Yikes. Earlier Guy mentioned the coming targeted dumps of health coverage thanks to Barack Obama's signature government takeover of healthcare and now, Obama is saying he has to get re-elected in 2012 because ObamaCare goes into full effect in 2014. We've already seen health insurance premiums go up and employer based insurance decrease as a result of ObamaCare. Do we really want to know what will happen when it is fully implemented?
Speaking at a campaign fundraising event at the Gotham Bar and Grille in New York City on Wednesday, President Barack Obama told a group of supporters he needed to win reelection next year to make sure the health-care law he signed in 2010 will actually be fully implemented in 2014 as planned.
“We still have a health care system that has to get more efficient and that has to improve its quality,” Obama said, according to a White House transcript. “And so we're going to have to implement the Affordable Care Act in 2014, and that means I've got to win in 2012.”
By the way, Americans still hate ObamaCare:
As we breathlessly await the president's "new" jobs plan, let's check in on how his signature policy achievement is faring in the realm of public opinion:
Americans' opinion of Obamacare has reached an all-time post-passage low according to the Kaiser Health Tracking poll. Only 39% of those surveyed have a favorable view of the law, two points below the previous nadir of 41% first set in May 2010. Forty-four percent of Americans have an unfavorable view. While there continues to be a sharp partisan divide over the law, the Kaiser poll shows Americans' views converging. Democratic and Independent support for Obamacare has fallen to all-time lows of 60% and 33% respectively.
A fresh batch of Rasmussen data confirms Americans' zeal for repeal. Note the twenty-point margin:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows that 57% at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law, including 46% who Strongly Favor repeal. Thirty-seven percent (37%) at least somewhat oppose repeal, with 25% who are Strongly Opposed. Overall support for repeal is up two points from last week. The percentage of voters who Strongly Favor repeal ties the record high last reached in July.
The sort-of upside: A re-election for Obama may give him enough time to actually read the bill, too.