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In reply to the discussion: Obama says Sanders' supporters helped undermine Obamacare [View all]MichMan
(12,032 posts)There were a few things that really hurt the message. All of these may have been taken out of context, but the optics were terrible and hurt popular opinion right from the get go.
1) During the campaign, Obama made repeated promises that premiums for the average family would go down $2500. While it was obviously true that costs had been going up every year and the ACA slowed the growth, when you promise people a reduction that turned into an increase, it isn't going to play well.
2) The oft stated promises about "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan." The only ones who could control this happening were the insurance companies as obviously the administration did not have the power to do so, but everyone who was forced to change plans and doctors thought they were sold a bill of goods
3) Majority leader Nancy Pelosi making the statement "We have to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it, away from the fog of the controversy" This became a RW talking point that was taken totally out of context, but fanned the flames for people already skeptical of Washington politics.
It appeared to me at the time that it became more important to pass anything that was called the "Affordable Care Act" than the specific details on what it might actually accomplish. As far as the complaints that the Republicans later refused to fix it, anyone that believed that would occur was naïve. Since the bill passed under reconciliation, it only took 51 votes and as long as the costs were construed to be contained, the Republicans could do nothing. It could have been written correctly the first time with a public option