Think Progress - "How A Rand Paul Republican From Alabama Learned To Love Obamacare"

[TomCADem]

I do think it is surprising that so many folks, particularly those folks who have a bias against Democrats and President Obama, are signing up so soon after roll out. I have been holding off for a few days, because of the expectation that there might be some hiccups. Heck, I usually wait a few days or so before downloading the latest DLC expansion because there almost always some sort of opening glitch. Nonetheless, it is interesting to here how surprised some folks are the Obamacare actually helps them.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/04/2730801/joshua-pittman/

Joshua Pittman is a 31-year-old self-employed videographer from Montgomery, Alabama. A libertarian Republican who voted for Ron Paul in 2012 and believes that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is the future of the GOP, Pittman sees Barack Obama’s presidency as a “failure” who hasn’t lived up to the nation’s expectations.

But on Tuesday morning, Pittman logged on to HealthCare.gov and after some initial glitches and delays, successfully enrolled in a Bronze-level Obamacare health insurance plan. “It took me all day, really,” he says with a laugh. “It kicked me out and told me you have to try again, but I knew what I was getting into with so many people exploring it.”

Though he initially supported repealing the law, Pittman became curious about Obamacare in the days and weeks before it launched. For years, he had gone uninsured, thinking he’d be able to “get over anything with a bandaid and a six pack of beer.” But a lead poisoning incident earlier this year shook his confidence and bank account, leading him with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. “I was a healthy person and it really depleted me financially, so it made me look at things in a different way than I would before. I understood the importance of people being insured.”

“I’ve seen first hand people hitting up the emergency room for free health care and then putting a burden on [everyone else] and that’s not something I would want to do, I want to take personal responsibility … By no means am I trying to take a government handout…it’s not a free handout, you’re paying for this health care, but it’s making it more accessible to more people.”

[factsarenotfair]

1. He understood when it impacted HIM.

The question is--how do you make non-sociopaths understand that "no man is an island?" The sociopaths, of course, understand and don't care.

[Roland99]

4. EXACTLY! How many times have we heard and read that tale?

The lack of empathy in the Republican world these days is beyond comprehension.

[tanyev]

6. Yeah, I guess that explains why they think "bleeding-heart liberal" is an insult.

[ProSense]

2. Kick! n/t

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. Okay! Got to the first paragraph …

And this, jumped out:

“Joshua Pittman is a 31-year-old self-employed videographer from Montgomery, Alabama. A libertarian Republican who voted for Ron Paul in 2012 and believes that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is the future of the GOP, Pittman sees Barack Obama’s presidency as a “failure” who hasn’t lived up to the nation’s expectations.”

So what would an President Obama “’success(fully)’ liv(ing) up to the nation’s expectations” look like to a libertarian republican?

Okay … I can read the rest of the article now …

[Tseko]

7. He's disappointed that an Obama presidency didn't leave him destitute and dying in the street.

I wonder if he feels any cognitive dissonance at the prospect of a Paul presidency repealing Obamacare.

[1StrongBlackMan]

8. I really don't think ...

Last edited Tue Oct 8, 2013, 08:11 AM - Edit history (1)

libertarians think that far into the future.

Or, better ... I really think that libertarians know that their representatives will never be in a position to actually have to do legislation ... so they know they'll never have to live the hell that they believe to be heaven. It's alot like the 4th string player telling the 1st string what they should do ... because that's what they would do; if they ever got to dress for, let alone get in, the game.

{Edited to say: Ooops, I mis-read your post. You're probably right ... beck and limbaugh told him that an (President) Obama presidency would have good white folks , disarmed and in FEMA camps; but my position on libertarianism stands.}

[B Calm]

5. This is why republicans are upset, they know people will find out

they have been lying to them.

[Cha]

9. Another brainwashed Contarian gets a bit of his brain

back. You know this is killing those who want to kill Obamacare!

thanks Tom