Gail Collins writes today in the NYT:

Seriously, people, why do you think the Republicans have gone so completely lunatic when it comes to this issue? Why do they behave as if, once the health law begins to roll out, it will be cemented in place like an amendment to the Constitution?

True, it would be a pain to repeal the whole thing if it doesn’t work out. But not a pain sufficient to wreak havoc on the global economy like, say, refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has been leading the push to shut down the government unless Congress repeals Obamacare. But have you ever heard him vow that if Congress doesn’t repeal Obamacare there will be … elections and then a new Congress that will repeal Obamacare?

Actually, Ted Cruz has an answer for this. Once the law goes into effect, he told the Web site The Daily Caller, the public will be overwhelmed by its sugary sweetness — “hooked on the subsidies.” It’s the duty of Congress to take it back before people can taste it, just the way New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to whisk away high-calorie Big Gulps.

So, the message is clear. The new health care law is going to be terrible, wreaking havoc on American families, ruining their lives. And they are going to love it so much they will never have the self-control necessary to give it up.

I used to believe, as Cruz appears to suggest, that once Obamacare was fully implemented, that the GOPteabag wouldn’t be able to repeal it. I don’t believe that anymore. I don’t believe that the John Birchers running today’s GOP care one whit about taking benefits away from people. That would be a feature, not a bug, as we say. And I doubt they’d stop at repealing Obamacare. They’ve got Obamacare Derangement System burned on the brain. So whether it’s not until 2017, 2019, 2021 or whenever, they’ll never stop. It’s become their anti-Communism crusade, as has been mentioned recently.