I recently googled the above title and then spent an hour looking at the first one hundred or so sources that came back. I was hoping someone would give some insight into why Republicans, without exception in congress, hate something that gives people the opportunity to purchase affordable healthcare. I was really looking for some well nuanced explanation of what is wrong with Obamacare. I was open to any common sense arguments about this four year old law that is finally being implemented.
Instead what I got was:
- Republicans hate Obamacare because it mandates personal insurance. — Never mind that every State in the nation requires you to obtain a State issued drivers license and get mandatory car insurance. Never mind that a Supreme Court pretty much controlled by ultra-conservatives, ruled that the individual mandate is constitutional. Republicans who hate Obamacare just don’t seem to like any mandates and I think that even includes stop signs. They deem them an intrusion into their personal liberties.
- Republicans hate Obamacare because a Democrat pushed it through congress — Never mind that for the most part what ended up as Obamacare was actually a Republican plan in the 1990s. Never mind that it is very much like RomneyCare in its implementation and execution. Never mind that RomneyCare is now considered a success by most in that State. Now I could see a slight validity in this reason if a single payer system which was originally sought had actually happened.
- Republicans hate Obamacare because it is socialized medicine – I am not really sure if any of these yahoos even know what socialized medicine means. Do they realize that Medicare, Medicaid and military healthcare plans are a form of socialized medicine? Do they realize that the recipients are very satisfied with those plans and if they tried to eliminate them they would practically be tar and feathered?
- Republicans hate Obamacare because it is going to bankrupt the country — Never mind that another government insurance plan (Medicare) is widely acknowledged to be the most efficient healthcare plan on this country. Never mind that most of the rest of the world has implemented a true single payer system and as a result has reigned in their healthcare costs. Now I realize that since Obamacare is not single-payer as it should be it will never be as efficient as Medicare but to say it will bankrupt us is a huge exaggeration. It has been accomplished in many other countries in the world without that happening.
When I started this study I was really hoping to see a list provided by some intelligent conservative that might give me reasons why Obamacare is so bad for the country. Lord knows I have asked repeatedly any conservative who might happen to view one of my posts here to help me understand this hatred they have for the Affordable Care Act. I have finally come to the realization that they hate Obamacare because their talking heads tell them too. How sad is it that this hatred is placed far above anything that might be accomplished in its place. If Republicans would just give up their hatred for this and so many other things they could get down to business in improving this law so that they even might eventually like it.
I simply don’t understand the conservative logic behind the vile hatred of providing all of our citizens affordable healthcare….
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 
I will be interested to see if you receive any counter arguments. I can’t even guess what those arguments would be, but since reality and logic are not part of their DNA I guess anything is fair game.
I am both amazed and frustrated when the socialized medicine card is played. As you note these same folks gladly take Medicare, something that is forced upon all those who earn a living in the form of taxes taken from their income, at a total dollar amount much greater than any Obamacare penalty for not having insurance,
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I think the counterarguments (which I only rarely hear articulated clearly) are quite simple. Obamacare adds 30+ million people to the “socialized” insurance rolls. Fine. But most of those 30 million aren’t paying for it (or are being highly subsidized and paying much less than the true cost). But nothing is free, so the upper-middle class and better off are being required for pay for it, along with the young and healthy (who pay for it by being forced to buy (much more) insurance than, on average, they need).
It’s all well and good to see this as a crusade for fairness and a larger good, but let’s face it (and I say this as someone leaning liberal), it’s quite easy to be “for” something when you’re forcing someone else to pay for it.
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Thanks for the comments Erik. See Tuesday’s post about this topic. The basic idea behind insurance of any type is that everyone pays into it and when they need it they can draw from the pool collected. Of course the insurance companies, in order to maximize their profits, try to exclude those who are most likely to draw from it.
Yes, getting something you don’t deserve or haven’t paid for is a strong theme among many. I heard it often in the small church I once attended. It is totally ironic that those folks adamantly said that their salvation is free and a gift from God but they were not like minded when it comes to their own actions. That is one of the reasons that the term hypocrite is so often applied.
But then again, many who are advocating universal healthcare are also paying into the system along with everyone else.
Thanks for the thoughts and come back often with them. These are the kind of discussions we need in our society….
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