Posted on 06/11/2015 10:07:38 AM PDT by Kaslin
This week, the President resorted to name calling in an effort to influence (intimidate) the Supreme Court of the United States to rule in favor of the government in King v Burwell. As most readers know, this case will be reported by the Supreme Court before the end of June and will possibly determine the ultimate future of Obamacare. The President provided a fairly classic rhetorical flurry of words: “There’s something deeply cynical about constant efforts to roll back progress. I understand folks being worried before [ObamaCare] was passed and there wasn’t a reality there to examine. But once you see folks having health care, you’d think it’d be time to move on.”
Sometimes it is appropriate to resort to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary to define words: Cynical: "believing that people are generally selfish and dishonest".
There are important polls available that show an incredible lack of support for Obamacare. Rasmussen reports that only 37% of likely voters support mandatory healthcare insurance and 52% specifically oppose mandatory healthcare insurance. As one starting point, hopefully no one, including the President of the United States believes that more than half of the people who elected him are generally "selfish and dishonest".
As to whether Obamacare is "progress" or is working certainly falls into the opinion category and not the fact category. At a minimum, (1) the net low enrollments relative to initial forecasts, (2) the clear massive price increases in the near future, (3) the future implementation of the Cadillac tax, (4) the loss of the ability to continue with the same doctors or insurance policies as promised, (5) the loss of full time jobs by Americans because of mandated health insurance for employees working more than thirty hours per week, (6) the continuing increased costs of implementation of Obamacare including failing state exchanges and (7) the clear infringement on the right of an individual to select his or her own level of coverage or to opt out of health insurance coverage are issues that someone neither selfish or dishonest would consider in whether Obamacare is a good or bad idea.
As to King v Burwell, the Supreme Court may or may not stretch to rule in favor of the President. Missing that law degree, I read the law as it was written and can only determine that if law says that the Federal government can only subsidize taxpayers' health insurance if the state has an exchange, that is the law.
What is cynical is not having a plan for moving forward if the Supreme Court does rule against the government in King v Burwell. Both Congress and the President are irresponsible if there is no plan in place to deal with the elimination of the state exchanges.
If as reported by the press, the lack of plans to provide any solution if King v Burwell goes against the government is the result of (1) the President of the United States hoping to gain political advantage for a decision of the Supreme Court and (2) the Congress being ready to pounce on the Democrats because Obamacare was entirely their idea and not a single Republican vote or idea was included, then the word cynical was correct, at least in part. That part is selfish. Selfish here would be defined as being more concerned with finger pointing than legislating.
If there are truly no back-up plans, shame on the President and shame on Congress. Elected officials may of necessity be politicians, but there are times where it is essential to both be ahead of the curve and to actually govern on behalf of their constituents. The reality is that the President should long ago have completed a plan and offered it to Congress on how to go forward if King v Burwell does not go his way and Congress should have long ago completed (and actually perhaps passed) a plan that would be ready for implementation by the first week of July. Those actions would not be the actions of cynical politicians; those actions would be the actions of statesmen.
To speak of progress as though it were a self fulfilling thing is to be naively unaware of history (let alone theology). There have been lots of once glorious countries that have progressed right down a rabbit hole to extinction or being conquered.
To the cynic all things are cynical.
“Cynical Not To Have A Plan”
Probably, but Obama not having a plan to me is more like, well, diabolical.
Plan B:
Single Payer.
The "ratchet effect"... the leftist and muslim way.
Once a statist system or agency in place, you can never get rid of it.
PBS/NPR getting govt funds... forever.
Education dept, EPA... forever.
IRS/income tax... forever.
And they say Conservatives are not for "change".
Once a muslim walks on a piece of land... muslim... forever.
Their thinking that applies to the USA as well.
[The exception, slavery... not forever. But, made not forever so by Republicans.]
One man’s “cynical” is another man’s “realistic”.
There are huge differences between “progress” and “progressivism”, in that the latter is basically a throwback to socialism as it existed in the early 20th Century, combined in some ways with the economic theories of national socialism to produce morbid and decrepit ends.
In practice, the European model of socialism just leads to a restoration of royalism, with a faceless bureaucracy adopting the mantle of a hereditary nobility, lording it over the peasant classes.
They do not seek “progress” in civilization, but are instead reactionaries, clinging to a philosophy of failure which has never done anything beneficial to the great body of citizens, just for a swinish elite. It is such a defective system of government that without perpetual external support from outside the system, it collapses of its own weight.
For some insane reason, the political right always strives to repair the useless and broken machinery created by the left, instead of just tossing it out and starting anew with a system that works. How many Republicans have come out to offer to “fix” Obamacare?
Even this columnist seems to want a Republican plan to preserve this Frankensteinian monster.
No. Just no. Let it fail. Let it fall apart. And with it, free up the people trapped by it. That is, throw out any and every punitive part of it, all of the demands put on business and the public. No crimes, not punishments, and no taxes to pay for the monster.
So you were covered by Obamacare? You now have an opportunity to get your own insurance if you want. It is between you and the insurer what insurance you get, if any.
If you want a 40 our workweek, fine. Even a 50 hour workweek is also fine. And no employer *has* to provide health insurance for their employees.
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