.O.P. is hurting the poor as much as it can.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/opinion/krugman-enemies-of-the-poor.html

[sulphurdunn]

6. The Sheriff of Nottingham

would have been a republican.

[ProSense]

10. Remember

ROMNEYHOOD!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021084531

[hue]

4. Making healthcare for the middle class & poor a reality=the long & winding road!!

Those who gripe about wanting single payer, I doubt that would have even passed through the legislative process much less the many and varied attacks from the RW 1%'ers.

[JoeyT]

5. K&R

They say if you have turkeys you can't have a vehicle with shiny rims around the males. They're so stupid they'll literally beat themselves to death on it trying to drive away the "intruder". Can't imagine what made me think of that.

[napkinz]

7. Battle To Kill Obamacare ...

[ProSense]

9. That first one is a perfect depiction of the GOP attempts. n/t

[JDPriestly]

8. K&R.

[mikeysnot]

11. According to the heritage Foundation...

It is a failure because of delays.... This is really sad because this is what passes for commentary in the conservative blogosphere..

A Timeline of Obamacare Delays in Pictures

Obamacare is now four years old. But unlike most 4-year-olds, it still can’t walk on its own. It’s been tripping and falling over itself for years.
Just in the last year, the Obama administration has delayed or changed so many parts of the law—not to mention the technical “glitches”—it’s tough to keep up. Bloomberg Businessweek looked at the law’s recent track record and inspired us to take a visual tour.

http://blog.heritage.org/2014/03/24/timeline-obamacare-delays-pictures-2/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbell

Fucking sad. really. And DeMint makes millions working here.

[ProSense]

12. More than 7,100 deaths likely from states' rejection of Medicaid expansion: Health Affairs Blog

From January:

More than 7,100 deaths likely from states' rejection of Medicaid expansion: Health Affairs Blog

Harvard and CUNY researchers say death toll from 25-state ‘opt-out’ may be as high as 17,100 annually; hundreds of thousands more will be harmed by depression, untreated diabetes, and skipping mammograms and pap smears

The decision by 25 states to reject the expansion of Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act will result in between 7,115 and 17,104 more deaths than had all states opted in, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York.

The study, the first detailed estimate of the health impact of the states’ decision to reject the Medicaid expansion (with state-by-state data as well), is being published today at the Health Affairs Blog.

The researchers found that because of the states’ “opting out” of the Medicaid expansion, 7.78 million people who would have gained coverage will remain uninsured. In addition to the thousands of excess deaths associated with that lack of coverage, the rejection of the Medicaid expansion will have the following likely impacts:

* 712,037 more persons diagnosed with depression
* 240,700 more persons suffering catastrophic medical expenses
* 422,533 fewer diabetics receiving medication
* 195,492 fewer women receiving mammograms and
* 443,677 fewer women receiving pap smears

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For example, in Texas, the largest state opting out of the Medicaid expansion, approximately 2 million people who would otherwise have been insured will remain uninsured as a result of the state’s action.

"Texas' refusal to accept federal money to expand Medicaid will result in 184,192 more people experiencing depression, 62,610 more people suffering catastrophic medical expenses, and as many as 3,035 avoidable deaths,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor of public health at the City University of New York who is also on the faculty at Harvard Medical School.

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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2014/january/more-than-7100-deaths-likely-from-states-rejection-of-medicaid-expansion-%C2%A0health-a