Obama’s Brilliant Move Deals A Blow To The GOP’s 2014 Hopes
With one brilliant political masterstroke, the Obama administration pulled the rug out from Republicans who were hoping to run against Obamacare in 2014.
An innocent looking blog post at the Department of the Treasury has turned the GOP’s strategy for the 2014 election on its ear. Mark J. Mazur wrote, “The Administration is announcing that it will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin. This is designed to meet two goals. First, it will allow us to consider ways to simplify the new reporting requirements consistent with the law. Second, it will provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees. Within the next week, we will publish formal guidance describing this transition.”
Republicans have been telegraphing since they lost the 2012 election that they intended to run against the employer mandate. John Boehner mentions Obamacare every week when he meets with the media for a reason. Republicans at both the congressional and state level can’t run on their economic records. They can’t run on their legislative records. Republicans were planning on making 2014 a replay of 2010 by focusing on Obamacare, but the White House kneecapped them with an announcement that nobody expected.
Republican former CBO director, Douglas Holtz-Eakin explained why this announcement was both a stunner and deviously brilliant, “Democrats no longer face the immediate specter of running against the fallout from a heavy regulatory imposition on employers across the land. Explaining away the mandate was going to be a big political lift; having the White House airbrush it from the landscape is way better. It helps with ObamaCare in other ways as well. The administration was flailing to find high-profile allies (e.g., the National Football League) to advertise the wonders of ObamaCare. In a single masterstroke it has given every company a reason to explain its existence (“don’t worry, you’ll be fine in the exchanges”) and created a de facto advertising campaign of enormous scale and reach. Deviously brilliant.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/02/obamas-brilliant-move-deals-blow-gops-2014-hopes.html
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Fucking awesome political move.
ACA is supposed to be the crowning achievement of his administration. It's supposed to help people (though I'm skeptical that herding people into for-profit corporate rolls under penalty of tax law is "help"
.
Now they're saying if it is in effect at the time of the mid-terms it will be politically damaging? Gee! I would have hoped if it had been in effect in time for the mid-terms it would have been politically advantageous. But that's just me, apparently.
Now this law, which they won't show you, as if it is an embarrassing new girlfriend, will come into play in time for the 2016 PRESIDENTIAL election. Why worry about giving the GOP the senate because we don't trust our own signature legislation when we can wait 2 years to give them the senate AND the White House?
Meanwhile, the GOP gets another 2 years to talk it down, obstruct it, nibble at the edges so by the time it does come into effect it absolutely will be the nightmare they claim it is.
This is not smart, this is cynical political calculation at the expense of those we are supposed to be helping.
Where is the public Option? Why do we not even have that available?
Why are we the only industrialized nation not to have some from of Single Payer, Universal Health Care?
What does the rest of the world know that we do not know? Apparently, quite a lot.
That is Obamacare on the left. Not much really changed from before, except more people are "covered".
On the right, what most of the rest of the world enjoys.
Yeah, it is pathetic, but who the attackers and the attackees are, are not who you seem to think they are.
Why do you want to re-debate this crap? PPACA is the LAW.
And to mcWor$e campaign?
And to anyone's campaign?
Maybe Obama didn't really want it because he already knew he would campaing again (in 2012)?
BWAHAHAHA!!!!!
How much are you paid? Where do I apply?
Brilliance indeed! Hell, why not go further and indefinitely postpone the entire ACA? Or, we could all become Republicans ... If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Last fall, I campaigned for the President's re-election motivated by the hope that the ACA might survive, and that I might, finally, be able to afford health insurance. Well, that's not happening to me (my income is too low to qualify for subsidies, and my state is not expanding Medicaid), and now it's not going to happen to those whose employers are suddenly exempt.
Fool I was to put any faith in the President and his corporatist wing of the Democratic Party.
. . . "See, it's so bad, he's too afraid to implement it."
Simple message one propaganda-ready sentence.
You're right. Brilliant.
