Dear Democrats,

[babylonsister]

Dear Democrats,

You cannot run from Obamacare. Do not try.

Embrace it. Defend it. Be proud of it.

Seriously, the Democratic Party tried and failed to pass universal health care for 60 years.

The Affordable Care Act is the most significant victory for liberalism since the creation of Medicare. It is the legacy not just of Barack Obama, but of FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton, and millions of other Democrats who never sat in the Oval Office.

If you don't stand up for your own achievement, you're going to be in a world of hurt this November.

Sincerely,
Mother Jones

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/03/democrats-are-world-hurt-if-they-keep-running-obamacare

[polichick]

1. Good advice.

[treestar]

2. Yes

Hopefully it will be working out and enough people will have benefited from it by that time.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

3. The perfect is the enemy of the good.

Can't be said enough.

[passiveporcupine]

7. K&R your comment!

[mountain grammy]

29. now that's good! the perfect is the enemy of the good.

[AgingAmerican]

56. 'Better' is the enemy of the third way

nt

[GoCubsGo]

4. Yep. Don't defend it...

Run on improving it--as in pushing for single payer. I say that as someone who will fall through the cracks, thanks to a filthy, crooked republican governor, who put her own political interests ahead of those of the people of the state she allegedly governs by turning down the Medicare expansion, and by refusing to set up insurance exchanges.

[babylonsister]

8. When this first got passed, that was the plan, to

continue to improve it. It would have been so much cheaper, I'm thinking, to go with universal healthcare, but that wasn't going to happen.
And I feel your pain; GA won't go for Medicaid yet. It makes me wonder how on earth these pols can say they're representing their constituencies when they're fighting against them. If only more people would pay attention and let go of their preconceived ideas, i.e., anyone with an (r) behind their name is working for them. What a lie.

[Pirate Smile]

13. If Dems/Liberals just say "It sucks, single payer". That's not helping at all.

That was the point The Nation was trying to make. It isn't defending it. If people help Republicans weaken the ACA by constantly bashing it, you won't be getting single payer any time soon. We will just be going backward.

[GoCubsGo]

14. Yep.

I don't think it "sucks". I just consider it a stepping stone to single payer. And, that's the case that needs to be made to liberals (and everyone else, for that matter), along with the fact that the republicans want to take away that stepping stone. Lots of people are better off now than they ever were, and that needs to be highlighted as often as possible.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

27. Thank you!!! I'm going to copy and paste on my post what you just said:

That was the point The Nation was trying to make. It isn't defending it. If people help Republicans weaken the ACA by constantly bashing it, you won't be getting single payer any time soon. We will just be going backward.

[ProSense]

5. Yes, but

The Affordable Care Act is the most significant victory for liberalism since the creation of Medicare. It is the legacy not just of Barack Obama, but of FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton, and millions of other Democrats who never sat in the Oval Office.

...some Democrats are running scared because of the barrage of anecdotal BS (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/koch-obamacare-ad-politifact-false) designed to shift focus from the tremendous benefits of the law.

Obamacare: It's Obama's signature achievement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024695694

[wandy]

6. Stand up for this achievement. The ACA is just the first step..................

This is why they throw so muck money at complaining about it.
This is why the lie factories work overtime.
This is why they are afraid of it.

Obamacare hurts the bottom line! Obamacare hurts the profits.
And................

The ACA is just the first step towards universal health care.

[Whisp]

11. +

[Feral Child]

53. Absolute agreement, Wandy.

It isn't perfect, but it's better than what we had, + it's successes will lead to acceptance and eventual UHC.

[sheshe2]

9. Yes indeed, embrace it, damn-it! Run with it.

Do not let the GOP drag us back into the dark ages.

Let's win the seats we need to make this law better and stronger for all the people!

Thanks bsister!

[Whisp]

10. Great timing. K&R.

[WillyT]

12. K & R !!! - And...

DULink: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024685609

Link: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2014/03/its-time-for-democrats-to-embrace-obamacare.html

[Auntie Bush]

15. My D-i-L just told me last night they (small business owner) saved $700. per month with Obamacare.

[Terra Alta]

16. Democrats should run commercials highlighting Obamacare success stories.

At the same time, they should be explaining why a single payer system would be better for us all.

If the Democrats continue to let Republicans redefine Obamacare, it will have disastrous results in November.

[napkinz]

47. re "Democrats should run commercials highlighting Obamacare success stories" ...

The Koch Brothers are funding commercials that feature distortions, lies, and bogus claims coming from ignorant victims, political operatives, or actors.

Well have REAL PEOPLE, WITH REAL STORIES. Where are our commercials?

Below is a handful of success stories. And there are thousands more! IMAGINE an ad blitz for the next eight months, TV ads that feature these real-life success stories:

source: https://www.facebook.com/acasuccessstories

see also: https://twitter.com/ACASuccessStory

[snort]

49. Thanks for posting this

[Peacetrain]

17. Amen and amen!

[Boom Sound 416]

18. What does Axlerod say?

'A pimple on the ass of happiness.'

(Not really sure if it applies here)

[babylonsister]

19. I like him, but I don't know what he says.

He probably thinks Dems should embrace Obamacare.

[albino65]

20. Huzzah! n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

21. Oh, bullshit...

I don't care what Mother Jones says.

Caved in before even negotiated. Should have held out for single payer for all (Medicare for ALL!)

Next...

[babylonsister]

35. Yawn. Would never have been passed. THIS is happening.

It's a good thing, nea, a great thing, after all these years.

[MrMickeysMom]

43. That might be true, were it 1977...

By the way, yawning is good for cerebral circulation. Meanwhile, the health insurance industry, continues under the ACA to keep the cost of management over the most expensive diseases unattainable for those suffering from respiratory, cardiac and mental illness. Are the insurance companies suffering? I think not.

The solution here "on the way to single payer" might be something that a safety net or a hand up could assist with during a time of economic growth, but we're not supplying the good jobs to make that happen. In other words, we are already at crisis level. We've had years and years and years of opportunity to make this happen until the point where it HAS to happen to avoid a lot more Americans suffering.

You don't get to pass judgement over something until you see it first hand. I don't see any economic growth outside of the damned XL pipeline going in, states where I live caving into fracking and the financiers who continue being criminal about who pays for that giant sucking sound and who's left holding a bag of shit.

[red dog 1]

46. +1

[totodeinhere]

51. Yes. n/t

[blkmusclmachine]

22. In other words ... THANK GAWD for the Heritage Foundation!!!

[zeemike]

23. Dear Democrats.

If you spend all of you money and political capital on defending something that the GOP has spent millions on already to discredit it you will lose.

But instead of presenting solutions and populous idea that the average person wants... you take the defensive position that only will make you look weak....and besides they have many millions more they can spend than you do.....and people are hungry for change, that should have been obvious when Obama ran and won on it.

But what do I know, I am just a poor schmuck voter like most of the voters you want to vote for you...I did not study political science at a major university so you can take this for what it is worth...and it is just my opinion.

[LWolf]

24. Run from it? No. Embrace it? No. It's not that simplistic. nt

[babylonsister]

33. So what is your solution? nt

[totodeinhere]

52. Single payer. I'm tired of hearing that it can't be passed. It has widespread support among ordinary

people. Every single Democrat running in November needs to run on a platform of adopting single payer.

[LWolf]

54. Which one?

I've got a broad selection, ranging from ideal to more likely to happen in the greedy U.S.

Any real answer would involve several of them interacting together; there is no one real "solution." The ACA does not address the root of the issue, which is why it is not a part of a good long term solution. We, unfortunately, ARE a capitalistic nation; that's the root of the problem.

For health care and ALL OTHER VITAL SERVICES, profit has to be removed as the driving factor, or any factor at all, in the equation.

That can be done in a variety of ways. It doesn't have to suddenly turn us into a socialist nation. It does have to take those vital services out of the for-profit sector.

Any good, long-term answer to our health care needs has to be focused on people, health, and care. Not profit. Not the insurance industry.

My ultimate answer is a fully public, universal, national health care system FREE AT POINT OF SERVICE TO ALL and paid for entirely through taxes. Take the insurance industry, and any need for insurance, out of the mix and focus on access to whatever care is needed. Insurance doesn't guarantee affordable care, and the more "affordable" the insurance, the more costly, thus less accessible, the actual care.

Meanwhile, we could be exploring different avenues to get there. Medicare for all is one avenue, although I'd like to see Medicare simplified so that it simply paid for whatever care was needed without requiring people to pay more of their limited SS for extra insurance and still not get needed care because of copays and deductibles. Medicare is helping my senior citizen mom pay for her care, but it AND her supplemental insurance together don't cover all of her costs.

That's how I'm spending today; I'm leaving in a few minutes to provide care-taking for my mom, just released from the hospital yesterday, because everything she had to cover HER part of the expenses for her surgery doesn't leave enough for the extra it costs for after-care. We're taking turns taking days off from work and scheduling shifts to do that for her, each of us eating a loss of income to do so ourselves.

My son, who has insurance acquired through the ACA, is taking the night shifts with my mom. He can't afford to miss any work, because he's trying to pay his own medical bills. Bills that insurance did not cover. So he's working each day and spending each night with her.

We'll never truly "solve" health CARE in the U.S. until insurance and profit are not part of that solution. The primary purpose of insurance is to limit care in service to their bottom line.

[totodeinhere]

55. God bless you for taking the extra effort to care for your mom.

Yes you shouldn't have to do it. Single payer should be taking care of all of that. But in the mean time I'm sure that there are panty of other needy seniors who wish they had a child like you.

[babylonsister]

69. I did mean what is your realistic solution. I think now this

is it, subject to change drastically for the better. Yes, it should have been universal, but there's lots of room for improvement, and I do think that idea would be receptive. Maybe. Too many people are invested in what's going on now; time to improve it and really piss the rethugs off!

[LWolf]

70. A realistic solution

needs to be about care, not about insurance. If insurance has to be part of those first steps, so be it. But mandating insurance, and helping to pay for SOME insurance, doesn't mean people are getting affordable CARE.

[Puzzledtraveller]

41. People really think it's that simple.

[LWolf]

50. Not all people think much or well, lol. nt

[bluestate10]

25. Republicans don't have workable ideas on how to bring down healthcare costs

and make affordable healthcare available to every American. Democrats must take it to those assholes. No company, large or small will continue to insure workers if healthcare costs keep rising at the rate they were before the ACA. Democrats must explain why the ACA is good in terms of economics, if republicans take control of all of Congress, Americans will pay more for healthcare, period and our nation's ability to compete with nations that have healthcare reform implemented will be severely damaged. Joe and Jane Sixpack must be brought to understand that if they help elect republicans, they will be throwing money out of their pockets and will damage the economic and social futures of their children and grandchildren.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

26. Thank you!!! nt

[spanone]

28. thanks babylonsister...k&r...

[Iliyah]

30. K & R!

[mountain grammy]

31. Yes, run on Obamacare, run on clean air and water, run on regulating the dirty polluters..

run on raising the minimum wage and expanding Medicare and Medicaid to dental and vision. And for once and for all, run on raising taxes on the filthy rich. Run on it all! Shout it out! Give people something to vote for!

I'm sending another donation to Andy Romanoff running against that lying teabagger Coffman in Colorado's sixth and this summer I'll work for him. That's his platform. We're gonna win! People are sick of the bullshit.

[babylonsister]

40. Yea mountain grammy! nt

[Doctor_J]

32. Dems don't usually do that well running in support of corporate Republican policies

Last edited Thu Mar 20, 2014, 11:03 PM - Edit history (1)

though this is a strange year, and there is nothing of note on the populist side to run on. Also I don't think the ACA should be called "the legacy of FDR". It is as far from social security as an be.

[pastime]

34. amen sister!

That's good advice for ALL of us!!
Sing the praises of Obamacare!!

[rhett o rick]

36. Dear Democrats running for office in 2014. You have to make a choice. Blather about the

status quo and take your chances or tell the American people what they need to hear. Tell the American people that you will not kiss the asses of Corp-America, that you will be a voice of the people and not Wall Street.

[Doctor_J]

37. It's going to be tough to sell that one

given the last 6 years.

[babylonsister]

42. Yes. Sigh. So you're angry about that, I trust. nt

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

38. *forgot to give props to the Heritage Foundation for the blueprint

[babylonsister]

39. And SO? Yawn. Get a grip. nt

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

44. Sorry, is that news to you?

Need that grip?

[babylonsister]

48. The rumor isn't news, but this might be news to you...

http://prospect.org/article/no-obamacare-wasnt-republican-proposal#.UsbE7mQQZwo

No, Obamacare Wasn't a "Republican" Proposal

[AgingAmerican]

57. The idea of an 'individual mandate' originated with the Heritage Foundation

"In 1989 the idea for the "individual mandate" that every household obtain adequate health care was proposed by a conservative think tank known as the Heritage Foundation and supported in congress by high profile republicans Newt Gingrich, Orin Hatch and Charles Grassley in 1993."

Original 1989 document where Heritage Foundation created Obamacare’s individual mandate

Why Republicans Have No Business Being Upset About Obamacare

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

61. This is my favorite rebuttal to you

because it's on RT

Proof - The Heritage Foundation Flip Flop on ObamaCare. 3 October '11

http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2011/11/transcript-thom-hartmann-big-picture-proof-heritage-foundation-flip-flop-obamacare-3-oc


This isn't a battle worth having with you and I didn't expect you to pursue it. I was merely noting that Obama framed the ACA around the Heritage Foundation's blueprint in order to peel away Independents and moderates. It worked, and as a result, we wound up with this POS legislation which is an improvement over the way we had been doing things.

For a lefty, it's like voting for a Third Way candidate. It's not something I would otherwise do, but I will because the alternative is much worse.

[Rex]

45. I've said this from the beginning, it seperates bosses control over their workers healthcare

as a tool of intimidation. That alone is why the GOP has tried to repeal it 50 times! THEY HATE THAT! How dare the working class get some...equality!

That is progress in itself imo.

OH BTW, we are taking back the House in 2014 and keeping the Senate. Plan ahead!

[Iliyah]

58. In ten years GOPers will claim that ACA was theirs

and their base will totally believe it and that it was the Dems who repealed it over 50 times.

Hate Obamacare all you want, don't get covered and try to avoid the taxes, I don't care, but please don't try and take it away from others who really do need health care.

[yurbud]

59. Republicans never admit that they have done something wrong, and Democrats apologize when they do

something right.

[LynneSin]

60. and when elected find ways to IMPROVE it

ACA is a good step forward but we have a long ways to go.

[lexington filly]

62. I believe, don't defend---brag about ACA!

It's our foot in the door to joining every other industrial nation in providing health care for all. I was so disappointed we didn't get the whole shebang in one fell swoop and initially felt bitter in my grief. I'm well over that and am looking forward. I don't think anything will be accomplished if one chooses to just sulk.

I love the saying, "If you don't want to be a doormat, get off the floor." To me that means being active, voting, getting others to vote, and supporting candidates that will take the AFC act to the next step.

[Cha]

63. Yeah, so quite trying to kill it with ignorance.

[Swede Atlanta]

64. I will not run from it BUT I will acknowledge it is not perfect.....

We cannot pretend it is perfect....even as something other than single payer it is not perfect.

I continue to read and hear stories of people who are being "screwed" under the ACA. These anomalies must be fixed. The problem is the Republicans will do NOTHING to improve it. The only thing they will support is repeal.

I predict the Republicans will take back a few seats in the House and likely will take control of the Senate because Democrats are hiding. I don't see anyone on the Democratic side, especially for the Senate, to have a plan that may succeed. What are they doing to attract electable candidates?

If the Rs take the Senate it is game over. Justice Ginsburg will retire and the Rs will never let anything other than another corporatist that hates people onto the court.

[napkinz]

65. exposing the GOP (Republican governors refusing medicaid expansion = death panels)

REPORT: 27,000 Will Die Because Republican States Refuse To Expand Medicaid

http://www.nationalmemo.com/report-27000-will-die-because-republican-states-refuse-to-expand-medicaid/


Harvard Study: States' Medicaid expansion refusal will kill thousands

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/31/1270171/-Harvard-Study-States-Medicaid-expansion-refusal-will-kill-nbsp-thousands

[napkinz]

66. House Republicans still trying to repeal Obamacare, 5 million would lose coverage

As Enrollment Passes 5 Million, GOP Still Trying to Repeal Obamacare

http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14980/as-enrollment-passes-5-million-gop-still-trying-to-repeal-obamacare

[gulliver]

67. Yep. It's a great stick to beat up Republicans with.

Republicans think we won't use the ACA against them. They think we will forget they shut down the government to try to stop something that probably did good for someone in the extended family of every single voter in America.

They wish.

[napkinz]

68. kick

nt