... that Obamacare is a good thing?
First of all - it was written exclusively by Democrats behind closed doors - even after we were promised transparency by the Obama administration. Oh - and Nancy Pelosi said "The Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical congress in history." That was right before the doors closed so they could write the health care bill in secret.
Second, they had to buy votes to get it to pass. They were successful. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NB) wasn't going to vote for the bill. He was promised $100 million in Medicaid subsidies to vote with the Democrats. A $100 million item for construction of a university hospital was inserted in the Senate health care bill at the request of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, who was trying hard to boost his chances of re-election. Ben Nelson and Carl Levin of Michigan pushed hard for a tax exemption which will exempt insurers in their states from Obamacare fees and penalties. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., scored a big victory, too, with the inclusion in the amendment package of $10 billion to expand community health centers across the country, including two in his state. Pennsylvania, New York and Florida – all won protections for their Medicare Advantage beneficiaries at a time when the program is facing cuts nationwide.”
In the bill Harry Reid introduced in the Senate was a two page section which increased federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” The section definines which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.” It basically applied to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who was been playing hard to get on the health care bill.
These are just a few examples of the many concessions (bribes) made by Harry Reid to secure the cloture votes necessary to pass the legislation. Of course - those who think Obamacare is a good thing believe these things are simply routine activities for the Senate. And they may be correct - corruption and vote buying does seem to be common.
At the time the health care bill was up for a vote 72% of Americans opposed it. That meant that a majority of Democrat voters were opposed to the bill as well as Republicans. Yet our elected officials passed it anyway, completely ignoring the will of the people.
Since the health care bill became the Affordable Care Act numerous waivers to the law have been granted by the Obama administration. These waivers should have been the first clue that something was wrong. Many employers and unions have been exempted from the law for various reasons. This means the law applies to some people but does not apply equally to all Americans.
Most recently postponed was the requirement that businesses provide insurance for full time employees or be fined. Since the health care exchanges have not been opened yet, businesses were in danger of not being able to comply with the law. So the President simply said "Well - we just won't enforce that part of the law right now." Huh? Since when does a President have that authority? Oh wait - President Obama has done that before by not enforcing immigration laws and suing states who do it for him.
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), one of the authors of the Affordable Care Act, recently said that implementation of the law is a train wreck waiting to happen. That should tell people something.
The other recent development that should have the entire nation angry, Republican or Democrat, is the exemption given to Congress. Earlier this year our elected representatives in the House began complaining that their staff couldn't afford the increases in health care costs (that were not supposed to happen) caused by the "Affordable" Care Act so they asked for and received a subsidy in the form of a monetary handout from the Office of Personnel Management (via President Obama). Why is the nation not loudly protesting this collectively?! Why is the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) not fighting to get subsidies for their health care costs? The people who wrote the law just got an exemption from it while the rest of us poor peons must abide by it!
Sadly, although there is a long standing rumor that Congress cannot pass a law that does not apply to them, that is not the truth. They can and have. And in this case they have done it again - not initially but since they got their exemption they no longer have to pay the costs of healthcare out of their own pockets.
The other thing that should make Americans revolt against the Affordable Care Act is the fact that regardless of the waivers and exemptions given, the average American who does not get an exemption will be forced to abide by the law or be fined (or "taxed" as the Supreme Court erroneously decided - at least in my opinion.) People who do not, or cannot get health insurance will be forced to pay a fine to the government.
The American people, at least those who still believe in Obamacare, have been duped. The Affordable Care Act was promoted as providing affordable health care insurance for all Americans at no additional cost to the taxpayers. At last count the Congressional Budget Office has said nearly 30 million people will still remain unemployed (the same number as before the bill) and that contrary to the original estimates, will cost the taxpayers billions of dollars. Many of us saw through it from the beginning. Sadly, many still haven't seen the truth. I don't know whether it's by choice or ignorance.
What I've written here is factual. The Affordable Care Act is a very expensive, very burdensome job killer. Small businesses will be cutting hiring and large corporations will be cutting full time hours so they won't have to pay fines. The AFL-CIO and the Teamsters are against the law. They asked for waivers to keep their unions employed full time and were denied those waivers by the Obama administration. I guess since President Obama doesn't need them to get re-elected they don't matter to him as much anymore.
I urge everyone to call your Senator and tell him/her to vote against funding the Affordable Care Act. As Max Baucus said - it's a train wreck waiting to happen. And he should know - he wrote it.
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