What is your ongoing opinion of the Affordable Care Act? (Title Edited)

[vivalostwages]

@2ManyTacos

As the evidence of ACA success & the ludicrousness of the King argument continue to pile up, conservatives have increasingly been turning to the moral case that Ocare is inherently wrong. I’m going to link to this Wa-Po op-ed that’s been getting a lot of attention for the past few days, both for its stunningly cold & apropos headline as well as the fact that it broadly encapsulates the GOP’s entire approach to health care policy (hint: they don’t believe in it):

End Obamacare, and people could die. That’s okay.

The article itself makes me almost feel physically ill, but at the same time, I do think that it’s important for Americans to see the GOP’s immorality on HC matter-of-factly laid out to them.

Well, it’s just like the old joke:

Two ladies were out driving near Washington DC. One pointed out two naked men in a field masturbating each other. “Look,” she said, “Two Democrats jerking each other off.”
“How do you know they’re Democrats?” her friend asked.
“If they were Republicans, they’d be fucking a crowd of poor people”

---

[Snowboarder_Bo]

@2ManyTacos

Yeah, I saw this the other day & would’ve probably posted it here if you hadn’t beaten me to it. The thing is, I actually kind of like Sandoval because - by all accounts - he’s actually gone out of his way to distance himself from his national party in order to govern in a reasonable way. If he challenges Reid in '16, he might even be favored to pick up that seat.

But by all means, this is a Hell of an equivocation on the ACA. Now, it’s funny to those of us who know the facts about the law & what it does, even if it’s similarly as frustrating that a huge amount of people are bound to credit Sandoval himself for the sharp decline in the uninsurance rate as opposed to Obama for Obamacare.

There was a similar equivocation a few months ago when Kasich in Ohio claimed that Medicaid expansion wasn’t related to the ACA at all. Maybe this is how Obamacare Derangement Symptom will finally go away: with GOP pols gradually taking credit for what the law does while simultaneously distancing themselves from the moniker of Obamacare itself.

Don’t worry, no one here in Nevada was fooled into thinking this had anything to do with Sandoval; he just happens to be governor at the moment. Brian Sandoval’s greatest strength as governor has been his ability to do very, very little and to do even less that is stupid. Of course, with his predecessor setting the bar as low as he did, it’s pretty easy to jump over it.

[adaher]

I’m going to say something strange. Republicans should pass a fix to the exchanges NOW. My reasoning? There’s been a lot of pissing about which side is responsible for the fact that the two sides can’t work together. I blame Obama as much as Republicans, but your mileage may very.

One way to break that impasse, or at least a very real way for Republicans to show they are willing to work with the administration, is to just concede the issue now. Pass the fix, get SCOTUS off the hook, and ask for nothing in return other than goodwill.

[TonySinclair]

@adaher

I’m going to say something strange. Republicans should pass a fix to the exchanges NOW. My reasoning? There’s been a lot of pissing about which side is responsible for the fact that the two sides can’t work together. I blame Obama as much as Republicans, but your mileage may very.

One way to break that impasse, or at least a very real way for Republicans to show they are willing to work with the administration, is to just concede the issue now. Pass the fix, get SCOTUS off the hook, and ask for nothing in return other than goodwill.

We’re still talking about Republicans, right? American Republicans? In the House and Senate? Right?

[Lok]

@adaher

One way to break that impasse, or at least a very real way for Republicans to show they are willing to work with the administration, is to just concede the issue now. Pass the fix, get SCOTUS off the hook, and ask for nothing in return other than goodwill.

This would be astute politics, give them some high ground (or at least make the hole they have been digging less deep), be good for the country, and really help them get some stuff they want through later. IOW, never going to happen.

[adaher]

It also doesn’t bind them. They can still repeal the bill later if they win the White House. All it does is tell the public, “We still oppose this law, but we’re not going to cause it to fail on a technicality.”

It looks like they are willing to fix it, but only for some pretty steep concessions. Which is also good politics, if they get a deal.

[ElvisL1ves]

Does “willing to fix it” mean the same thing to you as “repeal and replace”? Because that’s still the party line, you know.

[Boyo_Jim]

@ElvisL1ves

Does “willing to fix it” mean the same thing to you as “repeal and replace”? Because that’s still the party line, you know.

I’ve heard “repeal” but I don’t recall “replace”.

[ElvisL1ves]

Not much anymore, since they have, as you know, nothing to propose as a replacement. But yes, it was originally part of the mantra and yes, it still gets said.

[2ManyTacos]

Damn, ruling against the government in King will also take health insurance away from 5 million children.

I hope that that has some bearing on the Justice’s thinking.

[elucidator]

@adaher

I’m going to say something strange…Pass the fix, get SCOTUS off the hook, and ask for nothing in return other than goodwill.

(post shortened just to be a dink about it)

Tequila and bongwater is not for amateurs.

[BOOM]

Speaking as a urpean, once the people have it it’s a hell of a thing taking it away from them - who gets to tell 8 million people they can no longer afford healthcare (again)?

[Fear_Itself]

@BOOM

Speaking as a urpean, once the people have it it’s a hell of a thing taking it away from them - who gets to tell 8 million people they can no longer afford healthcare (again)?

There are a number of Republicans in Congress who would be positively giddy to deliver that news. They love doing that shit.

[BOOM]

Even if they weren’t mostly repubs in the first place, that’s a lot of votes.

Plus it’s demonstrably irrational now - this is cheaper, right?

[Lok]

@BOOM

Even if they weren’t mostly repubs in the first place, that’s a lot of votes.

Plus it’s demonstrably irrational now - this is cheaper, right?

You are trying to apply logic to GOP politics. Not a productive endeavor these days.

[septimus]

SCOTUS will soon hear a suit by four Virginians who havesuffered “grievous harm by being forced to either buy health coverage or pay a penalty”.

For a good laugh, read the article. These were the best four examples the anti-Kenyanists could come up with! :smack: (Apparently much of the brouhaha relates to an ambiguous legislative wording … that the GOP-controled House refuses to correct.)

[Jonathan_Chance]

Titled edited to reflect current status of the ACA.

[TimeWinder]

@Jonathan_Chance

Titled edited to reflect current status of the ACA.

Wait, wait. You meant that thing PASSED? Why didn’t someone tell me?

[BrainGlutton]

This thread does not really belong in the Elections forum.

[BOOM]

I guess many will have a sense of this anyway - some perhaps from the Olympic Opening Ceremony - but this is how important UHC is to the general population after 60 years. Scroll down to single most important issue:

Tories up six points in latest ICM poll

So it’s not the only issue, it’s the one that matters most amongst many - how to maintains services in this austerity era.

Lobbyists and vested interests can make up any number of emotive phrases (death panals, etc) but that number in that poll is all you need to know, imo.