Indeed. We should assume that the Affordable Care Act is not "going away. And here is why:
No matter what your position on the spectrum of political ideology, I think we can all agree - competition requires rules.
All competitions are governed by rules. As in boxing, football, chess and so many others, if competitor(s) on one side choose not to play by the rules, they are disqualified, often in contempt. If they play by the rules and lose, most accept their loss with dignity. Democracy is also a competition - of ideas and of ideals. And voting is the ultimate action on the 'field.'
Of course, this isn't the only critically important competition in our government. Our congress competes on every bill that is introduced. Typically, the members of the House or Senate introduce a Bill and, after much back-and-forth negotiating between both parties and the various factions via committees, finally agree that a it merits moving forward, or not. If the Bill gets approved in that chamber, the other chamber then goes through much the same process. If approved by that chamber, then the negotiating between the Senate and the House begins, with many amendments from both sides, along the way. Often, months go buy. Only when both houses, and therefore both parties, agree that they have a 'win' (the legislation that results from the initial Bill), does it go the the President for final approval. This is often a very intense competition.
On the issue of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as President Obama has stated, Democrats and the American people have already won the competition, not once, not twice, but three times. After nearly a year, the House and the Senate voted to pass the legislation and the President approved it; when challenged, the Supreme Court found it constitutional; and with the ACA as a key differentiator in the 2012 election, the competition was won again. Handily.
Voting, whether by the public or in the halls of Congress, is a competition. The other side lost. They are now acting like school children who are throwing a fit because they don’t like the outcome of a fair, rules based, competition. Still worse, they think they deserve the right to play the game again, with their own rules.
Actually, they want to play with no rules. They lost the Superbowl but they want to take back the rings from the winning team . And they are prepared to shoot the ref’s, the spectators, and perhaps those who watched on television, if they don’ get the Superbowl rings back. The American people would never allow this kind of behavior in the competition we know as football!
Do not settle for anything less in government than we expect on the football field.
Challenge those who whine when they lose.
