Posted on 11/25/2014 10:39:45 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Democrats made a strategic mistake by passing the Affordable Care Act, Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership, said Tuesday.
Schumer says Democrats “blew the opportunity the American people gave them” in the 2008 elections, a Democratic landslide, by focusing on healthcare reform instead of legislation to boost the middle class.
“After passing the stimulus, Democrats should have continued to propose middle class-oriented programs and built on the partial success of the stimulus,” he said.
He said the plight of uninsured Americans caused by “unfair insurance company practices” needed not be addressed but it wasn’t the change that people wanted when they elected Barack Obama as president.
“Americans were crying out for an end to the recession, for better wages and more jobs; not for changes in their healthcare,” he said.
He noted that 85 percent of all Americans got their healthcare from either the government, through Medicare or Medicaid, or through an employer.
“So when Democrats focused on healthcare, the average middle class person thought, ‘the Democrats are not paying enough attention to me,’” he said.
Schumer's concession is a striking change of tone from what he said shortly after the passage of the healthcare law, when he predicted that ObamaCare would turn out to be a strong political issue for his party.
“I predict … by November those who voted for healthcare will find it an asset, those who voted against it will find it a liability,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in March 2010.
A slew of Senate Democrats, including Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Mark Begich (Alaska), Kay Hagan (N.C.) and Mark Udall (Colo.), who voted for the bill, however, ended up losing in 2010 or 2014. Republicans attacked them constantly for voting for ObamaCare, an attack that became more potent after the law’s error-prone rollout.
On Tuesday, Schumer said that behind the scenes he told other Democratic Party leaders, however, that they should not have focused on ObamaCare instead of jobs and the economy.
Interesting. Seems the Dems ARE getting the blame for the destruction of the middle class AFTER all!
They don’t get another opportunity to blow it again.
Shmuky is starting his pandering for his next election early. 70 to 75% of the American people were against the ACA. Like he and the rest of the commicrats didn't know? Oh yea, that's right, they had to pass it to find out what's in it. I hope Shmuky the liar gets fired on his next go around.
Keep in mind that every democrat senator and representative voted for it. Now they are running apologetics to get re-elected. Don’t be fooled. If it were up for a vote, Schumer and the rest of them would vote for it again, figuring that people could be lulled into listening by the next election, much like they are doing now.
>>Sounds to me like Schumer is setting the stage and making the case for repeal. If so, then I applaud his honesty.
Don’t believe this for a second.
Here is my translation: I was for 0vomitcare when it was political advantageous for me to be for it. Now that voters are angry about it, I need to distance myself from it in order to benefit my political career. I don’t give a crap about the voters, minorities, the middle class, the rich, the poor, or anybody else. I just want to line my pockets and accumulate power to benefit myself so I will say whatever will get me votes or make me richer or more powerful. Like Gruber, I think people are idiots with short attention spans and they will forget what I said in the past. I can make an emotional appeal and the suckers will fall for it every time.
When he disclosed the (Confidential) failure of Indybank, he cost Americans many millions as the mortgage market crashed. Western civilization shook from that disaster.
A tactical admission by one of the left’s biggest and most partisan jerks. I say no mercy — hang Obamacare around his neck and drown him with the rest of the socialist rats.
Valid point.
Schumer spilled the beans on Indymac in July, 2008.
In my opinion, Schumer was trying to accelerate the financial crisis which finally came to a head in September, with the failure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
The SOB was trying to crater the economy for his party's political benefit.
Had they done what shumer suggested, they would have spontaneously combusted. Was not gonna happen
Sen. Alfonse D’Amato around 10/23/98
D’Amato: Schumer’s A ‘Putzhead’
D'Amato was then and still is correct.
BTTT!!!
Hey Schmuck!
The RATs are wrong in everything they do, they just threw away their grip on power with Affordable DeathCare.
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