As I sit here a couple of days removed
from the Supreme Court's historic ruling which
upheld President Obama's baby, The
Affordable Healthcare Act I've yet to come off cloud
nine. This is by no means a full
throated endorsement of the law, which has many holes in it.
The biggest flaw with the ACA is
private insurance companies profiting from the medical misfortune of
so many, but as filmmaker and liberal champion Michael Moore
said this week, while seeing
this as a start towards what we all
want which is a “Medicare For All” plan, Liberals should
also embrace this for what it is, which is a victory.
“This was a major defeat for the
right-wing, We get so few of these we should enjoy them when we get
them” said Moore. I personally have
allowed myself another day to revel in the misery and bitterness of
Republicans across the country, after that it will be time for me,
liberals everywhere and more importantly the White House to become
even more embolden and take this victory right into November.
As Progressives we don't know what to
do when we have the wind in our sails. A lot of us were still on such
a euphoric high from 2008 that we didn't see the GOP and more
importantly The Tea Party plotting. By not showing up in 2010
we allowed Nancy Pelosi, the person who next to the President
is most responsible for the ACA going into law lose her
speakership to some orange guy who isn't worried about governing
as much as he is worried about his second in command and the tea
party activists who make him toe the line.
A lot of us were on a high two months
ago when we thought there was a legitimate chance that union busting
Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker would be thrown out of the
mansion thanks to a recall that was put in place by the people of the
state. The bubble was burst so fast on election night, that for a
split second it made me question whether or not getting invested in
politics was even worth it.
That was just a split second though,
and the ACA decision is an overwhelming yes to that question. In
terms of where we go now Libs have to continue to put pressure on
elected officials Democrats and Republicans alike. If you like the
ACA but live in a state where you have a Governor is promising not to
implement it into law, let them know about it.
Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Rick Scott,
and Nikki Haley, these people should not be allowed to get away with
not following a law that has been ruled constitutional by a Chief
Justice who was a George W. Bush appointee. All of
this big talk reminds me of a few years ago when these same GOP
Governors were in front of every camera claiming they would not touch
The President's stimulus money. Now Governors like Scott of
Florida and John Kasich of Ohio have that same stimulus money to
thank for their thriving economies which are better than the overall
national averages.
More so than anything the President
himself has a second chance to make a first impression. For all of
the polls that the GOP likes to tout saying people don't like this
law, a healthy percentage of that comes from people who don't think
it goes far enough in providing everyone with healthcare.
President Obama, doing what he does
best out on the stump has the ability to say this law is a great
thing for the American people. It's not just that kids can stay on
their parents insurance until they are 26, It's not just that
companies can no longer be able to discriminate against people with
pre-existing conditions, The law will also reduce the deficit by $210
billion over the next ten years and $1 trillion over the ten years
after that.
The law will create 4 million jobs of
the next decade, by reducing the costs of healthcare and making it
cheaper for companies to hire. Between 250,000 and 400, 000 jobs a
year will be created and spread across all sectors from manufacturing
to services.
The White House passed the ACA in 2010,
put it out there and then walked away from it, giving every
right-wing billionaire the opportunity to make lie-driven political
ads trashing it without any resistance. The Supreme Court gave the
President his Etch-A-Sketch moment (with all apologies to Eric
Fehrnstrom).
With this second chance The President's
populist message is more effective now than it ever was,
The ability to make this argument from
an economic standpoint, as well as a health standpoint is something
that Mitt Romney can't deal with, especially being that the law was
his idea.
Good luck making an effective argument
against your signature governing achievement Mitt.
follow me on twitter @ebrew79
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