Tag Archives: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

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Doubling Down


By 

The GOP’s Anti-Obamacare Dead-Enders

The American people are not happy with the GOP for inflicting a government shutdown that cost $24 BILLION on the country in a failed and mean-spirited attempt to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans. A new memo from former Obama campaign pollster Joel Benenson presents an “array of public polling from a wide variety of outlets” demonstrating that the GOP’s effort to undermine Obamacare has hurt the party “on every front”:

– A Quinnipiac poll shows that 58% oppose Congress cutting off funding for the health care law to stop its implementation.

– Kaiser’s tracking poll has consistently found strong opposition to scrapping the health care law.  In late September, 56% disapproved of cutting off funding to the ACA.

– CBS / NY Times pollsters found 56% of voters want Congress to uphold the law and make it work as well as possible, compared to just 38% who want to stop it by defunding it.

– According to NBC/WSJ, only 39% support eliminating federal funding for the law while 50% oppose.

– In Gallup’s recent polling, just 29% want the law repealed, while 64% want it kept as it is, or kept with some changes.

– Even Tea Party supporters knew the Republican strategy was doomed, with a Fox News poll showing that 54% believed that the ACA would remain the law in spite of attempts to defund it.

In view of the unpopularity of their strategy and complete and total failure of the GOP to accomplish anything with their 16-day shutdown (other than sabotaging the economy and causing pain for millions of Americans) and more than 40 Obamacare repeal votes, one would think they’d shift gears.

One would be wrong. Even after the disastrous shutdown, the most prominent Obamacare opponents are simply doubling down on their failed campaign against the law:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): The Tea Party lawmaker was the primary architect of the GOP’s shutdown strategy. But now that it’s failed, Cruz won’t admit defeat. “I would do anything, and I will continue to do anything, to stop the train wreck that is Obamacare,” he said on Thursday. He has also hinted that he hasn’t ruled out pushing for another government shutdown over Obamacare.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA): Vitter tried to use the funding negotiations to push through an Obamacare-related amendment that would ultimately force Congress members and their staff to pay more for their health plans under the law. He was unsuccessful, and the final agreement didn’t include his amendment. But Vitter isn’t fazed and promises to keep pushing to amend the law anyway. “I’m not going away, and this issue is certainly not going away,” Vitter said on Fox News this week.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL): Speaking on the Senate floor over the summer, Rubio told his colleagues that shutting down the government represented “our last chance and our last best chance” to undermine Obamacare. Now, the senator is saying that Republicans will keep fighting anyway. This week, he told Fox News that there is going to an “all-out revolt” next year, once the rest of Obamacare’s major provisions take root. “And that is, I think, the moment to absolutely act and say we are going to get rid of this law and then look for opportunities in the future to replace it,” Rubio said.

The Heritage Foundation: During the shutdown battle, Heritage’s political arm told its supporters that it needed their support because “we only have one more chance to repeal Obamacare.” The group didn’t deliver. Now, Heritage is simply assuring its supporters that it won’t stop fighting the law. The group’s president, Jim DeMint, published an op-ed this week claiming that most Americans’ lives “are not dominated by the electoral cycle,” so those people “shouldn’t have to wait three more years for Congress to give them relief from this law.”

FreedomWorks: The right-wing group recently claimed that shutting down the government “may be the last best chance to defund Obamacare before it goes into effect.” Rather than adjusting their strategy, the group is now planning rallies to discourage young Americans from signing up for health coverage. The group says that Obamacare will still be a losing issue for Democrats up for re-election in red states — although outside polling has shown that the shutdown fiasco has made more than a dozen House seats more winnable for Democrats.

BOTTOM LINE: Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. The American people are sending Republicans a message loud and clear: stop the insanity on Obamacare.

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900,000


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GOP Crises Alone Have Killed 900,000 Jobs

After shutting down the government for over two weeks in a failed attempt to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans, the prospect of a catastrophic economic shutdown caused by an unprecedented default on our obligations has finally brought enough Republicans to their senses. A bipartisan deal negotiated by senators to re-open the government and avoid a default appears set to pass both the House and the Senate this evening.

President Obama and Democrats stood strong and refused to grant Republicans any of their ransom demands in exchange for Congress agreeing to simply do its job, but unfortunately the series of crises manufactured by the GOP over the past few years has already taken a terrible toll on the economy.

A new report out yesterday pins the number of jobs killed by the GOP’s government-by-crisis strategy over the past few years at 900,000.

As ThinkProgress notes, the report also finds that the painful and unnecessary austerity spending cuts (themselves largely imposed by the GOP using crises and threats) in place have cost us more than a million jobs:

The report also finds that cuts to discretionary spending from 2011 to the present have cost the country 1.2 million jobs and 0.7 percentage points of GDP growth. About three-quarters of the $2.4 trillion in total deficit reduction enacted since the fall of 2010 was in the form of spending cuts. The Peterson-commissioned estimate of what that steep reduction in government expenditures has cost is a bit more conservative than previous estimates by other economists, but only slightly less negative.

This graphic from our Center for American Progress colleagues illustrates how many more Americans would have jobs in a world without austerity:

WorldWithoutAusterity

Finally, a different report out this evening finds the current shutdown crisis pulled $24 BILLION out of the economy and will slash more than a half-percentage off GDP growth.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s time for Republicans to stop trying to govern by crisis, hostage-taking, and extortion. The fight over the debt limit is over. Period. It’s now time for us to come to a long-term agreement on the budget that gets rid of the damaging sequester cuts and is instead focused on our real problems: jobs and economic growth.

It’s also time for Speaker Boehner to abandon his failed attempts to appease the extreme Tea Party wing of the GOP and instead seek a bipartisan governing majority focused on doing what’s best for our country, including the passage of immigration reform with a pathway to earned citizenship.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

Houston Chronicle regrets endorsing Ted Cruz.

POLLS: Shutdown hurting GOP Senate chances, even in red states.

Right-wing group that orchestrated shutdown overt Obamacare now admits that “everybody knows” Obamacare can’t be repealed.

Ted Cruz admits the shutdown was all about building email fundraising lists.

Anti-tax crusader says defunders owe conservatives an apology.

Senate Republicans: GOP didn’t get anything out of shutdown.

Tea Party already seeking purge of non-extremists in 2014.

Tea Party congresswoman who voted to shut down the government now wants billions in disaster aid.

More than five million poor Americans won’t get health coverage because of the GOP’s refusal to expand Medicaid.

Black History

the Senate considers S.1569,a bill to ensure the complete and timely CR payment ~~ CONGRESS 10/11 ~~ the House considers H.R. 2642 relating to crop insurance.”


refpr,

The Senate stands adjourned until 10:30am on Friday, October 11, 2013.

Following the prayer and pledge, it is expected the Majority Leader will renew his motion to proceed to S.1569, a bill to ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government until December 31, 2014.

Following Leader remarks, the Senate will recess subject to the call of the Chair to allow for a Republican special caucus with the President.

During Thursday’s session of the Senate, cloture was filed on the motion to proceed to S.1569.  Unless an agreement can be reached, that cloture vote will occur one hour after the Senate convenes on Saturday.

After the Senate convened this morning, Senator Reid renewed his motion to proceed to S.1569, Default Prevention Act of 2013 (extends debt limit until December 31, 2014). As a reminder, yesterday he filed cloture on the motion to proceed. Barring an agreement, that cloture vote will occur one hour after the Senate convenes on Saturday.

 The Senate stands in recess subject to the call of the Chair in order to allow Senate Republicans to meet with President Obama at the White House.

The Senate has reconvened and is debating the motion to proceed to S.1569, the Default Prevention Act of 2013 (debt limit through December 31, 2014). Senators are permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

At 12:00 noon on Saturday, October 12, there will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S.1569, Default Prevention Act of 2013 (debt limit through December 31, 2014).

WRAP UP

No ROLL CALL VOTES

 

LEGISLATIVE ITEMS

Began the Rule 14 process of H.J.Res.79, Border Security and Enforcement Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014.

No EXECUTIVE ITEMS

*******************************************************************

Last Floor Action:
9:03:04 A.M. – ONE MINUTE SPEECHES – The House proceeded with one minute speeches, which by direction of the Chair would be limited to 5 per side of the aisle.

———————————————————————————–

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Meet Butch


ThinkProgress

Dear Friend,

The new health care marketplaces established by Obamacare opened on October 1, and they’ve already had an incredible impact.

Last week, ThinkProgress brought you the story of a man named Butch Matthews. He’s an Arkansas Republican and former small business owner, never liked Obamacare, but he learned to love the law when he found out it would save him $13,000 a year.

Still, the tea party in Congress have used misinformation about Obamacare to justify shutting down the government. Now, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are going without a paycheck.

So, before I go on, I just want to say: If you’re affected by the shutdown, then ignore this email. We understand, you can’t give during this difficult time. Thank you for your service.

But if you aren’t affected and you count on our coverage, then we need you. We have plans to expand our work during this critical time, but need to hit our $25,000 goal in the next week to put them into action.

Click here to give $5 or more so ThinkProgress can keep bringing you stories like Butch’s. We can’t do this work without your help.

Part of the reason we have this government shutdown is because so many people are misinformed about the impact of Obamacare. Good information will help lead us out of the crisis. That’s why stories like Butch Matthews’ matter so much, and that’s why we need to redouble our efforts.

We want to keep finding the people like Butch who tell us the real story of Obamacare, but we need the funding to do that. Without ThinkProgress on the case, these stories simply will not be told.

Even as little as $5 can make a difference, so act right now if you value our hard-hitting coverage. We need your support to hit our $25,000 goal.

Donate $5 or more so ThinkProgress can fight back against the conservative misinformation machine. We can get the truth out, but only with your help.

It’s not enough to bemoan the conservative misinformation machine—fight back!

Please give what you can—together we cut through the DC echo chamber with the stories of real people and an unflinching commitment to the truth.

Sincerely,

Tom Perriello

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Think Progress … and #ACA


By 

Yes, People Are Enrolling In Obamacare

Obamacare enrollment has been open for nearly three days now, and the initial interest has been staggering. Millions of people have checked out the health exchange websites, both for the federal exchange at healthcare.gov, and the state exchanges. And while it’s no surprise that opponents of the law are quick to claim that glitches and wait times associated with the demand indicate some kind of failure, the truth is plain: people want to learn more about the law, and people are signing up.

Over at Think Progress, Tara Culp-Ressler has a round-up of five people who have successfully signed up for Obamacare online:

Leslie Foster from California: 28-year-old Foster enrolled in California’s state-run exchange on Tuesday night, when traffic was a little slower and the site worked better. He told the Wall Street Journal that he settled on his choice on Wednesday morning. Foster is eligible for federal subsidies and will only end up paying about $62 each month for his new insurance plan. “It’s a great deal,” he said. He noted that people on other places have been experiencing more glitches, and said he’s glad that his state embraced health reform. “I’m grateful for being in California. They were definitely ahead of the ball,” he said.

Chad Henderson from Georgia: 21-year-old Henderson successfully enrolled in his state’s federally-run exchange early Tuesday morning. Hetold Wonkblog that he wanted to be one of the first people to sign up for Obamacare because he had read a few articles that said young people would be critical to the health law’s success, and “really just wanted to do my part to help out with the entire process.” He did experience delays with the HealthCare.gov site, and waited about three hours before he could create an account. But he said it was “pretty smooth sailing” from there, and enrolled in a plan with a $175 monthly premium.

Bill Henderson from Georgia: Chad Henderson’s father, Bill, also enrolled in Georgia’s exchange on Tuesday morning. In an interview with the Huffington Post, the younger Henderson said his dad has been uninsured for years, remarking, “I can’t remember a time when my dad has gone to the doctor. He’s just sucked it up.” The two enrolled in separate plans even though Obamacare allows Chad to remain on Bill’s plan until he turns 26. Chad said his father wanted him to take responsibility for his own insurance plan.

Kathy Kanak from Illinois: On Wednesday evening, Kanak tweeted that she had successfully enrolled in a plan on her state’s partnership exchange. Illinois worked with the federal government to set up its insurance marketplace, so Kanak used the federal HealthCare.gov site to enroll. “Success at Healthcare.gov! I’m enrolled!” she tweeted around6:50 pm on Wednesday, adding, “Just took patience. Works great once you are in. People at phone center answered right away and were so nice!”

Leslie Peters from Rhode Island: Peters, who has been uninsured for five years due to her pre-existing conditions, was one of the first people to enroll on Rhode Island’s state-run exchange. She said she was “chompin’ at the bit” to sign up, and was surprised at how easy it ended up being. Peters didn’t encounter website glitches and completed the process in about 15 minutes. “It feels great to know I will soon have insurance and not have to worry about this anymore,” she told Kaiser Health News. “Not having insurance is something I worried about all the time.”

BOTTOM LINE: Republicans fear the successful implementation of Obamacare so much that they are willing to shut down the government over it. But even the government shutdown can’t stop the enrollment process and can’t stop people from getting affordable health care coverage. Obamacare is here to stay.