What Will Do GOPers Do When H.R. 4872 Doesn't Bring About a Socialist Armageddon?

That's the question Adam Nagourney asks (in slightly different terms) in a New York Times analysis piece today.  Republicans have warned that the just-passed health care bill will destroy America:  Roy Blunt and Todd Akin lied about how they wouldn't get needed surgeries. Blaine Luetkemeyer said it will most certainly kill his father. Peter Kinder warned that the legislation will create a nation "unrecognizable" from the one we have today. And Akin later cried that there is now a "deadly enemy" in Washington.

These were all all ridiculous, stupid and irresponsible statements, and represent just a fraction of the misinformation and hysteria whipped up by GOPers across Missouri and the country.  Leaders in the Republican Party decided last year that they would do everything they could to stop health care reform legislation -- no matter what was actually in the proposals or how they might help their constituents -- and executed a prolonged campaign of misinformation and lies to further their political agenda.

Republicans like Michael Steele say "there is no downside" to their reprehensible campaign.  But what happens when no one pulls the plug on Grandma, and Blaine's dad doesn't die in front of an Obamacare death panel?  And more importantly, what happens when people get used to a world in which insurers stop denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions?  And what happens when seniors begin to enjoy paying less money for prescription drugs? 

Nagourney goes into more detail:

[M]any provisions of the bill that go into effect this year — like curbs on insurance companies denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, or the expansion of prescription drug coverage for the elderly — are broadly popular with the public. The more contentious ones, including the mandate for the uninsured to obtain coverage, do not take effect for years.

And in a week when Democrats are celebrating the passage of a historic piece of legislation, Republicans find themselves again being portrayed as the party of no, associated with being on the losing side of an often acrid debate and failing to offer a persuasive alternative agenda.

David Frum, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative research organization, said Republicans had tried to defeat the bill to undermine Mr. Obama politically, but in the process had given up a chance of influencing a huge bill. Mr. Frum said his party’s stance sowed doubts with the public about its ideas and leadership credentials, and ultimately failed in a way that expanded Mr. Obama’s power. [...]

Republicans also face the question of what happens if the health care bill does not create the cataclysm that they warned of during the many months of debate. Closing out the floor debate on Sunday night, the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, warned that the legislation would be “the last straw for the American people.” Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, proclaimed several hours earlier, “Freedom dies a little bit today.”

Yet there are elements of the bill, particularly in regulating insurers, that could well prove broadly popular, and it could be years before anyone knows whether the legislation will have big effects on health care quality and the nation’s fiscal condition. Indeed, most Americans with insurance are unlikely to see any immediate change in their coverage, and several Republicans warned that the party could pay a price for that.

“When our core group discover that this thing is not as catastrophic as advertised, they are going to be less energized than they are right now,” Mr. Frum said.

The world will not end, and 30+ million more Americans will have health care insurance in the next few years. Insurance companies will stop abusing their clients. The Medicare "Donut Hole" will be smaller. Young people will be able to stay on their parents' policies until they're 26.  The deficit will get smaller.  Smaller businesses and self-employed folks will be able to better-afford insurance. 

After months of rallies and lies and summits, Republicans may find themselves wishing for the catastrophe they predicted and promised.  I hope not.