# What is your ongoing opinion of the Affordable Care Act? (Title Edited) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 17, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561 "2013-01-17T23:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 124
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2462 "2014-06-09T13:56:31Z")
Now Republicans [are resorting to bribery.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/08/phillip-puckett-resign_n_5470640.html) Fuck that shit. And fuck Virginia Senator Philip Puckett for accepting this bribe. Virginia Republicans offer a judgeship not on its merits, but in order to keep low income Virginians from getting health care. On a plan that costs the Virginia state government nothing. They’re so afraid of the ACA succeeding that they will bribe a member of the state Senate to quit so that they can block Medicare expansion. That is seriously fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2463 "2014-06-09T16:52:22Z")
Bribes were how ACA got passed in the first place. What’s good for the goose… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2464 "2014-06-09T17:48:19Z")
Are you referring to Nelson getting higher Medicaid reimbursement rates for Nebraska? That’s not a bribe. So you must mean something \*else \*you were just about to explain, right? Or you can keep telling yourself that ACA did not win approval, and solid and still-increasing support from the public, on its merits. I know how stressful it must be for you to be aware of such a dichotomy between what you wish and what _is_, but hey, that’s your problem. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2465 "2014-06-09T17:54:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Bribes were how ACA got passed in the first place. What’s good for the goose… Where specifically did the Democrats get rid of a GOP vote by offering a Senator and his daughter high-paying jobs in return for the GOP member stepping down? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2466 "2014-06-09T18:12:38Z")
Is it just me, or is the offering of an agency job AND a judgeship for a relative as a quid pro quo illegal or at the very least highly unethical? What about the voters in that senate district? They cast ballots in good faith for this guy and he says “fuck all of you, I’m looking out for number one!”. If they have any sense they’ll nominate and elect a real Democrat next chance they get. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2467 "2014-06-09T18:23:09Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > What about the voters in that senate district? They cast ballots in good faith for this guy and he says “fuck all of you, I’m looking out for number one!”. If they have any sense they’ll nominate and elect a real Democrat next chance they get. Not if he has to face negative campaign ads from the GOP that paint all Democrats as a takers of bribes. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2468 "2014-06-09T18:29:10Z")
The Democratic Party is based on logrolling, pork, and legal bribery. And you left out the Louisiana Purchase. Landrieu’s vote didn’t come cheap. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2469 "2014-06-09T18:33:44Z")
OK, OK, we’ll get off your lawn, mister! Geeze … ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2470 "2014-06-09T18:38:04Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The Democratic Party is based on logrolling, pork, and legal bribery. And you left out the Louisiana Purchase. Landrieu’s vote didn’t come cheap. You are aware of the difference between using your vote to get a better deal for your state and bribing someone to leave office with a promise of cushy jobs for him and his daughter, are you not? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2471 "2014-06-09T18:39:12Z")
I realize to Democrats that the former is just democracy, but to us good government types, buying a vote with a promise of something unrelated to that vote is corruption. Both are equally legal, and you can’t expect one side to disarm itself in the fight over ACA. The GOP will use any and all legal means to repeal it because any and all legal means were used to pass it. If that means getting Jon Manchin to switch parties and giving him a committee chairmanship in exchange for a yes vote on repeal, so be it. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2472 "2014-06-09T18:40:03Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > You are aware of the difference between using your vote to get a better deal for your state and bribing someone to leave office with a promise of cushy jobs for him and his daughter, are you not? Yes. The second one is much, MUCH cheaper for taxpayers. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2473 "2014-06-09T18:42:20Z")
You would help yourself immensely by stating just what acts you are referring to as “bribery”. You hinted something about Landrieu, but what? And what else - anything but slanderous pouting? If you’d rather denounce the Louisiana Purchase instead, well … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2474 "2014-06-09T18:42:35Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Yes. The second one is much, MUCH cheaper for taxpayers. Not the taxpayers that voted for him. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2475 "2014-06-09T18:47:56Z")
Besides, I’d bet the guy resigning didn’t want to vote for the expansion anyway. This gets him out of that tough vote. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2476 "2014-06-09T19:08:49Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Besides, I’d bet the guy resigning didn’t want to vote for the expansion anyway. This gets him out of that tough vote. The guy is from a very conservative district, and apparently in the special election that will be called (or the normal election, not sure if there is time for special election) will almost definitely be replaced by a Republican. Win-win. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2477 "2014-06-09T19:11:31Z")
Except if you’re a poor Virginian who needs the care that Medicaid would provide. There’s a time and place for political spite, but not when people are actually getting hurt by it. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2478 "2014-06-09T19:13:21Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Except if you’re a poor Virginian who needs the care that Medicaid would provide. > > There’s a time and place for political spite, but not when people are actually getting hurt by it. And the children. Won’t somebody please think of the children! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2479 "2014-06-09T19:14:22Z")
Why don’t _you_? :dubious: It ain’t a joke, son. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2480 "2014-06-09T19:16:22Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Except if you’re a poor Virginian who needs the care that Medicaid would provide. > > There’s a time and place for political spite, but not when people are actually getting hurt by it. So any spending that helps people should be supported, regardless of the fiscal consequences? That’s a pretty good summation of the liberal mind. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/2481 "2014-06-09T19:19:45Z")
Tell us what you think the fiscal consequences to Virginia of accepting Medicaid expansion are. Go ahead, do your research, get back to us. :rolleyes: The “liberal mind” indeed does not generally include “Fuck our own people, spiting Obama is what really matters”, if that’s what you mean. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=123) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=125)