As the second enrollment period for Obamacare opens, Americans continue to display their reticent stupidity (HT Jonathan Gruber) about all the amazing things that Obamacare has brought into their lives, as Gallup reports that Obamacare’s unfavorability is at an all time high, and favorability is also at an all time low. As Gallup graphically demonstrates, the trend lines are incredibly getting even worse, which is not what you might expect from a government run healthcare program. It would appear that despite the rosy pronouncements from Democrats and the Obama administration, the stupid American people stubbornly insist on believing their own lying eyes when it comes to whether the law is “working” or not:

What’s equally troubling for the White House is that these numbers are likely going to get worse. For everyone who was stunned by sticker shock associated with the premiums last year, they are about to learn that both the premium increases and the penalties for noncompliance were just a slap on the wrist compared to what they face this year:

With the Affordable Care Act to start enrollment for its second year on Nov. 15, some unpleasant surprises may be in store for some.

That’s because a number of low-priced Obamacare plans will raise their rates in 2015, making those options less affordable. On top of that, penalties for failing to secure a health-insurance plan will rise steeply next year, which could take a big bite out of some families’ pocketbooks.

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While that might be painful to some uninsured Americans who are counting on their tax refunds in early 2015, the penalty for going uninsured next year is even harsher. The financial penalty for skipping out on health coverage will more than triple to $325 per person in 2015, or 2 percent of income, depending on whichever is higher. Children will be fined at half the adult rate, or $162.50 for those under 18 years old.

That flat-rate penalty “will affect lower-income or middle-income households,” Adams said. Some middle-class families “may be making enough that they don’t qualify for a subsidy, so they won’t get a break if they are getting health coverage. It’s a big penalty for the middle class for not having insurance.”

So here is the bottom line: sticker shock is likely to set in over two distinct periods associated with Obamacare. The first is between now and the end of the enrollment period. The second will come when people are expecting their tax returns, during the period of February-May. These periods coincide neatly with a) the lame duck session and b) the opening session of the new Congress. Unpopularity for Obamacare is thus likely to dip to its all time highest levels during exactly the two periods where the GOP in Congress will be in a position to force the issue, especially if Obama decides to force an artificial constitutional crisis on the country by declaring executive amnesty just because he can.

If ever there was a time for the GOP in Congress to fight and hold the line on this issue instead of pre-emptively waving the white flag on this issue, that time is now.