What if in 2009/2010 Obamacre had failed to pass the US Congress? It is still proposed, but Congress, either the Senate or the House, does not pass it. This is easier than it seems, despite huge Democrat majorities Obamacare passed by the skin of its teeth. That's why the Republican ads in 2014 said each Democrat Senator' cast the deciding vote for Obamacare'. If one Democrat(Lieberman, Nelson, Blanche Lincoln are possibilities) had voted against Obamacare and joined the filibuster, it would have failed. If the dying Senator Byrd had not been brought in to cast the vote, maybe he is too ill, then it would have been filibustered and any delay would have likely meant even more opposition and probably killed the reform, especially since Brown wins Ted Kennedy's seat. Or even if one more seat was Republican after the 2008 Senate elections, such as Coleman who lost by such a miniscule margin that recounts carried on until June 2009. And even if it passed the Seante, it could still fail in the House, as conservative and pro-life Democrats fled from it IOTL. Obamacare only passed the House by 5 votes, an easily reversible margin. So, what would be the effect if it had been stopped in any of these ways? Well, a character from my TL has an idea:
"If we're able to stop Obama on [health care reform], it will be his Waterloo. It will break him and we will show that we can, along with the American people, begin to push those freedom solutions that work in every area of our society."-Senator Jim DeMint
Would that be true? How would the election results be altered? Would Obama do better with no Obamacare or worse having been humiliated and with few accomplishments? What would happen in the 2012 election TTL? What would be the effects on other aspects of recent history? What if?
"If we're able to stop Obama on [health care reform], it will be his Waterloo. It will break him and we will show that we can, along with the American people, begin to push those freedom solutions that work in every area of our society."-Senator Jim DeMint
Would that be true? How would the election results be altered? Would Obama do better with no Obamacare or worse having been humiliated and with few accomplishments? What would happen in the 2012 election TTL? What would be the effects on other aspects of recent history? What if?