By Akash Chougule
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Once again, President Obama has felt the need to come out
swinging in defense of his signature health care law. Countless times since the
rollout, and again last week, he proclaimed that ObamaCare is working, called
on Democrats to defend it, and chastised conservatives for their opposition
that he believes is entirely political. But people should look beyond Obama’s
rhetoric and consider reality – ObamaCare is bad medicine for America.
The President’s definition of success is a curious one.
More than six million cancelled plans, lost doctors, and higher costs aside,
Obama is in essence celebrating the expansion of the welfare state. In order to
get more people insured, it was not necessary to raise taxes, restrict choice,
drive the debt up to $27 trillion, and make millions more people dependent on
the government. But that is precisely what ObamaCare is doing. And President
Obama insists that it is working as he intended.
But even beyond the negative consequences on the nation’s
well-being, claiming victory from a practical sense is a stretch, to say the
least. Obama "spiked the football" as he touted 8 million enrollees,
but there is still no clear estimate of how many of those 8 million were previously
uninsured and have actually paid a premium signifying they are covered. The
President’s vague claim that "a sizeable part of the US population"
is enjoying health insurance for the first time remains completely
unquantifiable. And the Congressional Budget Office estimates that ten years
from now, there will still be 30 million uninsured people in the United States
– despite ObamaCare’s apparently lax requirement that everyone in America
attain health insurance.
In addition to claiming victory, the President called on
Democrats to "forcefully defend and be proud" of the law – an
especially dubious order for members of Congress, whose constituents are facing
cancelled plans, lost doctors, and higher costs because of ObamaCare. Imagine
the response if Mary Landrieu were to hold a town hall event supporting
ObamaCare in Louisiana, where over 92,000 plans were cancelled, or if Mark
Udall were to do so in Colorado, where over 326,000 plans were cancelled. These
same members of Congress have avoided even being seen with President Obama. The
request to defend the disastrous health care law is a bold plea to make of
politicians fighting for their political lives.
Finally, true to his divisive form, President Obama
criticized conservatives for their opposition to the law, refusing to lend an
ear to any legitimate concerns. Obama chastised states refusing to expand
Medicaid, saying the decision is "for no other reason than political
spite." He clearly gave no consideration to the idea that perhaps these
states do not want to dump more people onto an inept government entitlement
program, make it more difficult for the neediest families to access care, and
fleece taxpayers in the process.
Ironically, at the same time the President touted
Obamacare, Democratic strategists were warning candidates to avoid using the
phrase "economic recovery" because it is a political loser. The
translation, of course, is that the Democrats have failed to help the economy
recover, and America knows it. Obviously, ObamaCare has been no small part of
the malaise.
But as far as President Obama is concerned, ObamaCare is
working – an assertion he believes so strongly that he feels the need to keep
repeating it.
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