I originally posted this idea as a comment
on this diary. But I think the idea should be encouraged to gain some traction. It just might work.
I won't spend time re-examining the King v. Burwell case. I'll instead assume readers here are well-informed, and are familiar with it.
Say SCOTUS rules in favor of Republicans and kills the federal subsidies. There are no constitutional issues involved here. It's all about interpreting an existing law, nothing more. It could be fixed merely by passing a one-sentence amendment to the ACA, saying that the federal subsidies apply also to states that didn't set up their own exchanges.
Of course, Republicans don't want to enact that amendment. So they will propose something like a subsidy extension that pushes the problem out past the 2016 election. Right? Or one of the other ideas that have been kicked around rightist circles -- like gradually phasing the subsidies out over six months or so, and then making it illegal (or impractical) for states that don't have their own exchanges to set one up (say, by using the software from another state).
The idea is, Republicans would want to kill Obamacare, but not let it die until after the 2016 election, knowing the revolt it would cause in the red states where millions of people would suffer.
Except -- President Obama would have to sign any extension enacted by Congress. Suppose he doesn't. Suppose he insists that the only extension he'll sign is the one-sentence fix to the ACA.
Back in 2013 when Republicans shut down the government over their attempt to defund the ACA, President Obama proved he has a spine of steel on this issue. He got the government re-opened, and scared Republicans into not even trying to default on the debt ceiling.
Suppose he tells them -- "Look, here are your choices. Pass the simple one-sentence fix to the ACA, or let millions of voters in red states take out their anger at you for taking away their health insurance. Your choice. I'm not budging."
President Obama did pretty much exactly this in 2013. Let's encourage him to do it again.
Don't negotiate with terrorists. Just don't.