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Obama Bluntly Calls Out Republicans For Trying To Take Healthcare Away From Millions

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Last updated on April 14th, 2018 at 11:03 am

President Obama delivered a blunt message to Republicans. If they cynically mess with Obamacare, they will be harming he lives of millions of Americans.

The President accused Republicans of ignoring reality, “While we were told again and again that Obamacare would be a job killer, amazingly enough, some critics still peddle this notion, it turns out in reality America’s experienced 63 straight months of private sector job growth, a streak that started the month we passed the Affordable Care Act. The longest streak of private sector job growth on record that adds up to 12.6 million new jobs, so the critics stubbornly ignore reality.”

Obama used examples of ordinary Americans who could afford healthcare before the ACA to highlight reality.

President Obama added, “So five years in what we are talking about is no longer a law, it’s no longer just a theory. This isn’t even just about the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. This isn’t about myths or rumors that folks try to sustain. There is a reality that people on the ground day to day are experiencing. Their lives are better. This is now part of the fabric of how we care for one another. This is now healthcare in America, which is why when you get outside of Washington and leave behind the Beltway chatter and the politics, Americans support this new reality when you talk to people who are actually enrolled in a new marketplace plan. The vast majority of them like their coverage.”

Obama vowed not to go backward, and said, “There’s something deeply cynical about the ceaseless, endless partisan attempts to roll back progress. I mean I understood folks being skeptical or worried before the law passed, and there wasn’t a reality there to examine. Once you see millions of people having health care. Once you see all the bad things that were predicted didn’t happen, you’d think that it would time to move on, let’s figure out how to make it better. It seems so cynical to want to take coverage away from millions of people. To take care away from the people who need it the most.”

The message to Congressional Republicans was blunt. It is time to move forward and stop playing cynical partisan games. Although the President never mentioned them, this speech was clearly also aimed at the Supreme Court.

President Obama was arguing to the Court that if they rule against the subsidies, they will damaging the lives of millions of Americans.

Obama’s point was crystal clear. Whether Republicans like it or not, the Affordable Care Act is now a woven into the very fabric of the American health care system.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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