Suppose you were at the supermarket shopping your spouse and you came across some fruit that you could see was rotten. In fact, the fruit looked like it would make you very sick if you ate it. What would you do? The obvious answer is to tell your spouse not to buy the rotten fruit. After all, eating it would cause serious problems.
Now let's suppose that the store manager overheard your conversation and came over and said, "You have not proposed an alternative. You want your spouse to starve." Again, what would you do? Once again, there is an obvious answer which is to ignore the manager. The alternative can wait. Right now the important thing is not to eat rotten fruit.
This may sound like a strange example, but it is exactly the nature of the current debate over Obamacare. The Republicans know that Obamacare will be a disaster for the country as a whole, so they keep trying to repeal it. The response from president Obama, like the store manager, is to claim that the GOP has no alternative. If Obamacare really is going to be a disaster, then Obama's response makes no sense at all. After all, we already have a healthcare system that works for most Americans. Obamacare threatens that system with massive destruction that will harm millions. There does not need to be another new government program coming from the Republicans before Obamacare can be rejected.
Most people understand this point intuitively. There are some, however, including folks who normally are quite insightful who have fallen for the Obama argument. They want to eat the rotten fruit because the Republicans have not proposed a different menu. They forget that the resulting stomach ache will be shared by millions of people.
Now let's suppose that the store manager overheard your conversation and came over and said, "You have not proposed an alternative. You want your spouse to starve." Again, what would you do? Once again, there is an obvious answer which is to ignore the manager. The alternative can wait. Right now the important thing is not to eat rotten fruit.
This may sound like a strange example, but it is exactly the nature of the current debate over Obamacare. The Republicans know that Obamacare will be a disaster for the country as a whole, so they keep trying to repeal it. The response from president Obama, like the store manager, is to claim that the GOP has no alternative. If Obamacare really is going to be a disaster, then Obama's response makes no sense at all. After all, we already have a healthcare system that works for most Americans. Obamacare threatens that system with massive destruction that will harm millions. There does not need to be another new government program coming from the Republicans before Obamacare can be rejected.
Most people understand this point intuitively. There are some, however, including folks who normally are quite insightful who have fallen for the Obama argument. They want to eat the rotten fruit because the Republicans have not proposed a different menu. They forget that the resulting stomach ache will be shared by millions of people.
2 comments:
The choice is not between going along with Obamacare or putting forth impossible and ridiculous plans to repeal or defund it. What the situation cries out for is a plan to replace Obamacare with something that does much more than return us to the status quo ante with all the problems of huge premium hikes, massive fraud, lack of competition and unreasonable barriers to obtaining coverage.
As things stand, Obama can validly say that the Republicans used to be for Repeal and Replace and now have forgotten about any sort of replacement. Sad to say, but he is correct. Nobody other than the crazies on the right can be satisfied with how the Republicans have handled Obamacare during the three years since it was signed into law.
Your example is a false choice. There is no reason why Obamacare has to be repealed without any discussion of a replacement. The Republican leaders in both houses owe it to the country to come up with a proposal that will immediately be the subject of Congressional hearings where it can be improved. In the meantime there would be a one year moratorium on Obamacare proceeding to be implemented which would give plenty of time to come up with a vastly superior alternative. That would be a serious plan. Some Democrats with difficult elections would have a hard time voting against it, but in any event most people would conclude that "that makes sense, Obama has already delayed part of the law, why not delay all of it and try to come up with something better? 40 attempts to repeal when the House Republicans know it is futile, makes them out to be nothing more than complete jokers. Only people drinking the Kool-Aid would think that they are acting responsibly.
To Hotpanera
You reveal your true bias when you start by talking about "impossible and ridiculous plans to repeal or defund" Obamacare. You need to recognize that Obamacare does serious damage that will not be easy to repair once it is inflicted. It is not a false choice, as you claim, but rather a matter of survival.
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