Former President Barack Obama mocked Republicans in a speech on Wednesday for repeated efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, his signature health care law also known as Obamacare.
“The legislation that we passed was full of things that still needed to be fixed,” Obama said at an event hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in New York City.
“It wasn’t perfect, but it was better,” he continued. “And when I see people trying to undo that progress for the 50th or 60th time with bills that would raise costs or reduce coverage or roll back protections for older Americans or people with preexisting conditions — the cancer survivor, the expecting mom or the child with autism or asthma, for whom coverage would once again be unattainable — it is aggravating.”
“All of this being done without any demonstrable economic or actuarial or plain common sense rationale, it frustrates,” Obama said. “It’s certainly frustrating to have to mobilize every couple of months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents.”
Obama said Wednesday that the people who worked on drafting the Affordable Care Act weren’t just politicians and “policy wonks” but parents “who had the experience of a sick child or crushing medical bills that threatened to bankrupt them.”
“And for the first time, more than 90 percent of Americans know the security of health insurance,” he said. “Paying more for insurance or being denied insurance because of a preexisting condition or because you are a woman, that’s not a thing anymore. We got rid of that and people are alive today because of it, and that’s progress.”
“Those of you who live in countries that already have universal health care are trying to figure out what’s the controversy here,” he said. “I am too.”
I think that these are the strongest statements that Obama has made on this topic so far, but I hope they are only the beginning because I think he really needs to fight to protect the progress he made while in office, or it will be erased for good.
The good news for him is the the Left has been mobilized:
The liberal activists roused into the streets by President Donald Trump are revving up for one last campaign to save Obamacare.
The sudden resurgence of Republicans’ repeal push appeared to catch Democrats and their base by surprise. But ahead of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plans to vote next week on a new bill to dismantle the health law, the Democratic grass roots is on what one leading activist called “full war footing.”
From a new six-figure advertising campaign by the pro-Obamacare group Save My Care to a flurry of rallies planned on the ground, the left is throwing everything it can at the new repeal bill from Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
"The reality is that the progressive coalition has never been more unified or determined than they are right now,” Organizing for Action spokesman Jesse Lehrich said in an interview.
Well that is good news indeed.
If you yourself have not yet joined the fight then please try to find local groups to join, or at the very least send those emails and make those phone calls to Senators, both Republican and Democrat, and tell them how important Obamacare is to you and your family.
Somebody the other day mentioned that they did not think phone calls worked, but the reports from the Senate are that they are currently overwhelmed with calls, and Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins both mentioned that phone calls and emails from their constituents helped to shape their votes last time around.
So yes, your voice does make a difference.
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