Sen. Bernie Sanders explained on MSNBC that Republicans are very nervous about the success of Obamacare, because the ACA proves their ideology that the government can’t help people wrong.
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Sen. Sanders was asked about the new ACA sign up numbers on MSNBC’s The Ed Show.
Sen. Sanders (I-VT) said, “It tells us that you have a program that is working well. That they have overcome the problems that they initially had. It tells me that about seventy-five percent of the people on the exchanges think that the healthcare they are getting is good, and I think this is making our Republican colleagues very nervous.”
Later, Sen. Sanders explained why Republicans want to destroy the ACA. He said, “They want to destroy it not for what it is, but because it is the federal government doing something to protect ordinary people, and that is not what they like. These are the same guys who want to end Medicare as we know it. Convert it into a voucher program. Make massive cuts in Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs. Ultimately what they want at the end of the day is for all Americans to go into the private sector exclusively for their health care. If you don’t have any money and you can’t afford it, tough luck.”
Sanders summed up the entire Republican philosophy, “What these guys want to do is to tell the American people,’Hey you think government can do something for you? It can’t. Only the private sector can do things for you, and you don’t even have to come to vote because government is irrelevant to your lives. That’s what this whole thing is about ideologically.”
Sen. Sanders also pointed out that Republicans can repeal no part of the ACA because the president would veto it, and Senate Democrats would uphold his veto. Republicans are getting nervous about the success of the ACA. Every single person that signs up makes it a little bit more difficult to repeal the law.
With two more years of signups and tens of millions of people covered, it will be virtually impossible for Republicans to repeal the law. For this reason, Republicans are getting nervous. None of their dire predictions for year two are coming true. Premium costs have not skyrocketed; people are satisfied with the insurance that they purchased on the exchange, and the vast majority of those people are renewing their plans.
The media coverage and the endless drumbeat of right-wing negativity have combined to obscure the fact that the Affordable Care Act is popular with those who are signing up, and the law is proving that government can respect the marketplace and be a force for positive change. Republicans are nervous because deep down they know that the ACA is here to stay.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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