Fair-minded analysis of ObamaCare must conclude three things: (1) Justice John Roberts’ tortured logic that deemed the law constitutional will go down in legal history as a prime example of an improperly decided case,  (2) the implementation of ObamaCare will go down in constitutional history as a prime example of an executive branch power grab, and (3) when government improperly  imposes its power on the citizenry, the results are, predictably, devastating. I often wonder what runs through Justice John Roberts’ mind as this debacle continues to unfold.

The implementation of ObamaCare has gotten so ridiculous — with the president picking and choosing which portions to implement and which portions are politically tough for his party to survive — that many believe the law will never be imposed as passed. John Locke Foundation President John Hood weighs in on that piece of the ObamaCare story in this column.

It’s time for everyone debating the merits of Obamacare to get real. It’s now highly likely that for the foreseeable future, no one will be fined — ugh, taxes — for failure to comply with the mandates. With Democrats facing the prospect of losing the U.S. Senate in 2014 and the presidency in 2016 over the issue, will the administration really enforce the individual mandate on middle-income families while refusing the enforce the employer mandate on businesses? 

Furthermore, if the mandates aren’t enforced, how long can the ramshackle Obamacare exchanges be propped up by tax subsidies and regulatory adjustments? They’ll be subject to severe problems with adverse selection and moral hazard as people with expensive preexisting conditions sign up and people perceiving no immediate need for medical care save money by not signing up.

By his repeated delays and adjustments, President Obama is conceding a lot of policy ground, whether he wants to admit it or not. His plan simply isn’t going to survive in its original form. Now, if Republicans concede that a simple repeal without a replacement policy is also unworkable, there may be a way forward out of this mess.

Here are the elements of a new and truly bipartisan health care reform: 1) deregulate the insurance exchanges to allow a wider variety of less-costly products, and to allow for competing exchanges; 2) convert the tax penalties and subsidies into a new, universal, fixed-dollar, refundable tax credit for the purchase of private health plans, including consumer-driven plans with health savings accounts; and 3) convert the Medicaid expansion dollars into a block grant for states to use to fund indigent care networks and clinics, subsidize private health plans for the poor, and sustain viable high-risk pools for those with preexisting conditions.

Each of these elements has either been implemented successfully elsewhere or supported by lawmakers of both parties in the past. These policies also have the virtue of embracing reality. The idea that Obamacare will ever be implemented in its original form is a fantasy.