If you're a regular here, then you've probably read a story or two about how the right's ongoing war against Obamacare prevents most conservatives from acknowledging that anyone has benefited, is benefiting, or will benefit from the Affordable Care Act -- and that this unwillingness to grapple with any Obamacare success stories is inflating a conservative misinformation bubble. On the right it's an article of faith that the law has done nothing but harm innocent people. That's the only way to keep the repeal fantasy animated.
Well, here's a visual representation of that phenomenon for you.
That's from a site Republicans set up to cull complaints from people whose insurance policies were canceled and other unhappy customers. Notice, there's no "Got Coverage" option here.
We've seen other manifestations, too. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. -- the GOP's top investigator -- chaired a series of Obamacare hearings outside of Washington so that he could exclude panelists who are better off because of the law.
And when asked about the law's many benefits, including coverage for thousands of previously uninsured Kentuckians, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered nothing other than repeatedly insisting "the law should be repealed.
This was an easy act to pull off before Jan. 1. It's harder now that millions of people have new, working health insurance coverage. Add up all the Healthcare.gov and state-exchange enrollees (2.1 million), new Medicaid beneficiaries (over 4 million), and the growing number of young adults on their parents' plans (3 million or so) and we're getting close to 10 million people whose coverage Republicans would rescind if they could.
The combination of the GOP's refusal to be clear-eyed about the law's actual give and take, and a surge of news stories about growing millions of new beneficiaries has created a predictable cognitive dissonance on the right.
Don't believe me, just take a stroll through Josh Marshall's Twitter feed.
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