"Losing a Large Slice of the Middle Class to the Ranks of the Democratic Party Could Justify Extreme Measures"

"Until now, social welfare programs in the United States have exhibited a 'big hole,' Professor Skocpol said, consisting of nonpoor working-age Americans and their children. Obamacare closes a big chunk of it.

"'The main beneficiaries tend to have lower wages, employed in smaller businesses that are not providing health insurance,' she said. 'They are not elderly. They are also not the poorest.'       

"And they might be grateful to Democrats for the benefit."

 

Eduardo Porter in The New York Times explains Republican intransigence toward the Affordable Care Act.