# 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:** 36
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/702 "2013-10-28T11:12:15Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Real Clear Politics Average is McAuliffe +9.7. The worst polls for McAuliffe has him at +7. Rasmussen has it at +17. Imagine how the Democrats would be doing if they had a candidate they _liked_. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/703 "2013-10-28T20:30:58Z")
Republicans are hamstrung too. They like their guy, but no one else does. Tell ya what though, McCauliffe knows how to run a campaign if nothing else. Very professional, despite the weaknesses of the candidate. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/704 "2013-10-28T20:44:29Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Republicans are hamstrung too. They like their guy, but no one else does. This is one of the main problems of the party. The Democrats often put up a candidate that no one particularly likes, but they almost never put up a _totally unacceptable_ candidate. McAuliffe is the distilled essence of politics, and not in a good way, but very few are terrified by the idea of him as governor. The Republicans have been putting unacceptable candidates in winnable state-wide races since 2010, and not just a few. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/705 "2013-10-28T22:00:55Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is one of the main problems of the party. The Democrats often put up a candidate that no one particularly likes, but they almost never put up a _totally unacceptable_ candidate. Alvin Greene being a notable exception. Man - what was up with _that_ guy? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/706 "2013-10-28T22:16:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is one of the main problems of the party. The Democrats often put up a candidate that no one particularly likes, but they almost never put up a _totally unacceptable_ candidate. McAuliffe is the distilled essence of politics, and not in a good way, but very few are terrified by the idea of him as governor. The Republicans have been putting unacceptable candidates in winnable state-wide races since 2010, and not just a few. I don’t think Cuccinelli is unacceptable. He did win statewide four years ago, after all. But he is definitely too conservative for purple Virginia. But yeah, otherwise you’re right, the Democrats rarely nominate unelectable candidates. Republicans do, frequently. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/707 "2013-10-28T22:18:14Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Alvin Greene being a notable exception. > > Man - what was up with _that_ guy? The caveat should be that the Democrats don’t nominate unacceptable candidates in COMPETITIVE races. No one in that primary was capable of beating Demint. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/708 "2013-10-29T04:06:28Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > There is a law: it’s called the law of “if you’re company is a failure, it goes out of business.” Even if they take the whole economy down with them? > [@](#): > > Unless of course said company has political connections. It might have been a good idea to undertake reform of the government contracting system before health care. That’s what someone with an ounce of management experience would have done, anyway. George Bush was the MBA President. What happened? > [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Real Clear Politics Average is McAuliffe +9.7. The worst polls for McAuliffe has him at +7. Rasmussen has it at +17. > [@adaher](#): > > The Virginia race has another effect: strong third party. Third parties usually underperform their polling. > > I mean, it would be awesome if Sarvis actually got 10%, but if he gets 5%,where do those voters go? I doubt Sarvis would make a difference now. The result wouldn’t change if Sarvis dropped out of the race. It might have made a difference before the shutdown but not anymore. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Imagine how the Democrats would be doing if they had a candidate they _liked_. No kidding. I don’t know if I’d make a special effort to vote if Cuccinelli wasn’t the Republican candidate. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/709 "2013-11-15T15:42:21Z")
I know that it has been a while since I personally revisited this thread, but I just wanted to get your guys’ feedback on the recent ACA ‘fix.’ What do you guys think about it? Personally, I don’t endorse Obama’s proposal at all, although I recognize that it was born out of a wave of political expediency. The one thing it does, which is kind of ingenious I think, is move some of the negative publicity about the law away from the administration and force it onto the insurance companies. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/710 "2013-11-15T17:02:29Z")
My thought too, the President can’t make it happen but the insurance companies will look bad. Here in Washington, the state insurance commissioner has nixed it. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/711 "2013-11-15T17:11:08Z")
These plans were going to sunset Jan. 1, right? There’s no way most insurance companies can reverse course in such a short period of time. I know my company offers a plan that is going away due to the ACA, and we’ve been working on its phase-out for months. Even if we got word today that we could continue to offer it, that ship has sailed. Besides, people who are losing their inadequate coverage are being forced to buy more expensive plans - what motivation does the insurance company have to keep operating the low cost one? The only thing that would make a difference is if the amendment _forced_ insurance companies to allow people to stay on the old plans. I have a hard time seeing that passing and if it did, it would be a nightmare for the insurers to implement this late in the game. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/712 "2013-11-15T17:42:25Z")
I can’t wait for a GOP president to nix Obamacare by presidential fiat. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/713 "2013-11-15T17:50:19Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I can’t wait for a GOP president to nix Obamacare by presidential fiat. For that to happen, the GOP would actually have to win a presidential election… I don’t think that’s too likely anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/714 "2013-11-16T04:48:54Z")
If an election were held today, it would be much more likely than it was in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/715 "2013-11-16T06:29:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If an election were held today, it would be much more likely than it was in 2012. I do not think that a Republican running with a platform that did cost the American people more than 20 billion dollars in the shutdown in a sorry attempt at defunding the ACA would be an argument that would had fly for most Americans. You still think that the card the Republicans have now, of problems that did cost hundreds of millions on a website and caused in part by the biggest critics not doing anything for the new law would be a winning one compared to the ace the Republicans gave to Obama. Not likely that Romney would had succeeded when the election ads just needed to remind the people of the waste of the shutdown/defunding Republican move. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/716 "2013-11-16T07:02:02Z")
The ACA is far more damaging than the shutdown. $20 billion is theoretical. A 50% increase in your premiums is very, very real. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/717 "2013-11-16T08:25:57Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The ACA is far more damaging than the shutdown. $20 billion is theoretical. A 50% increase in your premiums is very, very real. Wrong, very very wrong, not theoretical at all: > **[Here’s How Much The Government Shutdown Cost The Economy | TIME.com](https://swampland.time.com/2013/10/17/heres-what-the-government-shutdown-cost-the-economy/)** > > $24 billion. That's according to an estimate from Standard & Poor's. The financial services company said the shutdown, which ended with a deal late Wednesday night after 16 days, took $24 billion out of the U.S. economy, and reduced projected... > [@](#): > > That’s according to an estimate from Standard & Poor’s. The financial services company said the shutdown, which ended with a deal late Wednesday night after 16 days, took $24 billion out of the U.S. economy, and reduced projected fourth-quarter GDP growth from 3 percent to 2.4 percent. > > Here’s a breakdown of some of the economic cost by our calculations: > > [ul] > [li]About $3.1 billion in lost government services, according to the research firm IHS[/li][li] $152 million per day in lost travel spending, according to the U.S. Travel Association[/li][li] $76 million per day lost because of National Parks being shut down, according to the National Park Service[/li][li] $217 million per day in lost federal and contractor wages in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area alone[/li][/ul] > > … > > And with the deal only guaranteeing government funding through Jan. 15, the situation could grow worse. “The short turnaround for politicians to negotiate some sort of lasting deal will likely weigh on consumer confidence, especially among government workers that were furloughed,” Standard & Poor’s said. > > [CNN Money] ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/718 "2013-11-16T08:39:04Z")
And yet we had a really good month as far as job growth went. Whereas the jobs lost by ACA, or people being cut to 25 hours, those are very real and create very motivated voters. The problems get real bad once they get the site fixed. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/719 "2013-11-16T08:50:53Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And yet we had a really good month as far as job growth went. Whereas the jobs lost by ACA, or people being cut to 25 hours, those are very real and create very motivated voters. > > The problems get real bad once they get the site fixed. Yeah, 24 billions is nothing, so we should not complain about half a billion for the troubled start of the ACA. :rolleyes: Read your point again, it is one of the most silly statements made, having a good month means that it would had been even better if all that revenue was not lost. And for all your pontifications, you are ignoring that the current system remains unsustainable and a huge part of the expense was already there before the ACA appeared, the dick moves of the insurance companies are still in the end an attempt of the insurance companies to offer the same old useless insurance for cheap and also ignoring that the current system also leads to a lot of jobs never existing because of the costs. And now many corporations are fooling many telling us that it is the government the one that is responsible. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/720 "2013-11-16T09:17:08Z")
Yeah, it’s all a big misunderstanding, other than the fact that without ACA, 3 million people would never have received cancellation notices. THe law upended half the individual market overnight. Wait till the public sees what it does to the employer insurance market. If the REpublicans shot themselves in the foot, the Democrats shot themselves right between the eyes. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/721 "2013-11-16T11:42:38Z")
Without ACA, millions of sick people could not get health care at all. Until the republicans come up with an alternative, they will continue to lose voters. Most people are smart enough to see past all this bluster of an admittedly terrible roll out. So between that and the stance that the right has taken regarding social issues, I’m not convinced that this is a shot between the eyes to the Democratic party. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=37)