By Dan Holler
Monday, October 28, 2013
The big headline from USA Today says it all: Democrats
beginning to support Obamacare delays.
Of course, what the article does not say is that a delay
of Obamacare is exactly what conservatives have been demanding for months. The
intrepid reporter also forgot to mention President Obama’s refusal to discuss
even a miniscule delay caused parts of the federal government to shut down.
The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberly Strassel proclaimed
this week “a turning point” because “After 16 long days of vowing to
Republicans that they would not cave in any way, shape or form on ObamaCare,
Democrats spent their first post-shutdown week caving in every way, shape and
form. “
That may be a bit of an overstatement, as most of these
red-state Democrats are merely advocating a tweak that does absolutely nothing
to prevent premiums from skyrocketing for those who already have insurance.
The Heritage Foundation’s Drew Gonshorowski crunched the
numbers, and buying health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges is an expensive
proposition. A 27-year old adult in Arkansas will see premiums increase by
171-percent. In Louisiana, it is 106-percent. North Carolina comes in at
90-percent. Adults over 50 fare slightly better, as do families – though higher
premiums will still results in thousands of dollars in extra expenses per year.
Back to the politics and pundit spin.
Strassel continued: “With the GOP's antics now over, the
only story now is the unrivaled disaster that is the president's health-care
law.” The suggestion here is that the month’s long campaign to halt Obamacare
before the disastrous open enrollment period began was nothing more than a
political sideshow. Nonsense.
The defund campaign sparked a political dialogue that
swept through the nation. In August, Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said, “We hear
it in our town halls, we hear it in our one-on-one meetings with constituents.
We hear it when we’re at county fairs or events we’ve attended during the
August recess, of which there are many.” The “message all over the country,”
Lummis said, was that Obamacare was the number one issue. As part of that,
concept of delaying Obamacare (properly done by defunding the entire law) was
front-and-center in our political discourse.
Even National Public Radio (NPR) inadvertently
acknowledged Obamacare was in the spotlight during the partial government
shutdown. Host Audie Cornish said, “just after Republicans failed in their
efforts to defund or delay the health care law through budget fights, the
program's right back in the spotlight.”
“…right back in the spotlight.” That is to say, it was
previously in the spotlight.
Say what you will about the effort mounted by
conservatives stop this incredibly unaffordable and unfair law, but it is
undeniable the debate focused the nation’s attention. And in many ways, it
prepared our nation for the coming collapse of Obamacare and the notion this
law is not sacrosanct.
So while these red-state Democrats are not yet clamoring
for a real delay of the law, they are becoming increasingly comfortable with
the very rhetoric used by “anarchists,” “hostage takers” and “nihilists.”
Victor Davis Hanson predicted, “If the rollout of
Obamacare gets any more incoherent, soon Barack Obama may be echoing the same
concerns of Ted Cruz and the former naysayers in his willingness to suspend or
delay his own signature legislation.”
As the very real problems with Obamacare – problems that
extend well beyond a dysfunctional website – continue to emerge, there will be
little pro-Obamacare lawmakers can do to escape the blame. In 372 days, no
voter will remember last week’s rhetorical handwringing; instead, they will
remember multiple votes they have taken to defend an unworkable law that is
destroying the family budget.
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