President Obama delivered a blunt message to
Republicans. If they cynically mess with Obamacare, they will be harming
he lives of millions of Americans.
The President accused Republicans of ignoring
reality, “While we were told again and again that Obamacare would be a
job killer, amazingly enough, some critics still peddle this notion, it
turns out in reality America’s experienced 63 straight months of private
sector job growth, a streak that started the month we passed the
Affordable Care Act. The longest streak of private sector job growth on
record that adds up to 12.6 million new jobs, so the critics stubbornly
ignore reality.”
Obama used examples of ordinary Americans who could afford healthcare before the ACA to highlight reality.
President Obama added, “So five years in what we are
talking about is no longer a law, it’s no longer just a theory. This
isn’t even just about the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. This isn’t
about myths or rumors that folks try to sustain. There is a reality that
people on the ground day to day are experiencing. Their lives are
better. This is now part of the fabric of how we care for one another.
This is now healthcare in America, which is why when you get outside of
Washington and leave behind the Beltway chatter and the politics,
Americans support this new reality when you talk to people who are
actually enrolled in a new marketplace plan. The vast majority of them
like their coverage.”
Obama vowed not to go backward, and said, “There’s
something deeply cynical about the ceaseless, endless partisan attempts
to roll back progress. I mean I understood folks being skeptical or
worried before the law passed, and there wasn’t a reality there to
examine. Once you see millions of people having health care. Once you
see all the bad things that were predicted didn’t happen, you’d think
that it would time to move on, let’s figure out how to make it better.
It seems so cynical to want to take coverage away from millions of
people. To take care away from the people who need it the most.”
The message to Congressional Republicans was blunt.
It is time to move forward and stop playing cynical partisan games.
Although the President never mentioned them, this speech was clearly
also aimed at the Supreme Court.
President Obama was arguing to the Court that if
they rule against the subsidies, they will damaging the lives of
millions of Americans.
Obama’s
point was crystal clear. Whether Republicans like it or not, the
Affordable Care Act is now a woven into the very fabric of the American
health care system.
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