Opinion

More Than Obama Legacy at Stake in Obamacare Repeal

Published

8 years ago

January 10, 2017

President Obama returns to sweet home Chicago Tuesday night to say farewell to the nation. It will be an evening of joy, tears and pride in a job well done, despite the harsh headwinds of resistance he faced every day for eight years.

As President Obama enters into his last days in office, surely his greatest legacy is the Affordable Care Act. Twenty million people have received health care coverage under the act, largely from the extension of Medicaid to cover lower-wage workers and their families. Insurance companies have not only been required to deal fairly with those afflicted with ailments, they have also been forced by law to limit what they rake off in administration and profits. This is a big deal.

Lives are being saved; illnesses are being treated. Family finances are being protected. A smaller percentage of Americans go without coverage than ever in the history of the country. This is the most important extension of health coverage since the passage of Medicare under Lyndon Johnson.

Millions more, however, were turned away on the altar of meanness and ideology. So, naturally, the Republican Congress — dedicated to reversing all things Obama — has made repealing the Affordable Health Care Act, or what they call Obamacare, its first order of business. Repeal — plus the defunding of Planned Parenthood’s programs for women’s health — is the centerpiece of the reconciliation bill Republicans plan to push through Congress immediately.

This opposition to the Affordable Care Act is founded in large part on racial delusions. 1Blue-collar white voters, particularly in the Midwestern states that gave Trump the election, were the most skeptical about the law.

As Ronald Brownstein pointed out in the Atlantic, based on data from the Urban Institute, “more non-college-educated whites gained coverage than college-educated whites and minorities combined in all five of the key Rustbelt states that flipped from Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016: Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.” There were stunning reductions in the number of uninsured blue-collar whites in states that Donald Trump won in November — roughly 50 percent in Ohio, Iowa and Michigan, 60 percent in West Virginia and Kentucky, and 40 percent in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

This was largely because these states adopted the ACA extension of Medicaid to cover lower-wage workers. Where Republican governors refused to extend Medicaid, low-wage workers of all races were left out.

Trump has promised that he would not allow people to “die on the streets” with health care repeal. He also promised not to touch entitlements — which would include Medicaid as well as Medicare and Social Security. He named GOP Rep. Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services, however, and Price has detailed and destructive plans for what comes after repeal of ACA.

He would roll back the Medicaid extension, much of the subsidies for others getting insurance in the exchanges, and much of the regulation forcing insurance companies and hospitals to limit price hikes. If he has is way, Price will go after Medicare and Social Security as well. The result will be to strip many of the 20 million — whites and people of color — of the health coverage they now have.

This calamity is utterly unnecessary. ACA, as the president has stated, has flaws and is in need of reform. The best first steps would be to crack down on drug company prices and to create a public option in the exchanges that would help keep insurance companies honest. Neither of these reforms is on the Republican agenda.

Twenty Republican senators come from states that extended Medicaid. For ACA to be repealed, they have to sign onto to punishing lower-wage workers in their states who are covered under Medicaid extension, among others. In fact, many more people are likely to take a hit. Republicans now plan to repeal ACA without a plan to replace it. That is likely to unravel not just the Medicaid extension but also the exchanges and the curbs on insurance companies and health care complexes. People now rightly complain about the cost of our health care. Republicans are about to make that worse.

President Obama has sensibly said that he will support any Republican plan that is in fact better than ACA. Despite Republicans’ posturing, they offer nothing that meets that test.

Donald Trump’s bumptious course as president-elect has made Americans appreciate even more the grace and maturity with which President Obama governed. Now Republicans, in their hurry to eviscerate Obama’s historic accomplishment, are about to make us appreciate it all the more. But unless a handful of Republican senators break ranks, that appreciation will come too late to help the millions that will be placed at risk.

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Commentary

Harris Dominates First Presidential Debate as Trump Struggles to Defend Record

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Vice President Kamala Harris positioned herself as a problem-solver, taking on issues like housing, childcare, and the economy. In her opening statement, she outlined her “opportunity economy” plan, which focuses on bolstering the middle class. “I was raised as a middle-class kid, and I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America,” Harris said. She detailed a $6,000 child tax credit as part of her plan to support young families.

Published

1 week ago

October 2, 2024

Oakland Post

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris during their first presidential debate Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Photo: Screen capture from ABC News feed of the debate.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Vice President Kamala Harris decisively took control of the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, delivering a performance that put Trump on the defensive for much of the evening. Moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News kept a tight handle on the debate, significantly improving from CNN’s June handling of Trump and President Joe Biden.

The debate began with a surprise as Harris approached Trump to shake his hand and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris,” an unusual move that set the tone for the night. Trump’s trademark scowl stayed in place throughout the debate, as Harris pressed him on his legal woes and diminished his record. Displaying her prosecutorial skills, Harris consistently turned the conversation toward Trump’s convictions, his business fraud case, and his role in the January 6 insurrection.

Harris positioned herself as a problem-solver, taking on issues like housing, childcare, and the economy. In her opening statement, she outlined her “opportunity economy” plan, which focuses on bolstering the middle class.

“I was raised as a middle-class kid, and I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America,” Harris said. She detailed a $6,000 child tax credit as part of her plan to support young families.

Trump, by contrast, criticized the Biden-Harris economy, calling it “the worst period of time” he had seen. He defended his tariff policies and took aim at Harris, labeling her a “Marxist” while also accusing her of copying his economic policies. “I was going to send her a MAGA hat,” Trump quipped.

Abortion rights were another major focus of the night. Trump, when asked if he would veto a federal abortion ban, declined to answer directly, stating, “I won’t have to,” and arguing that the end of Roe v. Wade had satisfied everyone. Harris, in turn, vowed to restore Roe’s protections through federal legislation if elected.

“I pledge to you: when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said.

As the debate went on, Trump repeated several conspiracy theories, including a claim that migrants were eating pets in U.S. cities, which Muir quickly fact-checked. Trump doubled down, citing “people on television” as his source. Harris largely let Trump’s more outlandish statements pass, opting to stay on policy while allowing the moderators to address his factually inaccurate remarks.

In one of the most heated moments, Harris invited viewers to attend a Trump rally for themselves, commenting, “He talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter and windmills causing cancer. You’ll notice people start leaving his rallies early—out of exhaustion and boredom.”

Trump, visibly irritated, retorted that he holds “the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” but the debate soon returned to more substantive issues like crime and inflation.

The night clearly contrasted Biden’s earlier debate with Trump, as Harris managed to keep Trump on the defensive. Trump continued to fixate on conspiracy theories and past grievances, while Harris stayed focused on presenting her vision for the future.

With fewer than 60 days until the election, the debate sets the tone for what will likely be a hard-fought campaign. As the debate ended, Harris closed with a message to the American people: “This is about who we are as a country. The choice is clear—between chaos and leadership, fear and hope.”

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Opinion: In First Presidential Debate, Harris Exposes Trump’s Inadequacies

She’s still calling herself the underdog, but the biracial woman from Oakland, half Black and half Asian American, just changed the race for the presidency of the United States. If you ever doubted Kamala Harris’ ability to be our nation’s leader, everyone who watched Tuesday’s debate saw how fully capable she is of the job. She belongs in the White House.

Published

1 week ago

October 2, 2024

Oakland Post

Screenshot from Presidential Debate.

By Emil Guillermo

She’s still calling herself the underdog, but the biracial woman from Oakland, half Black and half Asian American, just changed the race for the presidency of the United States.

If you ever doubted Kamala Harris’ ability to be our nation’s leader, everyone who watched Tuesday’s debate saw how fully capable she is of the job.

She belongs in the White House.

Harris not only bested Donald Trump in arguing the facts; she showed how totally inadequate Trump is to again be our country’s Commander-in-Chief.

Harris deftly made her case on issue after issue, while baiting and manipulating Trump on the economy, on abortion, and on immigration.

Imagine how Putin and other world leaders play Trump. Harris exposed Trump for all to see. It wasn’t exactly an “emperor has no clothes” moment. It was more like “the twice impeached, convicted felon on 34 counts” has no business running for president. Trump is unfit mentally for the job, if not unfit morally.

It must have been a disappointment for deep MAGA to see their candidate so incapable of holding his own against Harris. At one point, she had him defending the crowd size at his rallies after she said people were leaving because he was boring.

And then instead of real policies that impact our lives, the former president spoke passionately about… his crowd size.

When that happened, I think everyone could see: Harris ate his lunch.

Going into the debate, the consensus in this tight race was that it was a virtual tie with Trump one point ahead.

But after their first meeting ever in a head-to-head-match up, CNN’s instant poll showed Harris winning the debate well beyond any margin of error, 63 percent to 37 percent.

There’s more distance between the two than previously understood. The debate exposed that.

TRUMP’S LIES

At the beginning of the week, I said the only way Trump could win the debate was if he “played nice.”

But the bully just couldn’t do it.

Acting presidential was just one lie Trump couldn’t pull off in another debate night mired in Trump lies.

Did his administration really do “a phenomenal job in the pandemic” when over a million Americans are dead? Is Kamala Harris “a Marxist and everybody knows it”? And what about those cat-eating immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, where every local official confirmed to news organizations that the story was false. There was even a lie on that Trump lie, when the former president said the immigrants were eating cats AND dogs. No, it’s just one lie. Just cats is enough.

And all that was just a fraction of the lies Trump told in the 90-minute debate.

Still, even with all that, I wouldn’t say Kamala Harris “whooped” Donald Trump.

It was more like general domination.

In fact, she had him at “Kamala Harris.”

When Trump seemed to dismiss the possibility of an opening handshake, Harris forced the issue. She walked toward Trump’s podium, reached out her hand, and introduced herself by name.

That gesture put Trump on the defensive all night.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. See his micro talkshow on YouTube.com/@emilamok1