Oops. I Shouldn’t Have Let Zeke Get Away With That
…[T]his plan contains some interesting ideas that might have enabled bipartisan compromises had they been offered in 2009…
See the previous post. But Zeke had something even better that was offered — and rebuffed and ignored! This was that Coburn/Burr/Ryan/Nunes bill (“Coburn I”), which was the legislative version of the health plan John McCain ran on in 2008. During the debate over ObamaCare, Harry Reid refused to allow the Senate to vote on this Republican alternative — even though it was more progressive than ObamaCare!
And Zeke had to know about it because the Obama forces spent millions of dollars demagoguing the McCain plan — making it the center piece of his election campaign.
So, don’t re-write history Zeke. The Republicans start out with a plan that is more progressive than ObamaCare and Democrats can’t find a way to compromise. Whose fault is that? Try the White House. Which is no different today than it was six years ago.
“…[T]his plan contains some interesting ideas that might have enabled bipartisan compromises had they been offered in 2009…”
Could Republicans have helped craft a better proposal than ObamaCare had then been inclined to cooperate? It’s hard to say. If memory serves me correctly, the Democrats sort of dictated it was either My way or the high-way.
That is mainly the reason why ACA is filled with issues. Democrats reformed healthcare as they wanted, while Republicans were portrayed as evil by media. Every time they opposed something about Obamacare, they were tagged as retrogrades who didn’t want progress. They catalogued as greedy individuals that hated the common American. I am not saying that Republicans had all the solutions (probably they don’t) but at least a different perspective would have made the reform something better.
Then the Dems have no right to complain that the Repubs didn’t have a plan, yes?
Well now I wouldn’t go that far.
Can always be more reasons to complain
History is written by the victor. That is a truth known to those who study history. History tends to be biased towards the winner. It was true Centuries ago, it is true today. Ezekiel Emanuel statement is a great example. People forget about what really happened, thus their opinions are guided by the victor. Obama defeated McCain in the 2008 Presidential Elections, the people chose Obamacare over Coburn I. Emanuel tries to blame Republicans for the flaws of ACA his Op-Ed is. He states that they never presented alternatives, when in reality they did. Sadly, their ideas were disregarded. I thank you Dr. Goodman for reminding the people that there was an alternative to Obamacare. That it wasn’t the Republican Party’s fault that Obamacare is a fiasco. That it was the Democratic Party who, after winning the elections with a landslide, was drunk with power and didn’t listen to alternatives.
Democrats always claimed that the people gave them the mandate to reform healthcare, thus they did what they wanted with ACA. Emanuel shouldn’t claim, several years later, that it’s the Republican’s fault. It was him and his party who modified healthcare, it was them who ignored Republican protests and suggestions, and it was them who should be held accountable for all this mess.
When will the blaming stop? When will both parties start acting seriously? When will we have a responsible government that acts not react? When will they start following the mandate that was given to them? When will there be compromise? America needs a serious government, ready to affront the many difficulties that the country is facing today.
It won’t as long as the era of splitting ideas still exists
bipartisanship will not exist!
If they work together, who will they blame when it breaks down?
Better to break it blaming each other, then?
Good catch. He’s a weasel.
He’s awful. And definitely insincere about any interest in a bipartisan plan.
There was absolutely no chance of a “bipartisan compromise.”
Not anytime soon!