What a great week for President Obama. The Senate cleared the way Wednesday for a vote on trade promotion authority, handing him a considerable victory, and the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Affordable Care Act Thursday — for the second time!
{mosads}But while the White House celebrates, their adversaries in the GOP are quietly doing the same. After all, few among them truly wished for a complete disruption of ObamaCare. They were going to be left holding the proverbial bag, having to continue subsidies for millions of Americans affected by an adverse ruling in King v. Burwell and fighting with each other over how to do it and for how long, The conservative base would have cried for repeal, which wouldn’t have passed, while Republican senators up for reelection in 22 states where people lost the ability to pay for their coverage would have been pressed to make their constituents whole. Republicans on Capitol Hill were painfully aware of the damaging political battles that would have resulted from the subsidies being invalidated, and they breathed an audible and collective sigh of relief over the ruling Thursday.
Meanwhile as Obama defied his own liberal base and Big Labor to push past their resistance, work with Republicans and find enough Democrats to pass his trade agenda, Republicans also got a win as well. They showed they can do the big things in a bipartisan way. A great week for both sides — right before they start warring again next week over the final details of a nuclear agreement with Iran. It won’t be pretty.
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