My first response to this was “Cry me a river”…

Dozens of lawmakers and aides are so afraid that their health insurance premiums will skyrocket next year thanks to Obamacare that they are thinking about retiring early or just quitting.

The fear: Government-subsidized premiums will disappear at the end of the year under a provision in the health care law that nudges aides and lawmakers onto the government health care exchanges, which could make their benefits exorbitantly expensive.

… but that’s not fair. More accurate to say “Cry me a river, Democrats.” I really do feel bad for any Republican staffer or legislator in a cleft stick over this, and do you know why?  It’s because NO REPUBLICAN VOTED FOR OBAMACARE. It’s not their fault. But Democrats either voted for this mess, or endorsed it after the fact – and ‘caucusing with the Democrats’ does, in fact, count as ‘endorsing’ in this context. So does ‘working for a Democrat.’  This is Obamacare.  This is what they voted for; if it turns out that it’s actually a hot, steaming mess of pure stupidity and failure, well, we in the Republican party weren’t shy about saying that at the time.

Guess it should be repealed, huh?

And, just to note for the record: the Republican party will in fact be happy to cut campaign ads commemorating the fact that particular Democratic legislators had to retire because it was the only way to keep their existing healthcare. Because Politico is quite right when it noted that “[t]he provision was put in the bill in the first place on the theory that if Congress was going to make the country live under the provisions of Obamacare, the members and staff should have to as well.” And they should.  And if the Republican grassroots have anything to say about it – which they will, loudly, repeatedly, and tirelessly – the members and staff will.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: I’m sure that there’s a Republican staffer or two reading this that is a little upset that I’m being hard-nosed about something that is unfairly messing up their lives.  As the saying goes: “Tell your troubles to Jesus: the chaplain’s gone over the hill.” We’re all having problems with this monstrosity of a health care rationing bill.

Via

Dems in Congress *really* want to fix the mess Obamacare is causing them and their staff. dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm…

— Brian Faughnan (@BrianFaughnan) June 13, 2013