President Obama has done more to help the poor and middle class than any President since LBJ

[Rilgin]

153. facts or opinion

In the words of Indigo Montoyo,"I do not think it means what you think it means" when you use the word "fact".

It is not a "fact" that the ACA was "real reform". It is your "opinion". It is my "opinion" that not only is the ACA not "real reform", but the ACA is 180 degrees from "real reform" since it permanently institutionalizes what I believe is the rot at the core of our health care system -- private insurance companies and the profit motive.

The only "fact" consists of the fact that Omaha pursued and ultimately signed the ACA which is not primarily a health care bill but an insurance bill. He did not pursue single payer and ultimately did not even get the health care bill he campaigned on which was NO MANDATE and public option. This might have led to single payer federal insurance.

As a fact, the ACA does not expand life-saving care, it mandates that US citizens buy private insurance. Whether that insurance gives more life saving care than emergency rooms remains to be seen. It does make sure that hospitals get paid.

As a bill that changes the insurance business, it is my "opinion" that it contains some good things. Some people will have insurance premiums subsidized. However, some others will end up paying more. Moreover, justifying a bad system and bill by pointing out some good side effects for some people has led to the enormous defense budget where every unnecessary weapon is not cut because of the "jobs" the system creates while we are going broke as system.

In addition, I have some real hesistation of whether the ACA will even work as insurance reform. It remains to be seen if the insurance that poor people can purchase is actually usable from a deductable standpoint. However, even if it does some good things versus the current system, it leaves in place insurance companies and gives them between 15% an 20% of all the money in the system. If you actually listen to state employees charged with implementing the exchanges (I listened to a 2 hour interview with the Califoria guy in charge), you will notice that government will have an enormous cost in implementing the system and will relieve the insurance companies of a lot of their maketing costs.

Last, I hope you are joking if you think a future single payer system would be Obama's legacy. Obama's legacy is the ACA. If sometime in the future, politicians and the Country decide to replace the ACA with a single payer system it will be those future people's legacies. Pointing out that one state has rejected the ACA approach and will implement a single payer system is not Obama's doing. His system and legacy is a system of mandated private insurance.