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Bill Wilson: Obamacare Fatigue

WHY REPEAL STILL MATTERS … || By BILL WILSON || Type “Obamacare” into any Internet search engine and in less than a third of a second – faster than the snap of your fingers – tens of millions of results will bombard you.  Within these pages are literally billions of…

WHY REPEAL STILL MATTERS …

wilson|| By BILL WILSON || Type “Obamacare” into any Internet search engine and in less than a third of a second – faster than the snap of your fingers – tens of millions of results will bombard you.  Within these pages are literally billions of words addressing the law and its attendant issues – including the few hundred words contained herein.  It’s a lot to take in – and with nearly a decade’s worth of history surrounding the legislation already in the books, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that America is suffering from “Obamacare fatigue.”

Moreover, moving forward most believe that with one party controlling the White House and another party controlling Congress, the status quo will hold no matter what happens.  But this is no time for Obamacare opponents to lose faith – or focus.  This month the bill’s namesake – president Barack Obama – submitted a $4 trillion budget aiming to further explode our government’s $18.1 trillion debt, and Obamacare was at the heart of it.

In addition, the law’s onerous individual mandate is wreaking havoc this tax season – threatening to deprive up to six million Americans of one percent of their annual income (a penalty which will double to two percent next year).

Meanwhile, there is a looming U.S. Supreme Court decision on the enforceability of Obamacare’s subsidies via the federal exchanges in states that refused to participate in administering the law, all of which will be of critical importance to the long-term economic well-being of our country.

So, how did we get here?  How bad are things?  And how do we fix them?  These are the central questions often ignored amidst the noise over the law.

Nine years ago Obama – a year into his first term in the U.S. Senate – addressed the Newspaper Association of America’s 2006 convention in Washington, D.C.  This was before the term “Obamacare” had even appeared in print for the first time (in a March 2007 industry journal written by health care lobbyist Jeanne Schulte Scott).

“My argument to Democrats has been that we need to cling to the core values that make us Democrats, the belief in universal health care, the belief in universal education, and then we should be agnostic in terms of how to achieve those values,” Obama said at the time.

A year later, Obama – a newly minted presidential candidate – rolled out his plan, declaring “the time has come for universal health care in America.”

Five years ago – using every manipulation under the sun and every ounce of his political capital – Obama successfully rammed his signature socialized medicine law through a Democrat-controlled Congress.  Later we would learn from Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber that the bill was “written in a tortured way” so as to ensure its mandates would not be scored as tax increases, and that “the stupidity of the American voter (was) … really, really critical for the thing to pass.”

We would also learn from the U.S. Supreme Court that the mandate was in fact a “tax” – and later from Obama himself that the law’s “if you like your doctor or health care plan, you can keep it” promise was a deliberate falsehood.

Four years ago, the Republican-controlled U.S. House – elected on the strength of an anti-Obamacare wave – passed its first repeal of the hated legislation. This week, the House repealed Obamacare again – and is sending its bill (along with a blueprint to replace the law) to the U.S. Senate, which is under Republican control for the first time in eight years.

How high are the stakes?

(To continue reading this piece, press the “Read More …” icon below).

Bill Wilson is a board member of Americans for Limited Government. This column – which originally appeared on NetRightDaily – is reprinted with permission.

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30 comments

GrandTango February 10, 2015 at 9:23 am

Wilson wrote: “But this is no time for Obamacare opponents to lose faith”….

BRAVO…FINALLY someone with something besides quit and defeat and blame of the GOP ….on FITS…

We have the corrupt and deceitful Democrats, who continually fight against America and trample the rights of our people…

And there is a gaggle of timid so-called “Republicans” and half-hearted Liberal-Tarians who BLAST anyone and everyone for FAILURE…yet QUIT is their middle name, as soon as a fight comes upon us…

Obamacare will be DEFEATED. IT must be…or we are no longer a FREE Nation..and I just don’t think we’ll EVER be conquered by Liberal Democrats…or any other filthy mob of the selfish and greedy like them…

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mrbraindead12 . February 10, 2015 at 9:32 am

No one is innocent on this front. Republicans would have to replace the bill with something else, and it would be even more halfhearted and dimwitted than Obamacare. Unfortunately, when money rules the political arena, there’s no betting for or against either of the two parties. We need sensible legislation, and turning to universal healthcare was and still is a viable option. Yet, when both parties are spoiled with the riches and make profit from the lifeblood of the American people, we can never have change, and we will never have change. So long as Citizens United, Wall Street, lobbying interests and other dangerous and disturbing interests are embedded in the very core of our lawmakers decision making, there won’t be change. We cannot have change if money is corrupting the very system that brings change. Having sensible healthcare options, or even logical discussions about it just isn’t American anymore dude. We don’t think for ourselves, and nobody questions what the R’s and the D’s have to say. We’re betting against each other while being forced to play a game that’s never going to benefit us, and that we have no chance of winning. We cannot fight against each other, and live by their rules. We need to work together, not against. We need fair elections where people aren’t spending over a billion dollars just to buy our politicians. We need fair legislation that isn’t riddled with nonsense and something that a man with an eighth grade education could understand. We’re fucked.

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Smirks February 10, 2015 at 10:13 am

Having sensible healthcare options, or even logical discussions about it just isn’t American anymore dude.

This is by design. The oligarchs know they would lose power and wealth if the serfs cobbled together a working system that provided for the needs of all of society. Demolishing reasoned discourse shields them from such systems being built, because once built, they are insanely hard to destroy (Social Security, Medicare, unions, etc.).

Since the 80s the attitude of this nation has been shaped into one steadfastly against improving the lot of those who aren’t obscenely wealthy, and Obama has been no different, though he may fancy himself as so.

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euwe max February 10, 2015 at 12:56 pm

The working man is a leech.
Employers shouldn’t have to pay taxes.
If everyone had ambition, there wouldn’t be any employees to leech off of the system through redistribution of wealth through taxation!

now… where is our next war going to be?

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mrbraindead12 . February 10, 2015 at 1:38 pm

Exactly. Unless we have a shift in our consciousness and wake up to the duality of our political ideologies, then we’ll realize that there’s more than two options, and we don’t have to be sodomized in the process. With the illogical attitudes and debates in Washington, the sheer utter lack of common sense and bills riddled with unconstitutional fallacies, destructive foreign policies, and a waning and near universal hatred for Congress, it’s only a matter of time before we finally realize that the unstoppable monster we’ve designed will implode on itself.

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GrandTango February 10, 2015 at 10:48 am

Still…Obama F*#ked it up. No matter how the common want to equally smear the GOP…That’s just not rational.
And before Obamacare…the leftwing Democrats burdened us w/ so many entitlements, we paid $400 for an aspirin, because we were paying for 100 more Democrat voters…That ain’t the GOP’s fault…no matter how they pat you on the back for blaming Republicans, too.
And the Republicans will HAVE to fix it…or our economy will be perpetually broken…as Obama – with the Democrats- has rendered it…

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grandtangosuglydog February 10, 2015 at 10:52 am

You paid 400 dollars for an aspirin…LOLOLOL boy you give stupid a bad name.

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GrandTango February 10, 2015 at 11:24 am

Did not have a choice w/ your NAZI Gestapo forcing it on us…Dumb@$$…

I’m sure you pay NOTHING, because you’re a lazy-@$$, hand-out taking free-loader…Yall have no idea what Contributing people pay for you to ride easy…

mrbraindead12 . February 10, 2015 at 1:48 pm

You don’t get it do you? It’s not Obama, it’s outside influence that fucked it up. The cogs of the machine are greased with the blood of American tax dollars that are swindled by the politicians who are spending it on useless things and all of our presidents are corrupt because they’re all bought and paid for by the largest donor. GOP is slightly worse, but honestly why would you go for anyone in the two party system that runs the nation? Why not vote for someone who doesn’t get a lot of money, and has a realistic approach and a human voice? Sure it’s not just the GOP’s fault, it’s everyone’s fault. Everyone is to blame because they’re all in bed with the same people, and they all work together and make the same promises and we have the same backwards debates that the rest of the world laughs at us about. How stupid can you be? How one sided can you be? Do you really only look at the world in black and white? You think Bush was better? You think we need another few wars to “set our economy straight?” Hah, we wouldn’t be at war if those in power weren’t in bed with weapons manufacturers and firms. Lol this site is a fucking joke. Also, we’d have universal healthcare and a system that worked if the pharmaceutical companies didn’t have their Midas touch stretched out over all of congress. GOP and Democrat. Nobody is innocent, and party affiliation is a giant facade. Money is what rules you, and governs me, and sets policies for everyone.

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GrandTango February 10, 2015 at 2:24 pm

You’re Full of $#!t…it was not perfect but we had a GREAT economy and a lot more freedom because of it in the Bush years…prices and taxes were low…and there were jobs galore if you wanted one…

And after Clinton heeded the word of the GOP…the country worked well in the Clinton years…We were able to make more money and move upward socially if we were willing to work..

It’s Broke as H#!! now…w/ only Obama’s fat-cat buddies and contributors getting rich from the money Obama is propping up the stock mkt with…while families do without…and have little or no opportunity, other than survival…

You sound like an Ignorant F*#k who believes what the media tells you, w/ no ability to gauge what reality as it is…

Stupid F*#ks like you are as much to blame as the corrupt and immoral Democrat Party….

Rocky February 10, 2015 at 9:49 am

Easy to say when you get Medicare.

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GrandTango February 10, 2015 at 10:44 am

You get Medicare???…
I thought you said you are rolling in dough…w/ beach houses, great insurance, foreign vacays, even though you’ve claimed two TOTALLY different occupations in the course of six months…
LMAO…it figures…you are rich off entitlements…

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grandtangosuglydog February 10, 2015 at 10:51 am

Once again your reading comprehension is below par and by below par i mean non existent.

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evil in the peoples house February 10, 2015 at 10:41 am

Don’t ruin the celebration of the Muslim occupying the wHite House or the radical liberals like Rocky and Smirks that occupy FITS.
Another American was murdered by the radical Islamists today-our Muslim pResident once again heard the ‘most beautiful’ sound he had ever heard-the Muslim call to another Christian’s death.

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Ferengitarian February 10, 2015 at 9:25 am

Rule of Acquisition #17: A contract is a contract is a contract… but only between Ferengi. Everyone else better not have preexisting conditions!

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Victorious Secret February 10, 2015 at 9:32 am

ad infinitum . . .

The problem is that everyone wants to hem and haw. Yet, those that complain the most about current healthcare economics have yet to offer a solution. Partisan foolishness, as always.

Is the PPACA great? Of course not. Could our healthcare system be better? Yes. Will the cockroaches ever get together and come up with a better plan? Likely not.

ad infinitum.

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Smirks February 10, 2015 at 10:04 am

Will the cockroaches ever get together and come up with a better plan? Likely not.

If they did, I’m sure Bill Wilson would be telling us it is socialism run amok and how we need to ask the Invisible Hand for repentance.

If you want a system that serves quality, affordable care to the most people possible, it requires government intervention. Medicare was created to fix a market failure in health care that left old people out in the cold. What did that get us? Ronald Reagan preaching against it.

I honestly don’t see the Republicans coming up with anything better. ACA is basically a bunch of their ideas from 20 years ago packed together anyways, and now they’ve made even that toxic. The only thing I’ve really seen them propose are either severely weakened versions of the ACA or claiming that the high risk pools of yesteryear that weren’t even in all 50 states would somehow pick up the slack.

Most of the “most economically free” countries have heavy government involvement to ensure universal health care, but goodness, we dare not trade in our primitive system for one of theirs, because socialism!

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Really? February 10, 2015 at 10:58 am

“If you want a system that serves quality, affordable care to the most people possible, it requires government intervention.”

More howlers from the Socialist that doesn’t like being called a Socialist.

If gov’t was capable of doing this, why not have them run it from top to bottom?

If you take your logic to a fuller extent, way not have gov’t intervene in every market to make products across the board “quality” and “affordable”?

Seriously, you should answer that. Why not have gov’t run everything?

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Rocky February 10, 2015 at 9:49 am

In the four years I have had an ACA compliant policy through my employer I had one sticker shock increase of $75 a month, then two years of no increase, then a reduction in my premium of $35. So for four years, my total increase has amounted to $40 a month. For that I got no lifetime caps, no annual caps, no issues around pre-existing conditions, ability to insure my children until they get out of Grad School, expanded mental health options, more preventative care, and a slightly increased deductable. Now, in the 8 years preceeding my ACA compliant policy, I averaged $50 to $75 monthly increases each year, every year. When I first covered a family fresh out of grad school my monthly premium was $135. By 2007 and it was $450. And most of that increase came between 2002 and 2007. That’s a simple fact. And I’m just a regular middle class American. So if the goal of the new leadership in the Senate, along with the House, wants to ruin my health insurance, along with the health insurance of another 100 million American families – I say – Have At It Idiots.

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Henry February 10, 2015 at 3:36 pm

The real question would be how much did your employer pay in increases?

I have individual insurance at this point since I am self employed. Many of my job positions in the past had no premium for me to pay for myself or my family. 100% paid by the employer.

I knew what the premiums were because I worked with the controllers of the corporations and was in a position to see the master policy.

Often a fringe benefit may be increased and the employees do not know the employer did it for them.

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Torch February 10, 2015 at 9:49 am

Wonder why they don’t call it after its father, Romneycare?

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Bible Thumper February 10, 2015 at 10:11 am

Romneycare: One of the benefits of Obamacare was to be reduced Emergency Room cost. Costs have risen in Massachusetts and non emergency visits have only had a slight decline.

Data following enactment of mandatory insurance showed total emergency visits and spending continued to increase, and low-severity emergency visits decreased less than 2%; researchers concluded, “To the extent that policymakers expected a substantial decrease in overall and low-severity ED visits, this study does not support those expectations.”[56] Other analysis concluded that preventable ED visits were reduced 5-8% for non-urgent or primary care ED visits relative to other states.[57] A more complete report released in January 2012 found between 2006 and 2010 emergency department visits and non-urgent visits had dropped 1.9 and 3.8% respectively.[58]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_health_care_reform

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You Know My Name February 10, 2015 at 9:53 am

I can’t afford health insurance and have opposed Obolacare from the start. I have managed to avoid going to a doctor for over 7 years but even so, I got “fined” $400 this year for not having insurance. The Joe Wilsons and their kind need to quit paying lip service to getting rid of this abomination and actually DO SOMETHING about it.

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We're screwed February 10, 2015 at 10:06 am

“The Joe Wilsons and their kind need to quit paying lip service to getting rid of this abomination and actually DO SOMETHING about it.”

Never gonna happen. The establishment Republicans are in charge and they’ve already said they won’t repeal it, only modify it.

Any talk of “repeal” is laughable with Obama in office as he’ll veto any attack in his signature/legacy law no matter what.

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Moocher is your name February 10, 2015 at 11:35 am

The argument that you shouldn’t have to pay for insurance since you don’t utilize the healthcare system is stupid. If you were to have something unexpected with your health, the rest of us would end up footing the bill when you couldn’t pay your bills. It’s only fair that you pay into the system that you are inevitably going to use.

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grandtangosuglydog February 10, 2015 at 1:48 pm

Shhhh..thats logic. It scares some people on this site..shhhhh

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Henry February 10, 2015 at 3:25 pm

Should I stop paying my real estate taxes, my income tax, and my utilities so I become homeless. At that point I will be able to afford the premium that you say I need to pay?

What if something unexpected happens such as my water being turned off due to my paying an excessive amount for health insurance that I can not afford?

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Do not question us February 10, 2015 at 3:59 pm

It’s your fault for making too much for a proper subsidy and not enough to be upper middle class.

You should adjust your life to the income brackets.(become homeless, it will help you!)

Your masters have given you the goal posts and you pay them to determine they are fair, while also making sure they aren’t subject to them.

If you don’t like it, move to another country…but you’ll still have to pay the penalties for at least three years after you renounce.

We know what’s best for you citizen. If you resist you are selfish and irresponsible.

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Henry February 10, 2015 at 5:15 pm

I like your response.

I have yet to understand the math the masters used in the subsidies. If you make 400% of the poverty level you pay a maximum of 9% of your income for health insurance after subsidies. You are exempt from the mandate if the cost of health insurance exceeds 8% of your income because it is too expensive.

The very bad penalties are also a laugh on the math.

It will be 2.5% of income after the filing threshold in 2016.

A husband and wife making $70,000. per year in 2016 will have a penalty of ($70,000-$20,300)x2.5%=$1242.50
or $695.00 each=$1390.00 which ever is higher.

$1390.00 is about what an ACA bronze policy cost for my wife and myself for a month. We are over age 60.

Manray9 February 11, 2015 at 12:49 am

The Congress moving again to repeal the ACA is as relevant as Bill Wilson.

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