Al is one of our favorite people

Here’s a fabulous tweet thread:

Al Giordano‏Verified account @AlGiordano

1. The main reason Republicans are quickly choking on their proposed repeal of Obamacare is that it was so well constructed for this moment.

2. The AMA, doctors & nurses orgs, AARP, hospitals & others oppose Obamacare repeal in large part because they’re stakeholders in it..

3. Paradoxically, the inclusion of institutional stakeholders is what caused some who identify as “on the left” to oppose Obamacare in 2009.

4. Nothing short of government-administered “single payer” was acceptable to those Obamacare opponents as it was being legislated…

5. Interestingly, the state of Vermont – with support of its governor – tried to enact single payer, titled “Medicare for All” but balked…

6. …after its true costs became evident: an 11.5% increase in state payroll tax plus premiums as high as 9.5% of a person’s income…

7. While *I* could and would justify such high initial costs for single payer health care, most consumers & voters would quickly reject ’em.

8. The sad truth is that had “Obamacare” been “single payer” the *easiest* thing for the GOP right now would be to dismantle it…

9. What makes it so difficult for the GOP to repeal Obamacare now is that, again, it gave stakes to many institutional sectors…

10. Purists oppose sharing power with sectors that already have it because, they say, it perpetuates existing unfairness. However…

11. You know what else perpetuates existing unfairness? Not having a workable plan or a durable coalition to defend change once enacted!

12. The defense & protection of Obamacare is not an academic or ideological exercise for 20 million of us whose lives it saved.

13. If it is going to continue to keep us alive, that’s because it was constructed carefully in a way to resist today’s GOP challenge to it!

14. Likewise, Obamacare was constructed with “booby-traps” that, if it were to be repealed, would bring swift electoral death of the GOP.

15. Its “repeal” would lead to an unintended “replace,” the replacement of the GOP Congress as soon as 2018. That’s how well it’s designed.

REST OF THE THREAD AT THE LINK.

THANK YOU, President Obama…for always playing the long game.

We have to continue the fight, because healthcare for 24 million people IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR!!