Brian Beutler of TPM shares with us the latest fiscal outlook published by the Government Accountability Office in relation to the Affordable Care Act which the Republicans lovingly refer to as "Obamacare."
The Government Accountability Office has updated its fiscal outlook for the U.S. government and come to some familiar conclusions. The country has a long term imbalance that will have to be addressed, but not until today’s economic woes have passed. If Congress simply does nothing — and allows the Bush tax cuts, and other temporary laws to expire — the country’s fiscal health will improve significantly over the long term.
But the report implies something that’s been lost in the recent partisan debate over the country’s future: repealing ObamaCare would consign us to swift, ugly fiscal and health care crises.
The Government Accountability Office provided the following charts:
Under the current baseline which includes the Affordable Care Act
Under the current baseline if the Affordable Care Act is repealed
If you consider yourself to be a true fiscal hawk, as virtually every elected Republican and Republican presidential candidate does, you should embrace your inner Obamacare-fan and praise the long-term, stabilizing effect it will have on the federal budget.
Instead, what you hear from GOP town-criers is that we must repeal Obamacare as soon as possible and replace it with coupons Vouchercare, under which Medicare and Medicaid as we know it will end along with the rest of society.
The consequences of the next election go far beyond just another term for the Obama Administration, and anyone who has entertained the idea of sitting it out because they are less-than-enthused about his presidency should be reminded of that. Because both parties are not the same, and what the other party is selling is a one-way ticket to the Third World.