l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Strassel: Democrats Run for ObamaCare Cover
After weeks of vowing they wouldn't cave on the president's signature
legislation, some Democrats are doing just that.
By
KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Jeanne Shaheen doesn't sound like a Democrat who just won a government-
shutdown "victory." Ms. Shaheen sounds like a Democrat who thinks she's
going to lose her job.
The New Hampshire senator fundamentally altered the health-care fight on
Tuesday with a letter to the White House demanding it both extend the
ObamaCare enrollment deadline and waive tax penalties for those unable to
enroll. Within nanoseconds, Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor had endorsed her "
common-sense idea." By Wednesday night, five Senate Democrats were on board,
pushing for . . . what's that dirty GOP word? Oh, right. "Delay."
After 16 long days of vowing to Republicans that they would not cave in any
way, shape or form on ObamaCare, Democrats spent their first post-shutdown
week caving in every way, shape and form. With the GOP's antics now over,
the only story now is the unrivaled disaster that is the president's health-
care law.
Hundreds of thousands of health-insurance policies canceled. Companies
dumping coverage and cutting employees' hours. Premiums skyrocketing. And a
website that reprises the experience of a Commodore 64. As recently as May,
Democratic consultants were advising members of Congress that their best
ObamaCare strategy for 2014 was to "own" the law. Ms. Shaheen has now
publicly advised the consultants where they can file that memo.
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Chad Crowe
In the Senate, West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin is working on legislation
to delay the individual mandate's enforcement for a year. CNN reports that
all 16 Senate Democrats up for re-election are expected to support Ms.
Shaheen's proposal. In the House, Democratic members are stacking up behind
all of these ideas, and more.
Even House liberals have felt it necessary to reassure voters that they, too
, are angry—though so far they are merely calling for scalps. "I'd like to
see somebody lose their job over this. I think it's outrageous," complained
New York Rep. Sean Maloney. "Somebody's got to man up here—get rid of these
people," said Minnesota's Rick Nolan. This is presumably a call for a
certain "somebody" to do something more than 1-800 commercials from the Rose
Garden.
This Democratic freakout has been building for months, even if it was masked
by the shutdown headlines and the way the media reported that event.
Nationally, yes, the GOP took a drubbing on the shutdown. But next year isn'
t a national election. It's a midterm that will turn on key states, where
polls all along have found disapproval of ObamaCare, the president and his
party's handling of the economy.
In Arkansas, Mr. Pryor's home state, a poll conducted by the University of
Arkansas from Oct. 10-17 found that 39% of likely voters blame Mr. Obama for
the shutdown (only 27% blame congressional Republicans). Just 29% approve
of Mr. Obama, and Mr. Pryor's disapproval ratings jumped 21 points in just a
year, to 44%, from 21%.
More worrisome for the Democratic senator is a recent poll conducted by
OnMessage for his GOP rival Tom Cotton. Only 33% of Arkansans support
ObamaCare. The number drops to 28% for independent voters. Even one-third of
Democrats in the state oppose the law.
The numbers aren't much better in Ms. Shaheen's New Hampshire, or in Alaska,
Louisiana, North Carolina, West Virginia or Montana. The Democrats up for
election in these states know that the sword of Damocles hanging over their
heads isn't the Republican Party, but their own president's law.
The GOP's aggressive shutdown tactics only forestalled this flight for
political cover. It allowed Senate Majority Harry Reid to keep his troops
united, on grounds that they needed to make a point. But absent a GOP
bogeyman, Democrats quickly realized that they had no further excuses for
inaction—save partisan fealty to a failed law. That won't wash with voters.
The White House's problem is that political cracks like this don't get
patched; they grow. Until this week, the administration could write off the
20-odd House Democrats who voted with Republicans this summer to delay parts
of the law as victims of a tough vote orchestrated by the GOP. But now a
numerically significant number of Senate Democrats have, on their own,
signaled that it is acceptable for members of the president's party to
demand consequential ObamaCare changes.
The pressure for other Democrats to join will rise, as will the pressure for
the party to embrace more extensive changes to the law. Even before the
ObamaCare rollout, Mr. Pryor and North Carolina's Kay Hagan had co-sponsored
legislation to kill ObamaCare's rationing board (the House version has 23
Democratic co-sponsors). Alaska Sen. Mark Begich had introduced a bill to
delay the business mandate for two years. There is bipartisan opposition to
the medical-device tax, to the ObamaCare slush fund and to the IRS's central
role in coordinating the law.
The White House has lived in fear of this moment, and the administration's
biggest problem is that it has no quick bandage for this bleed. Healthcare.
gov is weeks or months from being fixed—if it is fixable at all. Enrollment
numbers will thus remain dismal. The insurance horror stories are only
beginning. The congressional hearings, too. The administration could sack
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, but it knows that
getting a replacement nominee through the Senate would likely prove more
painful than keeping her.
Democrats will do their best to keep shifting blame to the GOP, but those
complaints are losing traction. This week was a turning point. | l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 2 JOSEPH MARTINO Wrote:
Last week Democrat leaders were calling Republicans who opposed Obamacare:
Terrorists (Pfeiffer), Saboteurs (Obama), Squealing Political Pigs(Durbin),
Arsonists (Pelosi), Anarchists (Reid) and Terrorists…again (Durban).
Now that the Democrats(in fear of their political lives) are demanding
Obamacare be delayed, they are called "measured" and "practical" by the MSM.
The hypocrisy, the denial, the mendacity, and the sheer the ugliness of the
left is on display. | l******t
发帖数: 12659 | 3 Make this heard.
,
MSM.
the
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: JOSEPH MARTINO Wrote:
: Last week Democrat leaders were calling Republicans who opposed Obamacare:
: Terrorists (Pfeiffer), Saboteurs (Obama), Squealing Political Pigs(Durbin),
: Arsonists (Pelosi), Anarchists (Reid) and Terrorists…again (Durban).
: Now that the Democrats(in fear of their political lives) are demanding
: Obamacare be delayed, they are called "measured" and "practical" by the MSM.
: The hypocrisy, the denial, the mendacity, and the sheer the ugliness of the
: left is on display.
| I******I
发帖数: 14241 | 4 几年之后，巴马care肯定臭掉，民主党会怎么对待这个巴马care？
我倒是想看看这帮左棍能怎么圆谎。
想把屎盆子都扣到共和党身上是不可能的。 | T*********I
发帖数: 10729 | 5 把屎盆子都扣到共和党身上
you can count on that
【在 I******I 的大作中提到】
: 几年之后，巴马care肯定臭掉，民主党会怎么对待这个巴马care？
: 我倒是想看看这帮左棍能怎么圆谎。
: 想把屎盆子都扣到共和党身上是不可能的。
|
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