Sometimes you almost have to feel sorry for Mitt Romney. The former Republican presidential candidate has one great achievement in life: health reform in Massachusetts, passed in 2006 when he was governor, which acted as a template for the Affordable Care Act.
If Mr. Romney were a member of a reasonable political party, he would be boasting about that record. But he wanted to be president, which meant having to accommodate himself to his party. In Iowa, 81 percent of Republicans in a recent Bloomberg poll say that Ben Carson’s statement that Obamacare is the worst thing since slavery makes him more attractive as a candidate, so Mr. Romney has to denigrate the best thing he’s done.
But sometimes, it turns out, he can’t maintain the facade. In a recent article in The Boston Globe, Mr. Romney took credit for setting the stage for Obamacare. Then he tried desperately to walk it back, claiming that Obamacare had failed – which is literally and figuratively the party line.
Which raises the question: If the health care law is a failure, what would policy success look like?
Obamacare has led to a rapid drop in the number of uninsured Americans, especially in states that have fully implemented its provisions. It hasn’t covered everyone, but it wasn’t expected to: It doesn’t cover immigrants living in the country illegally, and the relative complexity of the law always meant that some eligible people would fall through the cracks. Original estimates from the Congressional Budget Office were that eventually 92 percent of nonelderly residents would have coverage, and in states that are implementing a Medicaid insurance expansion, we’re getting there.
Meanwhile, the whole program has come in well below projected costs. While insurance premiums will rise in 2016, after two years of remarkably small increases, that still leaves things cheaper than anticipated. And overall health care spending has come in far below expectations.
None of the other terrible things that were supposed to happen – job losses, a destruction of full-time employment, a surge in the budget deficit – have happened either.
But to be a good Republican you have to insist that Obamacare has been a disaster. And Mr. Romney is, therefore, in the position of denouncing his life’s work. It’s sad. But he has nobody but himself to blame.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $125,000 in one-time donations and to add 1400 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
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