Doyle McManus expresses the obvious:
When Obamacare’s first open-enrollment period ended last week, the tally was impressive: 7.1 million Americans signed up for insurance on federal and state exchanges by the March 31 deadline, several million more signed up for Medicaid and a whole lot of under-26 Americans got covered by their parents’ plans.
Those numbers represent a significant political victory for Democrats, making it highly unlikely that Republicans will be able to deliver on their promise to repeal the law.
The Republicans must secretly be hoping that they don’t win control of the Senate, because if that happened their crazy base would demand that they repeal ObamaCare and the GOP would be caught in a real Catch-22.
Just think: Millions of newcomers to health coverage are about to join the rest of us in those frustrating battles with insurers.
But the enrollment numbers do mean that the main argument Republicans hurled against the law — that it was doomed to collapse — is looking weaker than ever.
It’s also looking dumber than ever.
The Republicans had two choices:
1. Thank the Democrats for choosing to pass what was essentially a health care law based on their Heritage Foundation’s and Mitt Romney’s Conservative principles – and then do what the Democrats did when they helped fix W’s Medicare Part D Big Pharma give-away.
And then, they could have claimed that all the good stuff was theirs – including the improvements.
2. Have an epic hissy-fit about “Obamacare,” and scream, wail, moan, gnash their teeth, and rend at their hair and garments, and fling bullshit around like monkey’s do their poop.
And then, lie, and obstruct, and do everything humanly possible to discredit the President and the Democratic Party, to win elections on this issue, and, if they lost the elections, to keep as many people from signing-up as possible – which would insure that PPACA would eventually fail.
And, petulant, angry, and vicious little sociopathic drama queens that they are, they chose the latter!
They won on that bullshit in 2010.
But lost on their bullshit in 2012.
And now, the ratfuckers have painted themselves into a corner with their own bullshit.
And they’re terrified.
And there’s nothing more dangerous, than a cornered ratfucker.
The funny thing to me is, they’ve been screaming “REPEAL AND REPLACE” for over 4 years now, and, despite trying to repeal it over 50 times in the House, haven’t YET come up with a new alternative plan!
LOL!
But their plan remains the same that it was 5 years ago – either the status quo at that time, or the usual Conservative bullshit about tort laws, interstate availability, and all sorts of things that have never worked, and never will work – unless your goal is to increase corporate profits while minimizing the number of people with access to health insurance, to the smallest amount possible.
The Conservatives REAL health care plan remains, as follows:
And then, if you have to sell your house?
Well, sorry, but it sucks to be you, and your family.
I would like us to also remember that the Republicans also had a third choice. It goes back awhile so its understandable that its not on most minds.
The Repubs ALWAYS had the opportunity FOR DECADES of working on policies that would reduce the numbers of uninsured or tackle insurance abuses like “pre-existing conditions” or cancellations, etc.
All they came up with was a relatively minor change – a prescription law with several weaknesses that was paid for with deficit spending (medicare D).
Major healthcare reform was NEVER at the top of their list of issues. The only reason the Heritage plan was constructed was to use it as a defense and distraction for what they anticipated would come from the Clinton administration. No initiative, only reactionary mode at work to water down the real initiatives, which naturally were all Dem led.
For me, this history of their neglect for multiple generations, is what gives their posturing the look of Three Stooges Kabuki.
Excellent points. In hindsight, the GOP Establishment should have allowed Democrats to pursue Single-Payer and then paint them as big government/anti-free market by countering with the Affordable Care Act/Romneycare.
The individual mandate would have been a tough sell among the fringe, but the Moderates and Independents would have appreciated the pragmatism and governance of the Right.
The GOP could have been a champion to the uninsured, could have portrayed Obama as a Tax & Spend socialist, and actually passed a policy that people would have liked.
But, instead the GOP establishment decided to get railroaded by the anti-everything Tea Partyists and are making way for the Libertarians to split the right.
I love you, C U N D, but please stop saying that the PPACA is a “Heritage” or “Republican” plan. It is way better than that, though far from ideal. Read one of the accounts by Scott Lemieux. The Republicans are quite right to oppose it, and we should be defending it with a good deal more enthusiasm.
I don’t know, I just got off a thread where a Rep argued that the ACA was a failure because it didn’t publish names of the UBS list of Romney & his friends and the names of the Cayman Island account holders.
The unabashed penchant of this crew to change the subject beyond even a moving target means they’ll never reach a moment of ‘never mind’!
I read your comment over and over and still never made the connection…maybe you can explain it to me.
There is no connection, the writer was so upset at me for posting fact check links everytime he spouted a Right Wing talking point lie that as he slowly ran out of lies he began to misspell everything, all caps kinda stuff and then finally his keyboard screamed at me that I was a treehugging entitlement lover and that the ACA was a failure because it didn’t ‘fix the UBS scandal’. So, I guess my point is that these folks go off the rails when arguing ACA, they’ll go to bizarre lengths.
I think it’s time for them to segue into looking for the “real killer”.
Naw, their cognitive dissonance is several levels beyond even that.
Bengazi-obamacare.birth-cerificate.gateoizs are lost in a self delusional, self reinforcing loop, and will fight any and all attempts to return them to the reality based existence.
Like the red queen they have to keep running faster and faster intellectually to maintain the illogical delusional world view they have linked their political hopes to.
But the base still loves to hear the word repeal. My coworker wingers eat it up. The reality of things doesn’t seem to matter.
Yup and as long as Congress can still fundraise off it, they’ll keep ona truckin
The GOP and its followers live in an alternate reality – I know, not profound – but at some point they may have to actually govern based on that alternate reality and that is terrifying.
The average wingnut believes that 7 million people have LOST health insurance due to Obamacare – no really, I am not making that up, this is what their media is telling them. They also tell each other all kinds of made-up stories, some which have gone viral, about stuff like Hospital X canceling popular programs due to the high cost of Obamacare.
So, they have a base that believes these lies. Hell, I think 95% of their politicians now believe them and the rest – like a GOP atheist – knows never to let on that he knows the truth. I’m pretty sure their more unhinged billiionaire funders like the Kochs believe it too.
What else do they believe that is provably wrong? That more carbon in the air will help the planet; that most government spending is on undeserving dark-skinned people; that tax cuts pay for themselves; that we are underfunding our military; that every foreign hiccup requires immediate US military intervention; that evolution is a lie and creationism should be taught in schools; that if you outlaw abortion no one will have one; that if you cut off all medical, educational, and financial support to poor people they will magically get jobs to support their kids; etc.
If they get into power they’ll implement all of this even though a tiny percent of them know better. Make no mistake – they’ll repeal Obamacare – and count on vote-fixing to shelter them from electoral repercussions.
“What else do they believe that is provably wrong?” And your list barely scratches the surface.
A question I’d like answered is: What do they believe that is provably right?
Seriously – would anyone like to start us off?
I’m hoping they’re right (and I’m half convinced) that ACA will lead to single-payer. Today Vermont, tomorrow the world, bwahaha.
Republicans will “…count on vote-fixing to shelter them from electoral repercussions”.
The effect of recent election laws cannot be overstated on many grounds:
1.) the mechanics of recording and tabulation of our elections since the 2000 artificial catastrophe in Florida that brought us electronic voting machines designed and produced by loyal republican companies;
2.) voter suppression state laws; and
3.) unlimited private monies funneled into campaigns to exhaust, disgust and misinform voters.
Not to mention the utter idiocy of allowing rogue state government officials to make obviously party biased decisions like Ohio Sec. of State Blackwell’s decision to send the 2004 electronic ballots to a computer in Kentucky for “correct tabulation”.
Planes Fall from the Sky.
“. . . at some point they may have to actually govern based on that alternate reality and that is terrifying.”
They already did that, for eight years.
Obama is still cleaning up the Augean Stables-level mess they made.
Give ’em another four years and we’re done.
Actually I’d argue that the Dubya years were just a training-wheel run at what they would do if they get power again. Remember, even Dubya’s administration stated that global warming was due to human causes.
It’s much worse than that for the Republicans. Most people think enrollment is finished for the year, but it is still going to be in high gear for the remainder of the year.
This is because of all the private plans that expire this year that will push the insured to switch to Obamacare. This happens because along with job loss, arrival of a baby, and other events it is considered a qualifying life event that will kick in a special enrollment period for those people. The special enrollment period lasts 60 days for them to select a plan from the marketplace.
TPM had a good article on this:
Obamacare Enrollment is Far from Over
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/obamacare-enrollment-is-far-from-over
Many people don’t understand this. So help friends and family understand that if they have a qualifying event, the exchanges are still open for them.
Plus, Medicaid has no shut-off period.
Doyle McManus expresses the obvious
It’s what he does.
Most of the informed health care observers say the 7M figure is not entireley predictive of the program’s success. Lots of other elements are important. But, as a political event, the 7M announcement was huge. It changes the conversation and the media perception. And slowly, but surely the bottom line is: are more or less people being covered? The R’s themselves were raising that issue when folks’ plans were being cancelled. So the base may still be fired up and disconnected from reality, but the ACA is starting to blend into the bedrock.
“as a political event, the 7M announcement was huge.”
So true.
Yet a lot of the informed health care observers have difficulty (as we all do) of maintaining the full perspective and context. Things like:
http://acasignups.net/graph
I am a self employed person and depend on my wife’s job benefits for health insurance. If her job goes away – a possibility – the ACA gives us the security that we can get health care. Pre-existing conditions are irrelevant, and subsidies make it affordable. This is the new environment that everyone is in now, and, in this era of limited job security, that’s a big deal a lot of folks don’t yet realize.
The Rethugs have already rolled out their talking points. The ones I’ve heard the most are 1) the “books are being cooked”, similar to the “unskewing” of the polls in the last election (and that worked out well for them) and 2) do we even know all those people will even pay their premiums? (and thereby admitting that they don’t really believe the “cooking the books” idiocy).
Another one that seems to be starting up is that NEXT YEAR everyone’s premiums will go up dramatically and they’ll all un-subscribe.
” Millions of newcomers to health coverage are about to join the rest of us in those frustrating battles with insurers.”
Sure beats the hell out of declaring bankruptcy and selling your house, though. 😉
Can’t imagine why McManus didn’t think of that one.
Glad to see that Obamacare-is-a-Republican-liability has hit the mainstream press. Now if only Democrats would grab it and run with it…
Like Christie’s numero uno defender Randy Mastro who went all sexist bully against Bridget Kelly to point the finger of blame at her, Michael Hayden Says Dianne Feinstein Too ‘Emotional’ To Be Objective On Intelligence Report. Given how little of the report will be publicly released (and that only after some significant period of time for the WH to redact all the best parts), the problem isn’t that Feinstein was “too emotional,” but instead not outraged enough to expose all the torture enablers and promulgators such as Hayden.
The reality is, the GOP rhetoric has no way to counter the fact that my 52 year old brother in law, who would be considered to be one of those “working poor”, and hasn’t had insurance in over 20 years, just got coverage for $72 per month. None of their doomsday predictions, none of which have come to pass, can change that reality.
$72 dollars a month…..
Please proceed, GOP.
Not to mention my 30 year old son, who works in the restaurant business and health insurance benefits are a big “ha, ha, you’re kidding, right?”, now has a decent plan with Kaiser for $40 a month. Huge load off my mind. And his since it was me who bugged him to just sign up already!
Decent plan for $40 a month? Makes me wonder why I’m paying $168.52 every two weeks and my employer is paying $486.24 in addition.