Lisa Benson for November 13, 2014

The ObamaCare architects finally admitted that they knew their supporters were really dumb and would swallow whatever Kool-aid they were given.Hey, at least that Dem admitted what us Republicans have been saying for 6 years now, really was right!

Americans: selfish, scared and stupid. The world is watching in open mouthed fascination.

The ACA was birthed amidst considerable spin and rhetoric from both sides, but the real crazy and inaccuracy was from the right.

@ReFlex-76

If your only measure of Obamacare is whether or not it helped the poor and disadvantaged then I would agree that it is a huge success.

Unlike you, though, many of us measure government programs by: How much they cost, who benefits and who pays, was there a less intrusive way to accomplish the same task, etc.

Any time the government enforces a mandate (read here “takes away freedoms”) the public should be very wary of what freedoms they are giving up.

I think a far better solution would be to create government clinics for those who can’t afford health insurance or to privately fund their own medical care and send the poor and indigent to those facilities. I agree that the poor should have access to medical care; I don’t believe they should have access to top notch medical care without paying for it. I believe the poor should have access to transportation which is why we have busses, cabs, and subways. I don’t believe they should be allowed to drive a Cadillac just because a rich guy gets to drive Cadillac.

Can it be that the conservatives prefer a pre-ACA world where 45,000 died of treatable conditions (about one every 12 minutes) because they could not afford medical coverage, and nothing is said? And yet they go apoplectic over one Ebola death if they can somehow blame Obama. The hypocrisy!

And the proof that Obamacare is better than any alternative is the absolute failure of conservatives to come up with an alternative. Obamacare IS the conservative alternative. The better way, of course, is single-payer; since all over the world it has been proved to be cheaper, more efficient, and gives better results than the private sector.

@Gypsy8

I haven’t had a chance to track down a full copy of what the man actually said. However, if what he says is true, the Administration pretty much blatantly practiced deception to get ACA passed. I agree healthcare needed to be reformed and that medical access should be given to all. However, by taking this route to get such a policy into place, it’s architects have pretty much doomed it to fail. The bigger issue for me is…and this is assuming Gruber hasn’t been misquoted… that one of the Parties decided it knew what was best for me, so that made it okay to lie to me. The fact that Gruber appears to be bragging about it really doesn’t help. And before someone responds with ‘…well the Repubs lie all the time too’ or some other inane retort, just because one side does it doesn’t mean it’s okay for the other side to do it.

^^^^^ And I’m sure if we spent 3 Trillion dollars buying poor people new Mercedes, that would also be beneficial to them.

I’m all for exploring solutions so that everyone can have accesss to decent medical care. I can’t get behind shameless manipulation. Not saying that is what happened here. I’m willing to keep an open mind and see what comes out of the inevitable debate and hearings that will come next. But the way this has been handled from the begining left a sour taste in my mouth. No political party or person should be able to lie and manipulate the American people and get away with it because ‘they meant well’.

Thanks for the reminder of some of the falsehoods used to promote the ACA. I am troubled by the acceptance by many on the left of the need to lie to the public to pass laws – they reveal a contempt for Americans and for our democratic system.-I would additionally note that a lot of the “success” of Obamacare consists of expanding Medicaid, which certainly was not what was advertised and which is certain to add to our already unsustainable budget deficit in year to come:-http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2555112

sizeofpea wrote ““I think a far better solution would be to create government clinics” yes the va is a great success // “But they are attacked, underfunded even have funding eliminated because they don’t support the right partisan agenda” BS they have their own tax revenue and the cost per patient is higher than other hospitals in the area.

Maybe someday someone will actually listen to some of the things Republicans say if they quit sounding so stupid when they say them. Buncha Kenyan, Muslim, Birthers. You know how plain stupid that makes you sound? Who is going to listen to that garbage? Oh yeah, Lisa Benson.

@SizeOfPea – Both sides of the Political Spectrum have their annecdotes for those that rely on Government aid and the Payer of taxes that supports that aid.

The Progressives tell us of all the Hard working poor who have just fallen on hard times. They also point to the Paris Hiltons as examples of why it’s OK to tax the money away from the rich because they just got lucky and inherited it.

The Conservatives tell us of all the Shiftless Lazy Dope Smoking Poor who lay about the house waiting for their Welfare check from the Guberment and about the 80 hour a week business owners who have to pay more in taxes to support them.

Both narratives are annecdotes and have some truth to them.

But before you tell me to get my head out of my a$$ and look around at all the working poor you see. I’ll tell you to do the same since I have to drive by Government housing to get to my place of business every day.

Now lets talk about the middle of the spectrum. It’s all fine and good for you to suggest that the rich pay more so that the working poor can get some help breaking into the middle class. I might even be inclined to agree with you if there weren’t a few problems.

1) The Federal Government has proven to be a VERY poor judge of who is deserving and who is not. I don’t know anyone who can’t point to a few layabouts in their town who have managed to get on SSDI and will never work again even though they are clearly not unable to work.

2) I don’t see the Federal government doing a lot to hold those aid recipients accountable for the consequences of their own behavior. Get Pregnant at 16 – we won’t judge you or scold you – No we will help you move out of your parents house and set you up in a flat with Foodstamps and rent assistance.

3) Quit school because it’s hard and makes you get up early every morning and mind the teacher. We will give you just as much guberment aid as the guy who worked hard for 20 years and lost his job because the company went out of business.

So when Conservatives suggest: Drug testing for Government aid Truency arrests for chronic school skippers Holding parents accountable for raising their kids right

Ask yourself if you can’t meet them half way. After all, we are talking about the middle of the political spectrum.