It sucks. Don't like the outcomes at all and I believe real people are going to be hurt.
But if we are smart, and don't listen to the pundits, this could be the long term game changer we actually need.
We need Republicans to be Republicans boldly and publicly. Tax cuts, Health Care Repeal, the whole works. It's all good.
And here's how.
We must hold to the principles that Republicans have claimed but Democrats enact such as fiscal and personal responsibility.
We must make Republicans hold to the logical outcomes of their hyperbolic rhetoric.
No tax cuts that aren't paid for. None. Bush tax cuts must be met with immediate spending reductions to be proposed by the House or face a Senate rebuttal or Presidential Veto.
No health care freeloading. If Mandatory insurance is repealed, Dems must insist that the Republicans propose a solution to prevent folks from buying care once diagnosed with a problem--no gaming the system allowed. This would require repealing the pre-existing provision, which will be political suicide, or enforcing a pay before treatment, also a pretty hard sell. It's called taking responsibility and not gambling. Make them present a solution.
Any changes to social security or medicare must involve a rock solid commitment that failures in the market cannot penalize average individuals and cannot involve government bailouts--no increases in future welfare costs if markets tank or insurance companies go broke or raise premiums leaving seniors destitute. All individuals will do as well as thy would under the current plan and an immediate tax would be levied on investment firms and insurance companies to make up the difference if the market doesn't perform. Call it the "private market guarantee of better returns" provision. Watch them argue against it. Just watch it--it would be great fun.
I am trying to avoid being discouraged, and the one thing that would keep me pumped is to force the Republicans to be responsible adults and own the consequences of their ideology.
(An addendum. I think this could apply to abortion as well, but it's not the main issue I think we will be fighting. All anti-abortion resolutions must include clear penalties consistent with the position that abortion is murder. It's amazing how quickly people back pedal when asked if a woman should be given life or lethal injection when confronted with the logical outcome that if abortion is murder (which by its intentional and pre-planned nature would make it first degree) these are the penalties we enforce in most states. I have yet to have a conversation with an anti-abortion believer that doesn't end in confusion--and a reluctant admission that they don't really mean what their rhetoric says--if they are forced to make this choice.)