Posted on 04/25/2014 7:28:14 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) admitted Friday it’s “difficult to turn the clock back” on ObamaCare, but proposed making the law voluntary as a possible fix for consumers.
“I think it’s going to be difficult to turn the clock back. People get assumed and accustomed to receiving things, particularly things that they get for free,” he told a crowd of students at Harvard’s Institute of Politics on Friday.
Paul’s comments echo those of other Republicans who have admitted it will be difficult to fully repeal the law after some of its more popular provisions took effect. The potential 2016 presidential candidate said he ultimately doesn’t think repeal is possible without Republicans controlling the House, the White House and with close to 60 votes in the Senate, like Democrats had when they passed the law.
But he predicted the cost of the law could ultimately have dire effects, suggesting they could “bring down local hospitals” or hamstring state governments.
In the meantime, Paul offered a fix.
“I think one of the practical things you might be able to do, and I think the public at large might accept this, is to make ObamaCare voluntary. You make it voluntary, basically you get rid of the coercion,” he said, presumably by eliminating the penalty those without insurance are required to pay, known as the individual mandate.
He said he may keep some parts of the law, like the subsidies to help poor Americans afford insurance, or the Medicaid expansion -- two of ObamaCare's more popular provisions but potentially its more expensive.
“Does that get rid of the subsidies? Not necessarily, or the Medicaid. But I think also we’re going to find out we can’t afford to have everybody on Medicaid, we can’t afford to have everybody on subsidized insurance,” Paul said.
The Kentucky senator also railed against President Obama for the idea of the law in the first place, telling students gathered at Harvard’s Institute of Politics on Friday that Obama “says that you are not smart enough…to choose your own insurance.”
Paul, who signed up his family for insurance under ObamaCare used his son’s plan as an example. He said it includes coverage for a number of unnecessary procedures “because the president says he’s too dumb and can’t buy an individual product that would cost him a lot less and wouldn’t have as many things included.”
Anyone paying attention for the past 10 years or so.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
:-)
Perhaps, God will tear this apart.
Washington is a very seductive place. The trappings of the establishment are hard to resist. Cruz rides the train to work and is ignored by his colleagues, for instance. Rand has endorsed Mitch, so methinks he has chosen the dark side. Pity, and I want my money back.
Ever hear of “The Contract with America” and “The Welfare Reform Act”?
Paul is a jackass loon but, gotta keep him around.
Need to fire Boner, Can’tor and McFawnel.....
7m signed up... it’s not that difficult
of course, there are 535 people salivating over the power and money that will come from it... so don’t expect those people to shut it down anytime soon
He had gone off rez on a bunch of stuff...all serious stuff and he still has a couple of Freepers running around the threads with the devotion of a new Scientologist making excuses for him. Just watch they will arrive soon.
Don’t believe everything you read in the funny papers, especially about Ted Cruz:
Ted Cruz’s big show
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/3147948/posts
...before it kills us.
What more popular parts?
Pray America wakes up
I’m trying to keep an open mind but the subsidized part of O’care is the expensive part right? Isn’t it just an expansion of Medicaid? So why are we keeping it? We can’t afford it.
Bull crap copout...turning the clock back is still 100 times better than going forward. Cowards.
It seems like the only thing they guys find easy is bending over for liberals.
This really isn’t about ACA/Obamacare, it’s about getting to single payer, like the NHS in Britain.
Not one dime’s worth of difference.
WHAT IN THE HE$$ IS SO DIFFICULT ABOUT DEFUNDING IT? Is there something I am missing here? The House has the power of the purse. All tax bills must originate in the House - Chief Roberts proclaimed Ocare penalty is a TAX and it did not originate in the House. What is so DIFFICULT RAND?
But we have to vote for lesser evil Republicans no matter what because purity is evil, principles are bad, the Dems are worse ...
And stuff. So why are we shocked that this is what we get exactly?
To use a couple of cliches, elections have consequences and you can’t put toothpaste back in the tube. When Obamacare fails, it will be replaced by single payer. We’re not going back. We don’t have a time machine or a magic “do-over” button.
—
Giving up isn’t in my playbook and neither is accepting unrealized inevitabilities.
Getting rid of it may be challenging, but it is possible and that is what needs to happen.
Also, toothpaste can, indeed, be put back into the tube if one wants to put it back in badly enough.
You are missing the fact that 99% of the GOP are undocumented Democrats that have no intention of defunding it.
That and they are playing their part as Republicans to make you lose hope and accept their edict.
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