Dems Don’t Regret ObamaCare, But Working Families Do

June 28, 2012

If Given Another Chance, Democrats Say They Would Ram Through ObamaCare All Over Again Despite Its Crushing Economic Toll

As Americans await a Supreme Court decision on ObamaCare today, Democrats have made clear that they don’t regret passing their government healthcare takeover and would do it all over again.
The Democrats’ blind allegiance to ObamaCare is an insult to the working families who have been forced to shoulder its painful costs.
It’s no wonder then that polls continue to show sky-high opposition to ObamaCare, but so far that hasn’t mattered to Democrats who have taken every opportunity to keep their government healthcare takeover in place.

As Americans await a Supreme Court decision on ObamaCare today, Democrats have made clear that they don’t regret passing their government healthcare takeover and would do it all over again:

“2010 DEM LOSERS: NO REGRETS ON HEALTH CARE VOTE”: (Kate Nocera, “2010 Dem Losers: No Regrets on Health Care Vote,” Politico, 6/27/2012)

“VIRTUALLY NO SECOND-GUESSING” AMONG DEFEATED DEMOCRATS: (Kate Nocera, “2010 Dem Losers: No Regrets on Health Care Vote,” Politico, 6/27/2012)

STUDY: OBAMACARE COST DEMOCRATS THE HOUSE: “And a new study suggests it cost the Democrats something pretty specific: their House majority. … The study, by five professors from institutions across the country, looks at the health care bill alongside other contentious votes in the 111th Congress and determines that, more so than the stimulus or the cap-and-trade energy bill, it cost Democrats seats. In fact, they lost almost exactly the number of seats that decided the majority.” (Aaron Blake, “Study Shows Health Care Bill May Have Cost Democrats the House,” The Washington Post, 3/9/2012)

OBAMA ON OBAMACARE: “IN MY SECOND TERM, I GUESS I’LL PASS IT AGAIN”: “Though the White House continues to maintain official silence on contingency plans, Mr. Obama hinted at his thinking a few weeks ago. ‘In my first term, we passed health care reform,’ he began a joke at the White House Correspondents Dinner in April. ‘In my second term, I guess I’ll pass it again.’”(Jodi Kantor, “Wearing Brave Face, Obama Braces for Healthcare Ruling,” The New York Times, 6/23/2012)

OBAMA: “MAY HAVE TO REVISIT” OBAMACARE IN SECOND TERM:“President Barack Obama is confiding to Democratic donors that he may have to revisit the health-care issue in a second term, a position at odds with his publicly expressed confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold the Affordable Care Act, according to three Democratic activists.” (Hans Nichols, “Obama Tells Donors Health-Care Fight May Loom After Court Rules,” Bloomberg, 5/31/2012)

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA (D-AZ): “THE EFFORT [TO BRING BACK OBAMACARE] WILL BE INTENSE”: “ ‘I think the effort will be intense to come back, but also the opposition will be emboldened, knowing that their refuge is the courts,’ Grijalva said.” (Sam Baker, “Court’s Decision on Healthcare Law Could Put Progressives Back at ‘Square One,’” The Hill, 6/21/2012)

The Democrats’ blind allegiance to ObamaCare is an insult to the working families who have been forced to shoulder its painful costs:

CBO DIRECTOR: OBAMACARE TO COST 800,000 JOBS: “Director Elmendorf: Yes. The way I would put it is that we do estimate, as you said, that…employment will be about 160 million by the end of the decade. Half a percent of that is 800,000.” (Jeffrey H. Anderson, “CBO Director Says ObamaCare Would Reduce Employment by 800,000 Workers,” The Weekly Standard, 2/10/2011)

$14.9 BILLION IN PRIVATE SECTOR COSTS: (Sam Batkins, “The Week in Regulation: May 21-25,” American Action Network, 5/29/2012)

$7 BILLION IN COSTS TO STATES: (Sam Batkins, “The Week in Regulation: May 21-25,”American Action Network, 5/29/2012)

58.9 MILLION MORE ANNUAL PAPERWORK HOURS: “Since passage, the Affordable Care Act has imposed an estimated $14.9 billion in private-sector burdens, approximately $7 billion in costs to the states, and 58.9 million annual paperwork hours.” (Sam Batkins, “The Week in Regulation: May 21-25,” American Action Network, 5/29/2012)

9% INCREASE IN FAMILY HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS IN 2011, WITH OBAMACARE PLAYING A ROLE: (Julie Appleby, “Cost of Employer Insurance Plans Surge in 2011,” Kaiser Health News, 9/27/2011)

9.3% INCREASE IN EMPLOYEES’ SHARE OF PREMIUM COSTS FROM 2011 TO 2012, $235 PER PERSON: “Employees’ share of premium costs increased 9.3% between 2011 and 2012, with the dollar burden rising from $2,529 to $2,764.”(“Performance in an Era of Uncertainty,” Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare, March 2012)

$340 BILLION ADDED TO THE DEFICIT BY OBAMACARE, ACCORDING TO MEDICARE TRUSTEE: (Lori Montgomery, “Health-care Law Will Add $340 Billion to Deficit, New Study Finds,” The Washington Post, 4/9/2012)

$1.76 TRILLION COST TO GOVERNMENT OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS: (Phillip Klein, “CBO: ObamaCare to Cost $1.76 Trillion Over 10 Years,” The Washington Examiner, 3/13/2012)

$500 BILLION CUT FROM MEDICARE SO DEMOCRATS COULD PAY FOR OBAMACARE: “It would cut an additional $60 billion from Medicare, bringing total cuts to the program to more than $500 billion over the next 10 years.”(Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, “With Senate ‘Fixes’ Bill, GOP Sees Last Chance to Change Health-Care Reform,” The Washington Post, 3/24/2012)

It’s no wonder then that polls continue to show sky-high opposition to ObamaCare, but so far that hasn’t mattered to Democrats who have taken every opportunity to keep their government healthcare takeover in place:

AP: “JUST A THIRD” FAVOR OBAMACARE, 48% OPPOSE: (Mark Sherman, “Poll: Just a Third Favor Obama Health Care Law,” Associated Press, 6/20/2012)

ONLY 21% OF INDEPENDENTS LIKE OBAMACARE: “But an Associated Press-GfK poll shows that only 21 percent of independents approve of the law, a new low in AP-GfK polling.” (Mark Sherman, “Poll: Just a Third Favor Obama Health Care Law,” Associated Press, 6/20/2012)

CBS/NYT: 48% DISAPPROVE OF OBAMACARE, 34% APPROVE: (“The Supreme Court, Healthcare and Immigration,” CBS News/New York Times Poll, 6/7/2012)

PEW: 50% OF INDEPENDENTS SAY THEY WOULD BE HAPPY IF COURT OVERRULES OBAMACARE ENTIRELY: (Stephanie Condon, “Poll: Half of Independents Would Be Happy if Supreme Court Throws Out Health Care Law,” CBS News, 6/18/2012)

DEMS HAVE REPEATEDLY PROVED THEY WON’T REPEAL OR EVEN FIX OBAMACARE:

98% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING OBAMACARE: (Roll Call 14,Clerk of the U.S. House, 1/19/2011)

95% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING OBAMACARE SLUSH FUNDS: (Roll Call 264, Clerk of the U.S. House, 4/13/2011)

95% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING FUNDS FOR OBAMACARE STATE EXCHANGES: (Roll Call 285, Clerk of the U.S. House, 5/3/2011)

97% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING FUNDS FOR OBAMACARE HEALTH CENTERS: (Roll Call 290, Clerk of the U.S. House, 5/4/2011)

83% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST REPEALING FISCALLY DISASTROUS “CLASS” PROGRAM: (Roll Call 18, Clerk of the U.S. House, 2/1/2012)

90% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING IPAB: (Roll Call 126, Clerk of the U.S. House, 3/22/2012)

87% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING OBAMACARE SLUSH FUNDS TO PREVENT STUDENT INTEREST RATE HIKES: (Roll Call 195, Clerk of the U.S. House, 4/27/2012)

77% OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING THE HEART ATTACK TAX: (Roll Call 361, Clerk of the U.S. House, 6/7/2012)