Why Liberals Have Problems Defending Obamacare

Obamacare is like a woman with an abusive boyfriend who stays with him with the explanation that he doesn’t hit her as much as the old boyfriend.

I hate being saddled with having to defend Obamacare, because I really don’t like much of it.  doctor-obamaHowever, I find myself doing so because the attacks on it are often just so damned stupid, wrong, and outright lies (Death panels?  Babies aren’t covered?  Seriously, people really believe this crap?)

Some criticisms are from reasonable people who are upset that the website isn’t as good as it should be (a legitimate complaint). Some are upset that their rates are going up (which they did before Obamacare too, if anyone cares to remember — the key now is that you can shop around and apply for subsidies to help pay for it). And some are complaining that their weak-ass plan that was a rip off is no longer being provided to them, without realizing that this is a good thing.

Many on right criticize Obamacare because it’s “socialism.”  Those on the left criticize it because it isn’t socialism.

The fact is that there are parts of Obamacare that just about everyone likes, whether they’ll admit it or not.  No more “pre-existing conditions” keeping people from getting insurance.  No more kicking kids off insurance when they get sick.  Limitations on how much insurance companies can spend on things unrelated to health care.

The part almost everyone hates is the mandate requiring people to buy insurance.

Liberals have always been against that.  After all, that idea is a Republican idea, meant to keep the insurance companies happy and in business.  It was previously called “Romneycare” and before that it was in the Republican platform.  This is why it is so frustrating to argue with conservatives who promoted the idea and were all for it until Obama did it.  Suddenly it was a terrible idea and “socialism.”

We liberals wanted a single-payer medicare-for-all plan like every other advanced country in the world.  Insurance companies (that provide no health care themselves) would be out of the picture, so we’d save a ton of money that way.   We’d spread the costs over every single American, thus reducing the costs to individuals (that’s how insurance works, you know).  Health care would be treated like a public service in the same way we provide police protection, fire protection and education, without regard for whether you can pay for it yourself or not.   Best yet, we already have the bureaucracy in place with medicare.  No need for a fancy website that breaks down, no need to set up new regulations and policies.

So when you see those polls saying most people do not support Obamacare, remember that those numbers include people like me, who don’t support it because we want something better, not because we want to get rid of it completely.

5 thoughts on “Why Liberals Have Problems Defending Obamacare

  1. Fully agree. The ACA is just a bandaid on a rotting, corrupt health care financing system that is slowly reaching its own self-demolition. In fact I am sometimes tempted to agree with some of their completely insane fantasies just because I know if they were to destroy the ACA it will only expedite the development of a single payer system. Medicare for everyone!


  2. Pingback: NOW can we please get single-payer? |

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  4. Pingback: Shock! Obamacare isn’t perfect! |

  5. Pingback: Why this deal is not bad for Democrats

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