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It seems Obama really likes half way measures on cleaning up, and clearing up, the ACA. His nearly hour long news conference today (11.14.13) did not truly back up his repeated promise that Americans could keep the health care insurance they have. Instead, depending on what state insurance commissioners do, they get to keep inferior policies, if they want them, for another year. Then what? The administration is looking for the next step, perhaps letting them keep bad policies longer.
One reason that Obama and company are hesitant to act more boldly is this: they are frightened of the Republicans who have been campaigning against Obamacare since it was passed in 2010 and they don’t want to provide any more openings for the possible gutting of the “landmark legislation”. Obama is in a tough place. The predictions that disaster would follow when the ACA was implemented appear, bit by bit, to be coming true, yet he and his supporters still believe in the law. They want it to work while the Republicans are praying for it to fail. Just like in a retreat from war, every step back represents growing strength for the opposition, the Republicans.
The president needs, as some Democrats on Capitol Hill have suggested, to get further out in front of developments and stop playing defense. One radio commentator in the DC area who favors Republicans, Chris Core on WTOP, said Obama should throw in the towel and “sit down with Republicans” to work out something better. What a screaming, flying joke. This is a bit like saying we should have negotiated with Bin Laden after 9-11. 2001. While the Republicans are not terrorists (even though they threatened the credit of the U.S. in a way that might have brought on world wide panic), they have the same mind set of complete opposition to everything this president does. They aren’t going to change if Obama covers himself in sackcloth and ash.
There are other reasons negotiations wouldn’t work. First, there is no one in the Republican party with whom to negotiate. Boehner can’t do it. McConnell in the Senate wouldn’t dare do it with his reelection coming up next November. Lots of deals could be made, but none of them would represent something that a majority of Republicans in the House would agree to support. None. There is no deal that can be made. Next, the Republicans would never give up their best issue for 2014, not if the president got down on his knees and crawled to Capitol Hill. Get real.
The kind of stupidity exhibited by radio commentator Core seems to be based on the idea that this is the 1970s when presidents and their opposing party could work things out by discussion and negotiations. That’s not the case any more. The Republicans are dedicated heart and soul to not making agreements, because if they make a deal, then they become part of the process which they say they hate. It is hard to help run government if you oppose the idea of government.
IF the Republicans wanted to change health care in America for the better, the first thing they would need to do would be to propose something. Put forward a plan, take the best of Obama’s law and the best ideas from theirs and put together a bill. Obamacare would not have to be repealed as a first act. If the new plan was clearly better and replaced the negatives of the President’s ACA, then it could be substituted. Hey, don’t hold your breath for any of that to happen.
There are likely to be other problems with the law. One of the biggest threats is that employers will use the law to dump employer paid for insurance plans, forcing employees into the insurance exchanges. If this happens on a massive scale, watch out. Democrats would be running for the hills and their party’s prospects for 2014 and 2016 would sink, fast.
Doug Terry, 11.14.13 (with corrections and additions made later)
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