progressive goodies. If people had stuck by him, we would have a public option I think.

Nancy did the heavy lifting.....getting the house dems to stay the course

He got the ball rolling and kept at it as well.

Reminds me of the great Frances Perkins. How many think of America's first woman cabinet member as Sec Labor when they think of the New Dealers actually responsible for making: Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Fair Labor Standards Act including the 40-hour work week and minimum wage and overtime, many other labor laws, including child labor; and on and on.

FDR provided the power and assent to her recommendations, but Frances Perkins s the single most important other person who made it all happen. She's a giant, and how many know her name?

She pushed all those things from the background. People don't know this, she should be on one of the bills

At very least a coin.

To be fair, though, DEMOCRATIC President Roosevelt put his power behind her and very much also made all this happen. Democrats are always put down and dismissed by money-dominated media. We have to blow our horns.

Just imagine if she'd tried to take her ideas to Coolidge, Hoover, Eisenhower? She couldn't have gotten a meeting with a second assistant to an assistant.

And, of course, appointing the first-ever female cabinet secretary isn't nothing. It was actually huge for the era, and she served his entire three-term presidency. (I read a biography )

What would all those Reagan worshipers do then, now that Donald Trump has reserved the final spot on Mount Rushmore

and Mt. Rushmore remain unfilled.

Most really want a great national hero to claim for their own, but there is none. Reagan and Eisenhower sound like damned liberals today, and Rump'll become such a humiliating failure that he'll make W's attention blackout look like mass adoration.

If they could, they'd carve one of those red caps on Lincoln's Rushmore head--as "proof" that he was one of them.

We had the womanizer president,
then we had the first special needs president.
Then we had the first black president.
Then we had the first Bullshit artist president.

I'm afraid to even guess the next Republican president

this one is good for a lot of laughs. Dark humor, yes, but laughing's good for health.

I'd love to have Obama up there, but we'll have to wait to see what his legacy is.

for a universal health care coverage.

People clearly don't want to give up what they have gotten-just want to make it better.......more, more, more!

the Democrats moved America into the20th century on healthcare.....soon we will be able to move ourselves into the 21st century on health care.

Masterful!

And the people of this nation who stood together, trusted the process and each other enough to move forward in it, proved the people - citizens, voters - have the power. McCain set the stage. People made their voices heard. There's a lot to be learned in this scenario!

And we have President Obama to thank for his persistence, knowledge and signing into law. Pelosi who drove the movement home. And Senator Ted Kennedy, who laid the ground work since 1970's to his death in 2009. I really want his work to be remembered.

Now pressure needs be applied to have it fully funded as intended, with appropriate updates (which were understood needed at time if voting and signing into law). Update it to single payer.

In the words if Paul Ryan.... "ACA is the rule of the land"... now let's fix it to be as successful as intended.

And see what happens. I think was the rest of the quote, in response to a question about wont future Republican control undo all our actions on this.

I was a skeptic, but he seemed to know what he was talking about, thank God he did.

EDIT: down further. It stated that was originally Ted Kennedy that said that to Obama.

classifying it as a tax.

when she tackled health care even before she was in the Senate and continued that work as a Senator.

Bucus led Finance committee/ There were, I think 3 House committees that worked on their bill. President Obama was the one who led putting this as the key first term goal - using a huge amount of his personal political capital.

What Clinton did do was that once the bills were written, she in addition to people like Sebelius, the head of HHS, made many calls lobbying the various Senators. If you want forerunners, the Romney signed Massachusetts plan, that Kennedy did a lot of lobbying for in the nearly all Democratic State Legislature is really closer than Hillary's unsuccessful work in 1993.

that delivered subsidies to some insurance companies who lost money. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/us/politics/marco-rubio-obamacare-affordable-care-act.html Dems did a good job anticipating needs but as ever Republicans couldn't leave it alone to succeed

Marco Rubio calls it a giveaway to insurance companies and killed it.

Now he says he knows what healthcare needs, "the risk corridor" by another name.

Everyone knew the ACA was imperfect and Obama was not sure about it. The senator from Massachusetts told Obama sign it because once Americans have healthcare they will never give it up.

Looks like he was right. And we should remember he fought his entire career for universal healthcare.

We need to fight for universal coverage. Please read up on the health care systems in Germany or France for a model we should aspire to.

Again. Do not forget Senator Kennedy.

I will especially remember him for walking into the senate, while being treated for brain cancer, and casting his vote.

I was off the net but I had to check. I'll never forget telling my wife IT STOOD!!

their roles as well as many other unnamed heros for their diligence and foresight into what was possible in pushing forward the Health Care agenda, and finally enactment. In my attempt to make a short statement I didn't include them, but it wasn't intentional.

I was originally attempting to just make a brief statement to counter the lie the Repugs kept repeating implying that the ACA was something that the Dems just tried to push through in the dead of the night, (like they did) and that there was not a lengthy protracted process involved, including as some have said dating back to the Clinton Administration when Hillary took on health care. But brevity has never been my middle name, and I should have taken the time to give full credit where credit was due. Thanks to all who reminded me.

Some of the better members were Tom Harkin and Bernie Sanders on the HELP committee. Bernie added the community health centers. In the Finance committee, John Kerry and Jay Rockefellow were extremely important. A similar list of people who helped Pelosi in the House could also be added. It was the Congress and their staff that did the lion's share of the design of this program.

However, key agreements were reached by Obama, HHS and others in the administartion with drug companies, that included reducing the Medicare donut hole. They worked with and gained support of nearly every medical association and had an agreement with the insurance industry that they would not attack it. These agreements were major.

Hillary Clinton importantly helped with many calls to Congressmen and Senators, but was busy be Secretary of State -- and there is little she did to create this plan. It is true that she did create a plan in 1993, but that was not the basis of this plan. Had she became President, I am sure she would have led to try to get health insurance done -- but that is not something done by the SoS.

All with staunch Republican opposition, people will not learn.

Democrats keep pulling this country out of the ditch (33, 60, 76, 92, 09) only to have the American people allow Republicans to drive for a while, faster and faster, feels great. While that happens, went right back in the ditch (20's, 73, 88, 08)

. They will never learn, over and over and over.

Let's make Obama care – >public option – >single-payer, the way it should be

And if it went, we will have nothing. you need a super majority. We never went conference because the ACA would not have survived...it was passed in the House exactly as written in the Senate...even known mistakes could not be corrected... and House members voted for it knowing they would lose their seats as did Senators...because they wanted to save lives. So don't tell me the parties are the same, because that is a bullshit lie...and don't tell me the Democratic party is not a great party...because it is a great party, and I am proud to be a member...as Biden said the ACA was a big fucking deal.

smear and now even their fugging base don't want to lose their Obamacare. The name has stuck.

Groper Don the Con has long known that Obama will fuck you up (Bill Maher's words)

Fill me in please

singing the song Yankee Doodle Dandy to mock us. We adopted the song as our own and proudly marched into battle to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

"Traditions place its origin in a pre-Revolutionary War song originally sung by British military officers to mock the disheveled, disorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War, apparently written c. 1755 by British Army surgeon Dr. Richard Shuckburgh while campaigning in upper New York.[13] The British troops sang it to make fun of their stereotype of the American soldier as a Yankee simpleton who thought that he was stylish if he simply stuck a feather in his cap.[1]

It was also popular among the Americans as a song of defiance.[1] As per the American Library of Congress, the Americans added additional verses to the song, mocking the British troops and hailing the Commander of the Continental army George Washington"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Doodle

We victims of colonialism did a lot of that.

Those damn Yankees, was an insult that now we are proud of

President Obama also cared about his mother enough to put his memory of her battle foremost on his list of priorities, which were undermined daily by the economy tanking during election year and a bitter, angry and well heeled Republican minority.

Thanks Obama

And no one should have to do that, as the reason he was so driven to put healthcare as a top priority when he was advised not to do it. He was told he would use up all his capital, his answer, isn't that what it's for

A conservative would only think of his own circumstance

History will be kind to President Obama. He was an extremely effective President.

POTUS!