It is now four years since ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act, became law, and over 5 million people have signed up since October 1 of last year, despite the flawed beginnings of the website.
ObamaCare is here to stay, but will certainly need adjustments and tweaking as it grows further, just like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicare Part D needed to make such changes.
The Republican Party has attempted to end ObamaCare by over 50 votes in the House of Representatives, but it has been for naught, since the Senate is presently Democratic.
But even if the Republicans were to win the Senate and keep the House in the 2014 midterm elections, ObamaCare will not end, as President Obama has the power of the veto, and there is no chance that a two thirds override of a Presidential veto could ever occur.
So the GOP is looking ahead to their vision of winning both houses of Congress AND the Presidency in 2016, but their chances of that occurring are miniscule to zero, as ONLY if they were to nominate Jon Huntsman, would there be even a chance of defeating Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden or any other Democrat, with the Electoral College heavily tilted in favor of the Democratic nominee, with the Republicans refusing to change their tune in their attitudes towards women, Latinos, African Americans, labor, the poor, the young, and the elderly.
The GOP is self destructive, and to imagine that they would be willing to repeal all aspects of ObamaCare, taking away health care from millions, and denying senior citizens the closing of the “donut hole” on prescriptions; the end of children being covered under their parents’ plans until age 26; the end of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and no more lifetime coverage; and many other benefits that have already helped many people who never had health care coverage before ObamaCare, is truly a sign that they do not give a damn about the health of the American people.
This is particularly so with the fact that ObamaCare is far less advanced than Hillary Care was in the 1990s, when Republicans fought it and defeated it in 1994, with the Heritage Foundation–Bob Dole-Newt Gingrich Republican plan which, in many details, became RomneyCare in Massachusetts in 2006, and then was suddenly no longer acceptable once Barack Obama moved to adopt it as a compromise from the concept of Medicare For All or the “public option”, both more “radical”, while ObamaCare allows private health care companies to control the market place.
The GOP has lost all credibility, and in the long run, if not the short run, when the American people finally “get it”, what that party is doing, they will suffer electorally in a massive way!
Professor,
I believe in the “follow the money” theory.
Stocks that support businesses that are associated with Obamacare (hospitals, generic drug makes, pharmacy benefit managers, companies that specialize in electronic medical records) have gone up 46.9% since the law was signed. In that same period, the S&P 500 is up 22.8%.
This is very interesting information, Paul, and it would be good if this was discussed on CNN and MSNBC and the major networks, and the major newspapers, but I do not believe that is the case, or is it? In any case, this needs to be spread far and wide by the Obama Administration!
There is an online broker, Motif Investing that has both a “pro-Obamacare” portfolio and a “anti-Obamacare” portfolio (supporting businesses that would benefit if repealed (medical device manufacturers; assisted living and home health-care providers; all will suffer from reduced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates). That portfolio is up 13.8%.
You sure won’t see that info in the WSJ!!
But as they say in the disclaimer biz: past performance is no guarantee of future results ; )
Speaking of the Koch Brothers, their Americans For Prosperity (theirs) PAC is inundating Boston and Manchester TV with the same ad over and over. On the Manchester station alone, they have spent almost a quarter of a million dollars (which gets you a lot of buys).
The same ad is now appearing on the Boston stations (which cover the Southern NH market). And it’s only March!!
I have strong confidence that Jeanne Shaheen will keep her Senate seat, as she is one of the best there is in the Senate. But the evil of the Koch Brothers is manifest!
I hope we are not about to paint Koch Brothers PAC’s as evil (which they are) when Democrats have enlisted the same tactics that Paul speaks of in his last comment.
Ron, your synopsis of the 2016 election is good. But you’re not taking into account one point. And that is the Independent voter (ME).
“ONLY if they were to nominate Jon Huntsman, would there be even a chance of defeating Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden or any other Democrat”
Huntsman would receive 50% of my consideration. But you and I both know he won’t be nominated. The bigger problem is that Biden (25%) and Clinton (0%) will most likely get the Democratic nomination. Is it time for the DNC to reevaluate who gets the nod?
JOB, the problem is that no one else has the background in foreign policy. If we wish to forget that, and gamble, which we often do, then, as I have stated before, there is Elizabeth Warren, Martin O’Malley, and Amy Klobuchar, all of whom I like. There are also Kirsten Gillibrand, Andrew Cuomo, Mark Warner, and Brian Schweitzer, all of whom I am not as thrilled about.