STRAIGHT TO HELL-A Tea Party TL

Stopped reading for a while, but caught back up. I find it's more fun to read something like this after the screw has turned a bit.

Still a doozy of a scenario, but you're pulling it off quite well!

You've mentioned states taking health care into their own hands; are we seeing any other states taking Vermont's path from OTL?

It would be interesting to think of a world where striking down Obamacare quickly leads to even more sensible and progressive health care in the US.
 
Interesting to see the House being so "cooperative."

All of that is down to a couple reasons:

1. No cap and trade push in 2010 by Obama so less Tea Party opposition, so many Repubs still agree with the McCain 08 plan.

2. Tea Party is a lot weaker after 2012. Incumbents are still wary of a challenge, but a lot of the Tea party money has dried up and the enthusiasm isn't there anymore.

3. Obama uses his 2012 political capital on getting this passed instead of wasting it on gun control.
 
Stopped reading for a while, but caught back up. I find it's more fun to read something like this after the screw has turned a bit.

Still a doozy of a scenario, but you're pulling it off quite well!

You've mentioned states taking health care into their own hands; are we seeing any other states taking Vermont's path from OTL?

It would be interesting to think of a world where striking down Obamacare quickly leads to even more sensible and progressive health care in the US.

At the moment, its just Montana and Vermont that are using the government-provided cash to help fund a single-payer program. That might change in the future, but a lot of politicians are scared of touching healthcare now that it blew up in Obama's face. Kind of like after Clinton's push for healthcare failed.

However, O'Malley is looking at doing some healthcare reform as is Baldwin in Wisconsin (she won there in 2012) but I haven't decided how far they manage to get. Republicans still control the legislature in Wisconsin though, so that would be unlikely.
 
Maryland would take some work as well. Johns Hopkins is the largest employer in Baltimore, and you've got a homegrown spokesman (whom we haven't yet seen ITTL) in Ben Carson who could be pretty effective at shooting it down. And the "progressive element" is strong enough in the state that they won't come to the table unless the deal looks good enough to them.

But again, O'Malley does need a legislative coup if he wants to become the darling of the left; it's definitely worth a try, with a more liberal candidate in 2016 looking more appealing to a lot of people.

But he might not be able to get there first. Hawaii already has a single-payer health care system sitting around, collecting dust, passed by the legislature but never implemented that predates the POD.

California passed something approaching single-payer (or was it really actually single-payer?) that Schwarzeneggar vetoed; seems like something Jerry Brown would be willing to consider.

And then, as you say, Vermont and Montana.
 
Maryland would take some work as well. Johns Hopkins is the largest employer in Baltimore, and you've got a homegrown spokesman (whom we haven't yet seen ITTL) in Ben Carson who could be pretty effective at shooting it down. And the "progressive element" is strong enough in the state that they won't come to the table unless the deal looks good enough to them.

But again, O'Malley does need a legislative coup if he wants to become the darling of the left; it's definitely worth a try, with a more liberal candidate in 2016 looking more appealing to a lot of people.

But he might not be able to get there first. Hawaii already has a single-payer health care system sitting around, collecting dust, passed by the legislature but never implemented that predates the POD.

California passed something approaching single-payer (or was it really actually single-payer?) that Schwarzeneggar vetoed; seems like something Jerry Brown would be willing to consider.

And then, as you say, Vermont and Montana.

O'Malley will pop up a few times in the next few years for reforms that the left wing of the party will enthusiastically support. Mostly to give him a record to run for President on.

In regards to Hawaii, I have a very limited understanding of the bill. My understanding of it is that Lingle vetoed it and the legislature overturned her veto but never implemented it. I could see Abercrombie making the first steps towards implementing it, but I doubt he has enough time or political capital left before the 2014 campaign for Governor starts.

I honestly don't know enough about Brown and single-payer. Where does the financing for the plan come from? Brown is fiscally responsible so I don't see how he'd implement single payer that would blow a hole in the budget. That being said, I'm completely up for convincing.
 
No, you're right about Brown. Honestly, I think there is an argument for the legislature pushing him to implement it and him agreeing, but if it fits your scenario better, falling back on his "fiscal responsibility" seems completely reasonable, but only in the sense that he would use that as an excuse if he's worried incorrect implementation would mean political blow-back.

Hawaii, OTOH, is pretty much ready to go. "Single-payer" means that the state provides medical insurance for everyone. So it gets passed the "unconstitutionality" of requiring everyone to buy insurance by simply providing it to them as a benefit. I honestly don't know the exact language of the HI law, but single-payer is paid for by state funds, the same way the states pay for everything else. The ACA allows the states to use federal funds to create a single-payer system, so that's a big help. Other options are simple appropriations, sin taxes...I mean I guess anything a state is willing to do to raise money in other circumstances could be applied to this situation.

O'Malley vs Ben Carson could be an interesting battle.
 
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