The Affordable Care Act was a great accomplishment, but it is NOT a sacred cow!
Anybody who is at all honest with himself or herself will acknowledge that, while certainly better than what preceded it, the ACA is FAR from ideal or perfect. Yes, more people are insured. That's a good thing. Yes, pre-existing conditions are covered. Ditto. But the very high deductibles and skyrocketing drug prices are, quite literally, killers for those who, like me, live with chronic conditions (Type II diabetes in my case) that require continuous medical supervision and maintenance in order to keep them under control.
Hillary has falsely claimed that Bernie Sanders will be putting the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid and S-CHIP at risk by pursuing single-payer. Look, if he tries and fails, all that means is that we are left with whatever is currently in place. But this notion that we cannot and should not even attempt to TRY to come up with better system amounts to despicable fear-mongering based on a despicable lie, all borne of desperation -- it is truly pathetic.
To those engaging in the various lines of attack on Sanders, all based on the common theme of what he will not possibly be able to achieve, and pointing to the Republican obstruction faced by President Obama in support of that assertion, I would pose this question: What, exactly, is the basis for your belief that Hillary, for whom GOP enmity is just as deep as that directed towards President Obama and is of much longer standing, will be any more able to push through her agenda? Let's face it: the Republican strategy of obstructing virtually everything this President has tried to do has been, with a few notable exceptions, wildly successful. Does anybody honestly think they will suddenly be inspired to reach across the aisle under a Hillary presidency?
For 35 years, the Democratic Party has watched -- no it has permitted -- this country drift further and further to the right. The relative midpoint on the political spectrum has shifted, and markedly so. Given that there seems to be no limit on how far right the GOP is willing to pull this country, then absent some serious pushback in the opposite direction -- something that simply cannot be accomplished when your starting point is at, or in some cases already over, the center line -- that rightward drift will continue.
It could well be that a President Sanders will find himself unable to accomplish many of the things he would like to do. Then again, it could be that the enthusiasm his campaign is generating could result in some rather long coattails that could potentially change the political outlook in Congress. I really don't see the possibility of significant coattails in a Hillary victory.
One thing of which I am absolutely certain: if voters do not begin to push hard at the polls for the kind of change most of them want and know we need, it is virtually assured that change will never come to pass!
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