Paul Krugman: Reform Turns Real

At this point, the crisis in American governance has taken on a life of its own. Some Republicans
are now saying openly that they want concessions in return for reopening the government and
avoiding default, not because they have any specific policy goals in mind, but simply because they
don’t want to feel “disrespected.” And no endgame is in sight.

But this confrontation did start with a real issue: Republican efforts to stop Obamacare from going
into effect. It’s long been clear that the great fear of the Republican Party was not that health
reform would fail, but that it would succeed. And developments since Tuesday, when the
exchanges on which individuals will buy health insurance opened for business, strongly suggest
that their worst fears will indeed be realized: This thing is going to work.