Krugman: Trashing ObamaCare Huge Political Mistake for Democrats
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The Democrats have never had a lot of courage, certainly not the courage of their own convictions. Politicians like Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu pandering to the electorate by pushing for the Keystone XL pipeline and siding with the Blue Dogs in favor of Big Oil. Then there’s venerable old pols like Pennsylvania’s Chuck Schumer trashing, of all things, ObamaCare. I don’t like hypocrites, but hypocrisy seems to be the watchword of the day as frantic Democrats try to distance themselves from the president and his signature legislation ahead of the 2016 election.
(Newser) Paul Krugman today marshals a slew of stats to make the case that ObamaCare has been a clear success story in its first year. And while he expects Republicans to continue thinking otherwise, he writes in the New York Times that it’s “disturbing” prominent Democrats such as Chuck Schumer are speaking out against it. In a recent speech to the National Press Club, Schumer argued that Democrats made a political mistake by focusing on health care instead of the economy as a whole. (You can watch the speech in full at C-SPAN.) The senator’s main point is that the law “only benefits a minority of Americans, and that’s not enough to win elections,” summarizes Krugman, who finds the thinking “deeply wrongheaded.”
For one thing, the reform doesn’t just help those who are currently uninsured but those who might be in the future because of a change or loss of job. And does Schumer really think that Republicans would have magically gone along with White House economic policies if ObamaCare disappeared? “We need to ask, what is the purpose of winning elections?” writes Krugman. “The answer, I hope, is to do good—not simply to set yourself up to win the next election.” Schumer and all Democrats should be celebrating this law, “the best thing they’ve done in decades,” not running from it. If they’d been doing that all along, “the politics of the issue might look very different today.” Click for the full column.
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I’m thinking it’s because the majority of the electorate views ObamaCare (ACA) in a negative light. That is what democratic pols are responding to. Obama was the ice breaker and had party support until the 2014 shellacking at the polls. Big game changer. Having and retaining power trumps principle every time. Even for democrats.
You and I have been saying this about the democrats for years Mike. We get ignored. Krugman says it and it’s like a revelation to the dipshits who allowed the democratic party to become the fractured, every elected official for himself jive turkey it is today.
Yeah. Krugman has that bully pulpit my friend.
Mike, you are so right my friend. The Democrats are a bunch of weasels in my opinion. I often criticize Republicans for their ignorance and their mean spirits but they do tend to be consistent. Democrats need to stand up for what they believe in and stop backing down. I try to be objective when reviewing subject matter but I also believe that this country was not founded on the basis of the rich get run rough shod over everyone else. Over 2000 years ago in the Code of Hammurabi it was established that the the strong should not be allowed to injure the weak, so this is not a new idea. The Democrats who propose to be the champions of the poor and the weak are, for the most part, not much good as heroes. We do not seem to be able to find people like Ted Kennedy anymore. The closest we have today is Bernie Sanders who is an Independent. I feel strongly that if the Democrats had embraced the policies of the president they would have fared better in the elections. Since the president took office we have come from the brink of economic disaster back to pretty good financial shape and it is getting better all the time. Had the Republicans work with the president on even part of the programs he proposed our economy would be in much better shape. Unfortunately, with the Republicans it has become a personal issue instead of a governmental issue.
Bill you are exactly right. It’s as if Obama’s election was taken as a personal affront to Republicans.