Democrat Chuck Schumer says Dems screwed the pooch on Obamacare- A Mistake

Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-New York) comments on Wednesday about Democrats’ misguided focus on health care in President Barack Obama’s first term prompted backlash from top Democrats and left-leaning groups, who accused him of being politically craven.

At a speech before the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday, Schumer said Democrats made a mistake by entering into a fight over health care after they passed the 2009 economic stimulus.

His reasoning: Democrats were targeting the uninsured, a population that he said makes up only about 5 percent of registered voters. Only about one-third of the uninsured, he said, are registered or eligible to vote


Anyone remember the left excoriating Romney on the 47% statement? So where are the Dems now?

The “mandate” voters had provided Democrats with their 2008 victories, Schumer said, was put on the wrong problem.

“After passing the stimulus, Democrats should have continued to propose middle class-oriented programs and built on the partial success of the stimulus, but unfortunately Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them. We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem – health care reform,” Schumer said.

“The plight of uninsured Americans and the hardships caused by unfair insurance company practices certainly needed to be addressed,” he added. “But it wasn’t the change we were hired to make. Americans were crying out for an end to the recession, for better wages and more jobs — not for changes in their health care.”

It was a characterization with which top Democrats took issue, all the way up to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California), who was instrumental in getting the Affordable Care Act passed into law as the speaker of the House. Through a spokesman, Pelosi said there are “14 million reasons that’s wrong” — referring to 14 million Americans that have gained insurance coverage through various provisions of the law.

“We came here to do a job, not keep a job,” Pelosi said in a statement.

YEP CHICK and YOU LOST YOUR SPEAKER JOB IN 2010. NEVER TO RETURN.

Schumer’s comments on Obamacare came as part of a larger criticism of the Democratic Party’s strategy since 2008 and a look forward to what he said the party needs to do to recapture momentum heading into 2016.

Multiple Republican and Democratic congressional aides speculated Schumer’s speech was an attempt to forge a break from Obama, who remains largely unpopular, ahead of the 2016 presidential election. But one Senate Democratic aide said the Affordable Care Act was the wrong piece of policy on which to focus.

“If your goal is to improve public appreciation of government (which is a very worthy effort), how do you do that by running away from arguably the most important government program to help families in the past decade?” the Senate Democratic aide told Fusion, requesting anonymity to speak frankly.

“Our goal should be to get candidates to run on it and explain it, and that’s the path to showing government efficacy.”

Some of Obama’s former aides put it more bluntly on Twitter. Tommy Vietor, a former spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, said Schumer’s basic message was that Obama should have “cared more about helping Democrats than sick people.”

Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter, criticized Schumer for “confirming the public’s most cynical beliefs about the political process.” And Jon Lovett, another former speechwriter, went on an extended rant on Twitter that ended with him saying a test for prospective Democrats is whether they “listen to” or merely “tolerate” Schumer as a prominent voice within the party:

"I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year."

The ACA has been a huge success, and it was not done for political points, but for the American people. It is the first step to an efficient and paid for Medicare for all. It will happen before 2020, and never could have been achieved without the sacrifices at the beaches of Normandy which some may argue now was too much of a sacrifice.........but to win the war, it was required.

It doesn't matter that you or anyone perceives the results as some subjective success. Fraud was used to pass it.

That you don't care is all a reasonable person needs to know about you... and your opinions.

There was no fraud. Any thinking person does not expect perfection in the goals of a bill and yes there were variations in the objectives, but those were small and incidental. Was there fraud in Reganomics........no because any thinking person knew the theoretical and practical failures. Only stupid people would be confused. Nobody should have to worry about those who wag the dog.

From SEAOZ.....

It took me thirty seconds to discover the fraud.


You really cannot comprehend what the problem is and why the high route was both less costly and could move more traffic.

I am sorry that I understand these things instantaneously while you choose to obscure the truth......I have made your posting of lies more difficult, but the truth eventually wins........sorry, the flat tax is bad for the middle class.

Only stupid people would be confused.

That's a lie and if anyone is a fraud it is you for continually trying to pass of that lie as the truth. You talk about people w/ no ethics and you are as unethical as they come for continuing to perpetrate that lie. It is as untrue as Obama was born in Kenya yet you keep on running w/ it.

When the president was asked whether he had intentionally misled the public in order to get the law passed, he replied: “No. I did not.”

Obama said the notion that any provisions in the bill were hidden is absurd given the intensity of news coverage of the subject when the bill was being drafted and debated in Congress.

“I would just advise every press outlet here: Pull up every clip and every story. I think it’s fair to say there was not a provision in the health care law that was not extensively debated and was fully transparent,” the president declared. “It was a tough debate.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/barack-obama-health-care-112930.html#ixzz3KTL6aFi6

You all keep posting that so you're saying Congress passed the bill w/o knowing what was in it,right? LOL!

Vikingwoman wrote:You all keep posting that so you're saying Congress passed the bill w/o knowing what was in it,right? LOL!

Yup 20,000 pages of commie bullshit.

I'll chime in here, no I don't believe congress knew anything past no pre existing conditions, electronic records and taxes it imposed on certain segments of business.

They lost and America won.......no difference.

2seaoat wrote:They lost and America won.......no difference.

No ethics... none. Even the means used to garner the votes in congress were subversive.

No ethics... none. Even the means used to garner the votes in congress were subversive.




Nothing new or wrong. Watch Lincoln and see how the 13th amendment was passed. Get out of your Ivory tower and walk the dog.

After his inauguration, Obama announced to a joint session of Congress in February 2009 his intent to work with Congress to construct a plan for healthcare reform.[69][70] By July, a series of bills were approved by committees within the House of Representatives.[71] On the Senate side, from June to September, the Senate Finance Committee held a series of 31 meetings to develop a healthcare reform bill. This group — in particular, Democrats Max Baucus, Jeff Bingaman, and Kent Conrad, and Republicans Mike Enzi, Chuck Grassley, and Olympia Snowe — met for more than 60 hours, and the principles that they discussed, in conjunction with the other committees, became the foundation of the Senate's healthcare reform bill.[72][73][74]

Not true,ppaca. They discussed all of that. Read the process on Wiki.

PkrBum wrote:

2seaoat wrote:They lost and America won.......no difference.

No ethics... none. Even the means used to garner the votes in congress were subversive.

Not true again,Pkr. You just keep on passing those lies.

With every other Democrat now in favor and every Republican now opposed, the White House and Reid moved on to addressing Nelson's concerns in order to win filibuster-proof support for the bill;[97] they had by this point concluded "it was a waste of time dealing with [Snowe]"[98] because, after her vote for the draft bill in the Finance Committee, she had come under intense pressure from the Republican Senate leadership.[99] After a final 13-hour negotiation, Nelson's support for the bill was won with two concessions: a compromise on abortion, modifying the language of the bill "to give states the right to prohibit coverage of abortion within their own insurance exchanges", which would require consumers to pay for the procedure out of pocket if the state so decided; and an amendment to offer a higher rate of Medicaid reimbursement for Nebraska.[70][100] The latter half of the compromise was derisively called the "Cornhusker Kickback"[101] and was repealed in the subsequent reconciliation amendment bill.

On December 23, the Senate voted 60–39 to end debate on the bill: a cloture vote to end the filibuster. The bill then passed, also 60–39, on December 24, 2009, with all Democrats and two independents voting for it, and all Republicans against (except Jim Bunning, who did not vote).[102] The bill was endorsed by the AMA and AARP.[103]

Just because you're able to ignore such recent events through liberal amnesia... doesn't make the rest of us forget.

Another wonderful day in unicornville huh?

What recent events? Gruber? So somebody tells a lie and you just gobble it up?
Why don't you just admit you want to believe any negative reportings whether true or not? I think that's a fair statement.

Landrieu’s Louisiana Purchase

The Final Passage Of ObamaCare Left In Place The Louisiana Purchase. “Retains $300 million in extra Medicaid aid for Louisiana, which had helped win support for the Senate health bill from Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. The state is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina.” (“Cornhusker Kickback Gets The Boot In Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 3/18/10)

ObamaCare’s “Louisiana Purchase” Will Give Louisiana An Extra $4.3 Billion In Medicaid Funds As A Result Of A “DraftingError.” “Do you remember the ‘Louisiana Purchase?’ I don't mean Thomas Jefferson's acquisition of land from Napoleon, but rather Democrats' acquisition of Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D., La.) support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Landrieu, critics believe, pledged her vote in exchange for gaining $200 million additional federal funds for Louisiana's Medicaid program. Except that, due to a drafting error, the law ended up giving Louisiana $4.3 billion in extra Medicaid funds --more than twenty times the assigned amount.” (Avik S. A. Roy, “The New Louisiana Purchase: ObamaCare’s $4.3 Billion Boondoggle,” The Atlantic, 3/6/12)

The Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services Said That ObamaCare Will Cost More Because The Law Increased Federal Subsidies To Louisiana Rather Than Decreased Them “As Originally Intended.” “However, in November 2011, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) tried to make sense of the legislation, they came up with a much larger number: $4.3 billion. This was, in part, because the text of the law didn't phase out the adjustment in two years, as originally intended, but rather increased the federal subsidy in out-years.” (Avik S. A. Roy, “The New Louisiana Purchase: ObamaCare’s $4.3 Billion Boondoggle,” The Atlantic, 3/6/12)

Louisiana Was Supposed To Receive Only $200 Million Under A Section Of ObamaCare “Whose Main Purpose Is To Ensure That Only Louisiana Benefits.” “Section 2006 of PPACA, a ‘Special Adjustment to FMAP Determination for Certain States Recovering from a Major Disaster,’ was designed to temporarily increase the federal government's FMAP contribution to Louisiana to the tune of around $200 million. It contains extremely complicated legislative language, whose main purpose is to ensure that only Louisiana benefits from the specified FMAP increase.” (Avik S. A. Roy, “The New Louisiana Purchase: ObamaCare’s $4.3 Billion Boondoggle,” The Atlantic, 3/6/12)

Louisiana Has Already Received More Than $700 Million In Supplemental Medicaid Funds In FY2012 As A Result Of The Deal, And Stands To Receive $3.6 Billion More By 2015. “In fiscal year 2012 alone, the federal government sent about $700 million in supplemental funds to Louisiana's Medicaid program, with another $3.6 billion to be spent in fiscal years 2013-2015. In FY13, the law changed the feds' share of Louisiana Medicaid spending from 61 percent to 72 percent: a billion-dollar adjustment for the Bayou State.” (Avik S. A. Roy, “The New Louisiana Purchase: ObamaCare’s $4.3 Billion Boondoggle,” The Atlantic, 3/6/12)

“The Haste And Carelessness” Of The Louisiana Purchase Is “Endemic Of The Legislation, More Broadly.” “It would be easy to dismiss the Louisiana Lagniappe as a trivial issue: after all, $4.3 billion in a trillion-dollar health-care law is a rounding error. But the haste and carelessness with which Sen. Landrieu's provision was drafted is endemic of the legislation, more broadly.” (Avik S. A. Roy, “The New Louisiana Purchase: ObamaCare’s $4.3 Billion Boondoggle,” The Atlantic, 3/6/12)

Kerry’s Bay State Kickback

Another “Twist” Discovered In ObamaCare Is A Provision That Will Encourage Providers To “Game The System.” “President Obama’s health care overhaul was supposed to lead to reforms in Medicare’s byzantine payment system. Critics say this latest twist will encourage hospitals and other big players to game the system in a scramble for increasingly scarce taxpayer dollars.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “Health Law Windfall For Massachusetts Hospitals,” The Associated Press, 8/4/11)

Under ObamaCare, Massachusetts Benefits From Loophole While Rest Of Country Loses Out. “Massachusetts hospitals will get $275 million more a year in Medicare payments because of a provision inserted into the nation’s new health care law that benefits the state, angering hospitals across the country that will get less money as a result.” (Liz Kowalczyk, “Medicare Gives State Hospitals $275m Lift,” The Boston Globe, 8/5/11)

Kerry Amendment Makes Hospital Reimbursement Rates A Zero-Sum Game. “Kerry’s amendment requires that the money for Medicare hospital wage reimbursements be a fixed amount nationally, rather than a fixed amount for each state, meaning that any increase for Massachusetts requires a decrease for other states.” (Liz Kowalczyk, “Medicare Gives State Hospitals $275m Lift,” The Boston Globe, 8/5/11)

Under ObamaCare, “Political Hardball” Determines Hospital Rates. “Steve Brenton, president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, said he is ‘extremely upset’ that Massachusetts engineered ‘a money grab’ won through ‘political hardball.’” (Liz Kowalczyk, “Medicare Gives State Hospitals $275m Lift,” The Boston Globe, 8/5/11)

Additional Deals

Former Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) Was Able To Keep FundingFor A Public Hospital In His State. “Keeps $100 million included in the Senate bill that is expected to go for a public hospital in Connecticut sought by Dodd, who is retiring.” (“Cornhusker Kickback Gets The Boot In Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 3/18/10)

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) Was Able To Keep Special Benefits For A Small Town In Montanta. “Preserves language won by Baucus permitting many of the 2,900 residents of Libby, Mont., to qualify for Medicare benefits. Some of them have asbestos-related diseases from a now-shuttered mine.” (“Cornhusker Kickback Gets The Boot In Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 3/18/10)

Numerous States Were Able To Secure Billions To Pay For Medicaid. “Provides an additional $8.5 billion over the next decade for 11 states and the District of Columbia to help them pay for the more generous Medicaid assistance they have been providing low-income residents. “These states are Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.” (“Cornhusker Kickback Gets The Boot In Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 3/18/10)

North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana And WyomingWere Dealt Additional Funding For Hospitals And Doctors. “Maintains a Senate-approved provision giving extra money for hospitals and doctors in North and South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.” (“Cornhusker Kickback Gets The Boot In Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 3/18/10)

OBAMA’S SPECIAL DEAL WITH DRUG INDUSTRY

To Pass ObamaCare, A Deal Was Made With The Pharmaceutical Industry

Obama Cut A Deal With The Pharmaceutical Industry ,Which Countered Obama’s “Reformer” Message To Take On The Pharmaceutical Lobby.“Eager to dismantle barriers to the legislation’s passage, Rahm Emanuel and Jim Messina, a deputy chief of staff, had cut a quiet deal with pharmaceutical industry lobbyists: in exchange for supporting the legislation, the administration would guarantee that it would cost the companies no more than $80 billion. Many White House aides were surprised and alarmed: Obama had campaigned as a reformer who would fight lobbyists and pharmaceutical companies, and now he was cutting a backroom deal with them that looked like a giveaway? David Axelrod and Emanuel, the closest of friends and allies, went back and forth, Emanuel saying that he needed to do what had to be done to pass the bill, Axelrod protesting that this was exactly what they had campaigned against. But Obama, his competitive juices stoked and his most important initiative on the line, did not halt his chief of staff’s horse trading. That was their deal, another aide said: Rahm would try to pass Obama’s bill, but the president had to accept that it wouldn’t look pretty.” (Jodi Kantor, “The Obamas,” 2012, pp. 137-138)

IN THE END, THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY IS THE BIG WINNER

Since Obamacare Became Law, “Profits And Share Prices Shot Up At Large Health Insurance Companies.” “Since President Barack Obama signed health care reform into law in March 2010, profits and share prices shot up at large health insurance companies like UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint.” (Jeffrey Young, “Supreme Court Health Care Reform: Businesses Actually Worse Off If Supremes Repeal Law,” The Huffington Post, 3/26/12)

Insurance Companies’ “Profit Margins Expand To 8.24 Percent” Since ObamaCare Was Enacted. “Still, the companies’ saw their average operating profit margins expand to 8.24 percent in the six quarters since the overhaul became law, compared with 6.88 percent for the 18 months before it was passed.” (Sarah Frier, “Insurers Profit From Health Law They Fought,” Bloomberg, 1/5/12)

Health Insurance Companies Look To ObamaCare As “A Healthy Source Of New Business.” “Though the industry still opposes some new regulations from the law, companies are looking to health care reform as a healthy source of new business. The law is supposed to create a new marketplace for insurance where Americans have to buy what insurance companies sell and millions will receive subsidies to help pay for it.” (Jeffrey Young, “Supreme Court Health Care Reform: Businesses Actually Worse Off If Supremes Repeal Law,” The Huffington Post, 3/26/12)

The jury is still out ok who won or lost.

The jury is still out ok who won or lost.


Nope. The law passed. You lost. The jury is long gone.

What is Pkr's point in posting all that? How does that support his assertion of "lies"? It's like he has no clue of how bills are passed? Friggin unbelieveable!

Lol... a few posts ago this exchange took place...

I said: Even the means used to garner the votes in congress were subversive.

You said: Not true again,Pkr. You just keep on passing those lies.

I then showed you some of those tactics... the louisiana purchase... the cornhusker kickback... medicaid cash.

You might want to start keeping notes.

That's how it operates. Are you kidding me? It's a quid pro quo. Always has been. What planet do you live on?

by 2seaoat Today at 4:20 pm
The jury is still out ok who won or lost.


Nope. The law passed. You lost. The jury is long gone.
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Before you pass Obamacare will not exist in the same form or fashion it does today. America cannot afford it.