Democrats Run Away from Success of Obamacare

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Democrats-Run-Away-from-Su-by-Dean-Baker-Cowardice_Democratic_Democrats_Health-140922-351.html



Democrats Run Away from Success of Obamacare
By Dean Baker
OpEdNews Op Eds 9/22/2014 at 19:39:36

Politicians are not generally noted for their bravery. But the Democrats running in the fall congressional races may be taking cowardice to a new level. With almost no exceptions they are doing their best to avoid talking about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the healthcare reform pushed through during the first years of the Obama administration. This is surprising because by almost every measure the ACA has been far more successful that could have been expected.

The Democrats do have some basis for their fears. In the 2010 congressional elections the Republicans managed to pick up an amazing 63 seats in the House of Representatives, regaining control after the Democrats had enjoyed their largest majority in almost two decades. The Republicans had made "Obamacare" a central issue in that election, along with an economy that was recovering very slowly from the collapse of the housing bubble.

This experience effectively left most of the Democrats shell shocked when it came to discussing the ACA. The bill had passed almost exclusively with Democratic votes, with only one Republican member of the House voting in support of the bill (after the bill already had a majority).

Once the Republicans gained control of the House they made voting to repeal the ACA a regular order of business. On 47 separate occasions they voted to repeal the bill. They constantly highlighted fears about rationing, soaring prices, and death panels. The last item referred to an item in the bill, which was later removed, that including funding for consultations about end of life care for older people in bad health.