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.”
The problem is that many Americans are perfectly happy with communism. They don't want your red line. They want their free food, free housing, free money, etc. They can't see (or don't care) that it's communism.
Those people will soon outnumber the producers, if they don't already.
How about a second look at Rick Perry?
how about no.
Yes I’m sure the dems want a single payer.
Might be the best we have to offer, unless he acts as a Texas gentleman while running against Hillary.
The best you have to offer refused a fence on the border, tried to build a highway to the heartland to benefit his cronies, tried to strip parents of their rights over child HPV vaccinations and a ton of other anti conservative crap. He has the intelligence of a stick, the political savy of a brick and backs RINOS regularly. Not just no but HELL NO.
Being good on energy ain’t good enough.
Difficult does not mean ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY !
Do not confuse “libertarian” with “conservative”. Two very different concepts, rather like the operating systems for personal computer Windows and the Apple Mac. While one resembles the other superficially, there are any number of basic concepts in the Mac OS that can be only emulated but are not compatible with the Windows OS.
This is not to disparage one or the other, because the two do manage to complement each other, but there will never be a natural unity or congruity of how the answers are arrived at.
Baloney
“It’s time for Americans to draw their own red line against communism.”
I LIKE that idea! A can of red spray paint and a walk along the perimeter of my property...
Makes a NICE statement! :)
This guy is not a serious prospect for the presidency, period.
Difficult does not mean ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY !
—
Of course it doesn’t.
I never said it did.
He’s way too busy tossing Mr. Bundy under the bus for telling the truth. That’s easy pickings.
I had (cautious) hope for this pantload. That’s long gone—way before this. I’d vote for Mrs. Paul—the fishstick lady, over this Muppet.
Where is the compromise that gets more Conservatism? No more Bushies, Pauls, Klintoons, Kennedys, and Soetoros. Palin, Cruz, or LOSE.
Which is why the RINOs want him just as they wanted Romney. So he goes down in flames leaving Hillary with the big win.
People eventually have to accept the evidence. The GOP wants to lose. Because it is their job to lose. Maybe once it was not. But today it is.
We have to make it clear. No RINOs. Ever. Win or lose.
Otherwise we get a rehash of last time. But there are probably too few of us left to matter. I don’t care. If hillary wins, so be it. I will not help elect another of her clones.
Ted Cruz is top of my list but I like him doing what he is where he is for the time being.
Has Rand Paul had like the worst week ever for a politician, all self inflicted wounds too.
Possibly clearing the deck for Jeb?
These people make me puke. Every god-damn one of them. I have lost all reason for hope that the Good will ever triumph in this country.
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