The Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is as conservative a legislation as you could get. Although that is the healthcare bill’s greatest problem, it is also the bill’s greatest strength. It can’t and it won’t be replaced. Republicans are trying to replace it. But with what? Anything more conservative than Obamacare, is cruel. The only thing republicans could come up with, isn’t even healthcare. Trumpcare is a tax plan, that takes Medicare from senior citizens and gives billions to the uber wealthy. Trumpcare is plain wicked. According to the CBO report, tens of millions of people will lose coverage.
Obamacare should have been called Mittcare, because 2012 republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was the one who introduced the healthcare to the world. Obama continued to reiterate how his healthcare was modeled off of republican legislation. He even used some of the same advisers that conceived the Massachusetts legislation.
Obama must have thought, ‘republicans won’t fight this, cause it is from them.’
The Affordable Care Act was originally devised in the conservative dungeons called the Heritage Foundation. Ultra conservative Charles Grassley (R-IA) introduced it in the 1990s. Mitt Romney got hold of it and used it in Massachusetts.
President Bill Clinton took on an ill-fated effort to reform health care in 1993. As the president’s task force (led by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton) worked behind closed doors to craft solutions to ever-rising health care costs and a growing number of uninsured families, Republicans scrambled to forge an alternative.
Republican Sen. John Chafee of Rhode Island was the point man. The bill he introduced, Health Equity and Access Reform Today,(yes, that spells HEART) had a list of 20 co-sponsors that was a who’s who of Republican leadership. There was Minority Leader Bob Dole, R- Kan., Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and many others. There also were two Democratic co-sponsors.
Among other features, the Chafee bill included:
- An individual mandate;
- Creation of purchasing pools;
- Standardized benefits;
- Vouchers for the poor to buy insurance;
- A ban on denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition. Politifact article
Once upon a time, republicans loved Obamacare. Mitt Romney considered it the biggest achievement of his term. Obamacare works on a number of staunch conservative beliefs. As a result of the individual mandate, Obamacare prevents people from stealing a “free ride”. Everyone had to fork over money to big insurance. You don’t get more republican than that.
Everything changed since Obama put his name on the bill. Suddenly, republicans adamantly defend those free loaders. “Government shouldn’t force us to pay for nothing!” They contend. Suddenly republicans are saying, “Don’t buy insurance. Get free healthcare if you show up at the hospital.”
Obama was a brilliant politician. Perhaps his decision to model his healthcare bill after a piece of conservative legislation, assures it’s longevity.
Within just a few years, the Affordable Care Act went from republican’s signature achievement to the most dreaded bill since the Fugitive Slave Law. Not in my lifetime, had I seen such determination and passion, from either party, as republicans trying to get rid of Obamacare.
Now that they have the ability to sculpt and pass their own legislation, what do republicans do? They can’t keep Obamacare, and they can’t introduce healthcare more liberal than Obamacare. You can’t get more conservative than Obamacare though.
Obama must be laughing up a storm, watching republicans try to out-conservatize Obamacare. However, it can’t be done. The process just makes republicans look heartless. Even from outside of the White House, Obama’s decisions cripple republicans!
