General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Rant: who was the moron who drafted the ACA such that states can opt out automatically? [View all]caraher
(6,278 posts)But suppose Republicans do block subsidies in states that failed to set up exchanges. If I'm a state-level Democratic politician this should be a godsend! (Politically, that is, and at a terrific cost to poor individuals... I'd rather the states just set up the exchanges, but given that they won't we can at least make it clear that Republicans are not sticking up for people in their own states).
As sticker shock sets in and the RW noise machine kicks into high gear blaming Obama, just pound the message that it was their Republican governors who decided they had to pay so much for coverage. Better still, spin it as a tax increase on the poor. That might finally get the attention of red-staters who habitually vote against their own economic interests!
Of course, avoiding this kind of political fallout might prevent the nightmare scenario from happening even if the law is badly written...