Whose Idea Was the ACA Anyway?

Just for the record, I feel obliged to remind the Democrats of one of many arguments they might be offering the public in defense of Obamacare and as a reminder to the voters that all this posturing over health insurance by the Republican Party is a load of hooey.  That Repeal and Replace is simply a Smoke and Mirrors betrayal of their own party's  1990s Health Insurance program proposal. Apparently this has to be read word by word by the average american, in order for the clarity and truth of it to permeate the Deadened American Brain.

From a sharp minded commenter in the NY Times recently:

 Stephen Reichard 4 hours ago

It can't be said enough (and isn't said enough for reasons that utterly escape me): Obamacare is Republican health care. It was developed as a concept at the Heritage Institute in the 1990s in response to Hillary Care. It was first implemented in Massachusetts by a Republican governor, Mitt Romney. There is no Republican alternative to Obamacare because Obamacare IS the Republican alternative to Democratic healthcare which is, of course, single payer. 

I get why Republicans don't call this out: it exposes the lie that their opposition to Obama was based not on his race but on his supposed fire breathing radicalism. But why don't Democrats hammer this truth?

Why indeed, and thank you, Stephen, for reminding us that there is such a thing as a factual, verifiable history of events. Apparently the Republicans are not the only amnesiacs.

 Here'a another bright commenter, clarifying the Republican pitch that their health insurance proposal is what's needed by "consumers". (Sorry, did you miss that moment when we stopped being citizens decades ago, became "consumers" – not people, but mere ka-ching machines for the corporate state). Here's Frank:

Frank Bannister Dublin, Ireland 4 hours ago

"Freedom is the ability to buy what you want to fit your need."

So presumably if you do not have the money to buy what you need you are, by definition, not free.

Finally, there's the utter wackiness of this escapee from Saint Elizabeth's.... 

Thing is, he's not kidding.