Here we go again with the Obamacare-Threat-Of-The-Month Club. This time, a federal judge ruled Obamacare unconstitutional since the individual mandate is itself unconstitutional. And the Democratic Party, reaching across that aisle with Republicans, helpfully made the individual mandate an absolute part of Obamacare that could not be just whisked away. So, here we go again with the cries of outrage and tears and the—whatever.
Here’s an unpopular opinion: It will take Obamacare getting scrapped to get those Democrats who benefit from it on board with a genuine national health care system. Because they think there’s nothing wrong with Obamacare. And people that have it are of the opinion that “I got mine, too bad you can’t afford it. Oh well!” and never really cared about the people left out of it. Which was by design because everything in this country is about money and if you don’t have it, too bad. But remember how they said in the beginning, “We know Obamacare isn’t perfect. It’s only a first step. We’ll build on it.” Yeah, well, that never happened, did it?
No, instead what Obamacare has become is a Democratic Party reelection tool. The constant threats to Obamacare get career politicians reelected and established in positions of power, like Nancy Pelosi. You know, most people don’t realize what suckers they really are. They get out there and fight for their “health care” and probably lose 10 years off their lives due to the stress. Yeah, isn’t that healthy! And had the Obama Administration created a real national health care system as he promised in 2008, it wouldn’t be something Republicans could overturn. Because it would be part of the Public Health Service; a government agency. It’d be like trying to abolish the Department of Energy. It just couldn’t be done. But this is what Democrats delivered and their supporters still have not detected the swindle.
Hilariously, every time Obamacare is threatened, the supporters use protest signs that say “Hands Off Our Health Care!” Do they realize that is the same slogan the Tea Party used to protest against the creation of Obamacare almost ten years ago? What, did they find the protest signs at a Tea Party yard sale? I’d almost say both groups—Obamacare supporters and the Tea Party—were paid protestors. That’s how all the professionally made protest signs suddenly show up overnight.
But really, do the Obamacare supporters plan to spend the rest of their lives fighting for this Vietnam War of social programs? Like the Vietnam War, this fight has gone on for years and still they can’t win it decisively. They win battles but are losing the war, just like Vietnam where the NVA and Viet Cong just kept sapping the American will to fight to the point winning a battle meant nothing. Because the US would win a battle, like Khe Sahn for example, and abandon the place after. Basically, win a battle and not hold the territory. Knowing that, North Vietnam didn’t need to win the battle.
Obamacare defenders won the “right to keep it” in their battles but they failed to build on the victory by expanding it to cover everyone. That’s why it can again be threatened. Without everyone covered, not everyone cares about it. Republicans also know they can just keep on attacking Obamacare and keep the Democrats in a defensive position all the time. Democrats will never go on the offense and fight for a real national health care system because they’re too busy defending Obamacare. And Republicans know that and use that.
“I covered the Vietnam War. I remember the lies that were told, the lives that were lost - and the shock when, twenty years after the war ended, former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara admitted he knew it was a mistake all along.” -Walter Cronkite
Eventually, the US had to admit it couldn’t win and had to walk away from the Vietnam War. So, too, will this happen to Obamacare. The threats to it by the Republican Party are not going to end. Obamacare cannot be won. All that’s missing is a Walter Cronkite standing in Saigon as it’s in flames during the Tet Offensive and declaring Obamacare “unwinnable”. People devoting their lives to protecting it are on a fool’s errand. What needs to happen is a real socialized medical system like all our Western European NATO allies have. That’s the only way to cover everyone and make sure it cannot be abolished by an incoming Republican presidency. Republicans would love to abolish Social Security but they cannot do so because it is a government administration. Everyone is covered by it. Therefore, they cannot destroy it as much as they would like to.
Obamacare needs to come to an end. Again, like the Vietnam War, Obamacare is literally unwinnable. Also like the Vietnam War, not everyone is united to fight for it. Click To Tweet That was one major difference between World War Two and the Vietnam War. Only under a socialized medical system can you have everyone covered and, thus, everyone fighting for it. But once we got it, the fight would be over. Republicans couldn’t just have a federal judge in Texas overturn it any more than a federal judge in Nebraska could overturn the creation of the United States Air Force in 1947. Government agencies come into being on an as-needed basis. And what we need is a medical system administered by a government agency, not a law requiring you to buy insurance the government kinda-sorta helps you buy.
Sorry about everyone who might lose their health care if Obamacare is abolished by Trump or a federal judge. But that is why you fight for everyone to have health care and don’t just call it good because you got yours. Because when you lose yours, all those people you didn’t care about are simply not going to care about you. You reap what you sow. So, let this be a lesson to you. Fight for everyone, not just yourself. Obama lied in 2008. And the fruits of those actions are what’s coming ripe.
Jack Perry
Latest posts by Jack Perry (see all)
- The Vietnam War of Health Care - December 17, 2018
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