Posted on 02/27/2014 6:48:29 AM PST by SeekAndFind
For those of us who oppose ObamaCare both on principle and on practical considerations, repeal is the only possible fix we can see. For those who support ObamaCare on principle, the only path is to allow it to roll out completely so its benefits can be fully seen — although it’s worth pointing out that even the law’s originators in the White House apparently don’t agree, since they keep unilaterally delaying full implementation as the law creates more political disasters. Polling shows that the electorate is somewhere in the middle, with a plurality or thin majority wanting fixes now within the framework of ObamaCare to make it better. That includes today’s CBS/NYT poll, although the difference between fix and repeal is getting narrow.
Hillary Clinton took aim at that middle ground today. In remarks made to a health-care group in Florida, the presumptive 2016 presidential candidate acknowledged that the law has run off the rails in part, but that Washington should fix those rather than starting over from scratch:
Hillary Clinton backed efforts to alter Obamacare on Wednesday, but also used her remarks to a health care group in Florida to offer a full defense of the sweeping and controversial law.
“I think we are on the right track in many respects but I would be the first to say if things aren’t working then we need people of good faith to come together and make evidence-based changes,” the former secretary of state and possible 2016 presidential candidate said.
We hear this a lot, but when asked for details from ObamaCare activists about the failures that need correcting, we usually get the talking points about what they thought was bad about the status quo ante. Hillary, though, conceded that the impact of the law on full-time working status and on small businesses needed to be addressed, even though she described the latter as “small business of 50 or more” employees, which would include all businesses that fall under the mandate. (Small businesses with less than 50 employees are not required to provide coverage.)
So what’s working right about ObamaCare? Er …
Clinton also singled out certain provisions of the health care law as successful. The former first lady said she supported children under 26 being able to remain on their parents’ health plans and that Obamacare allows more people access to preventive care.
The first change hardly required a national takeover of the insurance industry to accomplish, even though it’s still of dubious value. In an economy that actually produced above-population-growth job creation, young adults would have an easier time of getting their own insurance rather than making Mom & Dad responsible for their upkeep well into adulthood. Access to preventive care was not a big issue, either; everyone had access to it with or without health insurance, and as the premium spikes in the last few months demonstrate, they don’t come free either way.
What’s missing from Hillary’s list of ObamaCare wins? Oh, items like bending the cost curve downward, insuring the uninsured, and if you like your plan/doctor, you can keep your plan/doctor. The first two were supposedly the primary reason that health-care reform had to take the form of a government takeover of the entire system and forced participation. The third was the promise that a government takeover of the entire system would have no impact on the 85% of Americans who were already insured, with 87% of those satisfied with their health care. Instead, ObamaCare has made the system unstable, more expensive, and made many Americans less able to keep their current providers while seeing more money come out of their pockets for plans they didn’t want.
We can talk about mending it instead of ending it, but there simply is no mending it. What’s broken is the system itself, because it’s based on the idea that government can competently run a command economy. That’s what needs to be “mended.” By 2016, most Americans will have personal experience with the endemic failure of a command health-care economy, and Hillary will have to find a new position.
Left says keep it, right says repeal it.
Hillary, the smartest person ever to walk the face of the plant, has come up with “The Third Way”.
Mend it, don’t end it.
All hail Hillary.
We need Hillary.
We need the “Third Way”.
Nazism, it’s not just for Germany anymore.
Make no mistake — her “third way” is really single payer.
“Make no mistake — her “third way” is really single payer.”
Of course.
That’s why people better start now with an orchestrated campaign of “After Obamacare, do you really want to trust Hillary with your healthcare? Hillary was trusted once and she gave us Hillarycare. Hillarycare was already rejected, we don’t need to try it again.”
No matter what Hillary offers as a fix, call it Hillarycare and Hillarycare was already rejected.
Clinton aims for middle of ComradeCare , Don’t end it.
If Hillary has a formula for mending ObamaCare, doesn’t she have an obligation to divulge it as soon as possible rather than keeping it to herself?
Think of all the needless suffering, and in some cases death, Hillary will cause if she waits until the 2016 election campaign gets officially underway to announce her cure for the evils of ObamaCare.
Do the Democrats really want to nominate such a heartless woman for the presidency?
Folks, she’ll get elected because 1) The Liberal Mainstream Media will make it “her turn” 2) Low information voters love the idea of “not having to work at a job you hate JUST to get healthcare” as she says. 3) There will be ANOTHER instance of massive voter fraud.
Why won’t there be massive voter fraud in a few select precincts again, in Philadelphia, Boston, Michigan, and Florida? Republicans voter officials were thrown out of several precincts until they got a Judge’s order to allow them back in, and that’s the time period when the ballots were stuffed. Since it worked in 2012, why wouldn’t the Dems do it again?
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