Under normal circumstances I’m not much of an “I told you so” kind of guy.
Oh, I think it, for sure. I just resist the urge to say it. But these aren’t normal circumstances. This is politics. I, and nearly every conservative, warned Obamacare would be a disaster. Now that it clearly has become a disaster, I say let it – and the Democrats responsible – rot.
The Affordable Care Act, Obamacare’s ironic official name, has been a disaster right from its conception. Democrats locked Republicans out of the process completely, ignoring GOP ideas and objections.
In the sale of this legislative Corvair, Nancy Pelosi, then the Speaker of the House, told us we had to pass it so we “can find out what is in it.” Harry Reid, then the Senate Majority Leader, promised the moon, and, of course, our Commander in Chief lied repeatedly with impunity. Still the American people weren’t buying.
When time for passage came, Democrats played parliamentary tricks to ignore the will of people – every opinion poll came out against it, and Republican pickup-truck-driving Scott Brown replaced Ted Kennedy in the Senate explicitly so Republicans could institute a filibuster against this monstrosity.
It did pass – it was rammed through on a procedural gimmick – but only because Democrats used intimidation and straight-up bribery in both houses of Congress to get it across the finish line.
This is the Democrats’ baby, and it’s getting uglier the older it gets. Republicans should not enable or empower Democrats by agreeing to any plastic surgery or make-up to make it less so.
When the bill was signed into law, Democrats cheered and rubbed Republicans' noses in it. They claimed victory and a problem solved.
During the disastrous rollout, Democrats proclaimed all was well. As costs grew and enrollment failed to meet expectations, they acknowledged no problem. As Americans saw their premiums skyrocket and millions lost the coverage they loved, Democrats pretended they didn’t exist.
As legal challenges mounted, Democrats dug in their heels. With each legal hurdle cleared, Democrats became more brazen. As the Supreme Court rewrote the language of the law, Democrats declared it to be “settled law” and advised Republicans to “get over it.”
Even after the American people had their say and overwhelmingly rejected Democrats who voted for this law, specifically because of that vote, in two elections, they were undeterred and uninterested in the will of the people.
Only now, as the full force of this abomination is hitting and premiums continue to increase exponentially, forcing people into plans they can’t afford with deductibles they’d almost have to be hit by a bus to reach, have Democrats begun to recognize there might be a slight problem. Particularly with the voters having another say in less than two weeks. Weird how that works.
The solutions offered by Democrats don’t acknowledge their lies of the past, the broken promises or the failures. They want more; they want socialized medicine.
This was, of course, the plan all along. The only admirable quality Democrats possess is a focus on achieving a goal and a willingness to fight for it, no matter how long it takes. And a complete and total government take-over of this country’s health care system has been their goal for generations.
After many baby steps, Obamacare was a giant leap. Unworkable, unmanageable, it was supposed to implode and usher in a single-payer system. But it was supposed to take longer. Its impact was to be felt more gradually so its failures could be blamed on the insurance companies and not the law. That would clear the way for the final step.
It didn’t work that way. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Democrats is they never let the facts stand in the way of their agenda.
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and most Democrats are calling for a “public option,” a government plan to “compete” with the private sector. Of course, no company can “compete” with the government because government can set prices, demand compliance under threat of fines or imprisonment and print money.
Make no mistake about it – this isn’t a “fix,” it’s the next step to a complete takeover. Democrats are telling the American people, “Big government didn’t work, so we need bigger government to fix it.”
To hell with them all.
Republicans should offer only complete repeal and replacement with a free-market system offering nationwide competition, tax credits for the individual market and Health Savings Account-heavy incentives with cost transparency.
There should be no mandate, but there should be consequences for choosing not to buy insurance and losing that bet.
You will be taken care of, but bankruptcy will follow if you can’t pay your bills. You gambled and lost. You don’t get to buy car insurance after you wrap it around a tree and get a new car, and you can’t buy health insurance after you get sick and get covered.
Other than complete repeal and replacement, Republicans should block every proposal to tweak, enhance or otherwise alter what those who created this mess proclaimed settled law that could not be changed. They made their bed. Time for them to lie in it.
Only by messaging a better, freer system and forcing the public to deal with the consequences of re-electing the namesake of this monstrosity will people feel the impact of their unwillingness to disconnect the man from the law.
Is it cruel? No. In between twice voting against those who passed Obamacare, they voted for the man who signed it. Breathing any life whatsoever into it as it spirals to its death would be, on some level, to accept the concept. That cannot be allowed.
People need to take their medicine, and they need to unambiguously know the doctor who prescribed it to them. If Republicans want to have a future in this country, if they care at all about individual liberty, they must allow Obamacare to completely collapse. Let those chickens come home to roost.