Political Ruminations

Quote of the Day

Jonathan Cohn on the #debt ceiling talks:

“Does anything matter to Republicans more than protecting tax cuts for the very wealthy? Developments of the last 18 hours suggest very strongly that the answer is no.”

Via Krugman

Adding......I should have checked the date. Cohn made this remark on July 10, but I suppose it still holds true today.

Is the Use of the Term ObamaCare Really So Bad?

I discussed this with another Liberal recently, and in doing so, I realized that my view of it had changed.

At first, it really, really annoyed me since 'ObamaCare' was in such wide use as a derogatory term for the health care bill, which was not only good and right, but sorely needed, as well as truly historic. Recently however, my feelings about it changed to closely resemble those of Jon Cohn, who said:

…I like the term. I think this bill will be popular someday and, in the meantime, I think it's a reminder that this administration did something that will help millions of Americans while starting to put our health care system in order. Maybe I'm wrong — I've certainly been wrong about this before — but I think that within a few years, and maybe even by 2012, association with the health care plan will be a net plus.

Kevin Drum also weighed in with a slightly underwhelming ‘yes’ vote:

I'd say that 2012 is pretty optimistic, but I certainly agree that eventually Obamacare will be a popular program. My question is whether this is ever likely to catch on. Social Security isn't RooseveltSecurity and Medicare isn't JohnsonCare. Presidents really don't get their names associated like this very often except with broad world views like Bush Doctrine, Reaganomics, etc. And even that's not very common.

So, I do agree with Kevin that this bill will probably not be popular for a few more years…in fact, probably not until after the mandate kicks in in 2014, when the cost of health insurance will also decrease, and most people will receive full or partial subsidies to purchase their insurance.

Meanwhile, words have no power unless we impart that power to them. I plan to use the term ‘Obamacare’ more and more frequently, and if we all do this, it will naturally cease to be used as a derogatory term. .

Via Kevin Drum