Even left wing pundits admits that ACA is in trouble in its current form. The article assumes that the new government and congress want ACA to work or make sense. Hint - they don't care too much.
ACA was probably the greatest waste of political capital ever. It was a compromise of a compromise to begin with. The only good parts of it - the public option and the strong mandate (come on - it should have been part of the income tax) were removed.
I have a pet theory about Obama - that his ego failed him. He just refused believe until probably 2014 that he is not the unifying messiah. And that there could be people on which his oratory skills, charisma and talent of persuasion could not work. Especially post 2008 election, the Nobel Peace Price (hey only 2 open wars and 2 covert) and his total international adoration. That is why he wasted his best of trying to compromise with Republican, bring them on board, instead of ramming single payer healthcare down their throats (and the bush tax expiration and so on).
If you are going to pay a fixed political price for passing healthcare, you don't go with the compromise - you shoot with the big guns.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 12.7 ms ] threadACA was probably the greatest waste of political capital ever. It was a compromise of a compromise to begin with. The only good parts of it - the public option and the strong mandate (come on - it should have been part of the income tax) were removed.
I have a pet theory about Obama - that his ego failed him. He just refused believe until probably 2014 that he is not the unifying messiah. And that there could be people on which his oratory skills, charisma and talent of persuasion could not work. Especially post 2008 election, the Nobel Peace Price (hey only 2 open wars and 2 covert) and his total international adoration. That is why he wasted his best of trying to compromise with Republican, bring them on board, instead of ramming single payer healthcare down their throats (and the bush tax expiration and so on).
If you are going to pay a fixed political price for passing healthcare, you don't go with the compromise - you shoot with the big guns.