I kept thinking after the Howard Dean / John Kerry campaigns that Democrats had learned they will only succeed if they develop backbones and stand up for something even in the face of criticism or attacks.
Wrong again.
We can face some facts. The Obamacare rollout has been botched. Given.
"You can keep your policy" should have had an asterisk attached. If you were sold a junk individual health insurance policy that doesn't cover very much and you bought it sometime after Obamacare was passed, then you can't keep your policy. You can go to the exchanges and likely find better policies for as much or less cost, but a small percentage of you will end up paying a lot more.
In the face of incessant Republican and now media attacks on these points though Democrats are pulling the usual "el-foldo". I agree they had to come up with something cosmetic for the people losing coverage. But lost in all this is that they are giving the upper hand to the critics who have done nothing to help the uninsured, the under-insured, and to protect the rest of us from the worst abuses of the system as it existed before the Affordable Care Act.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a big fan of Obamacare. As with a lot of what we do in this country it's an inefficient, overly complex solution because we are still in the era of "government is the problem, the free market is always the solution".
Still, it's a huge improvement over what was in place before. Thanks to Obamacare there are no lifetime caps, you can't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, women can't be charged more than men for the same policy, you can't be dropped from your insurance after being covered, you can keep your children on your plan up to age 26, and there are no co-pays for preventative measures. And once working properly the web site will allow you to navigate the exchanges and shop for the best plan for you and your family. And we are already seeing progress and evidence that the web site is already working better.
So my complaint is, where is the Democrats marketing campaign on all this? How are they getting the information out to people? And the answer of course if that they aren't.
This lept into my mind as I saw headlines and posts on various sites complaining about the fact that the traditional, mainstream media, even supposedly liberal media outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post, were repeating Republican talking points, talking points that were often erroneous or inaccurate.
Still it got me to wondering. Why are there never Democratic talking points? Why can't the Democrats formulate a simple message and stick to it and repeat it and repeat it until it sinks into everyone's consciousness? And of course instead we are seeing the usual Democratic response: apologies, hand-wringing in the face of the slightest criticism or setbacks, abandonment of core principles, heading for the hills and retreating rather than standing up for a signature achievement while acknowledging flaws.
There are probably many factors involved in answering why this is the usual Democratic instinct, but for just once I wish the Democrats could adopt the message discipline that the conservatives and Republicans are able to. They don't seem to care if the facts or public opinion are against them, the Republicans stick to their message and repeat it over and over without shame.
In the face of the botched rollout and the controversy over the individuals losing their substandard coverage the Democrats should take a page from the Republican playbook and just keep repeating:
You may say I'm a dreamer...
Wrong again.
We can face some facts. The Obamacare rollout has been botched. Given.
"You can keep your policy" should have had an asterisk attached. If you were sold a junk individual health insurance policy that doesn't cover very much and you bought it sometime after Obamacare was passed, then you can't keep your policy. You can go to the exchanges and likely find better policies for as much or less cost, but a small percentage of you will end up paying a lot more.
In the face of incessant Republican and now media attacks on these points though Democrats are pulling the usual "el-foldo". I agree they had to come up with something cosmetic for the people losing coverage. But lost in all this is that they are giving the upper hand to the critics who have done nothing to help the uninsured, the under-insured, and to protect the rest of us from the worst abuses of the system as it existed before the Affordable Care Act.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a big fan of Obamacare. As with a lot of what we do in this country it's an inefficient, overly complex solution because we are still in the era of "government is the problem, the free market is always the solution".
Still, it's a huge improvement over what was in place before. Thanks to Obamacare there are no lifetime caps, you can't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, women can't be charged more than men for the same policy, you can't be dropped from your insurance after being covered, you can keep your children on your plan up to age 26, and there are no co-pays for preventative measures. And once working properly the web site will allow you to navigate the exchanges and shop for the best plan for you and your family. And we are already seeing progress and evidence that the web site is already working better.
So my complaint is, where is the Democrats marketing campaign on all this? How are they getting the information out to people? And the answer of course if that they aren't.
This lept into my mind as I saw headlines and posts on various sites complaining about the fact that the traditional, mainstream media, even supposedly liberal media outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post, were repeating Republican talking points, talking points that were often erroneous or inaccurate.
Still it got me to wondering. Why are there never Democratic talking points? Why can't the Democrats formulate a simple message and stick to it and repeat it and repeat it until it sinks into everyone's consciousness? And of course instead we are seeing the usual Democratic response: apologies, hand-wringing in the face of the slightest criticism or setbacks, abandonment of core principles, heading for the hills and retreating rather than standing up for a signature achievement while acknowledging flaws.
There are probably many factors involved in answering why this is the usual Democratic instinct, but for just once I wish the Democrats could adopt the message discipline that the conservatives and Republicans are able to. They don't seem to care if the facts or public opinion are against them, the Republicans stick to their message and repeat it over and over without shame.
In the face of the botched rollout and the controversy over the individuals losing their substandard coverage the Democrats should take a page from the Republican playbook and just keep repeating:
- We are working on fixing the website and helping people who have to give up substandard policies, but in the meantime let us not lose sight of the following:
- Obamacare is attempting to provide health coverage for the uninsured and underinsured using a market-based approach allowing people to buy insurance from private companies; this saves everyone money in the long run
- Obamacare allows people with pre-existing conditions to get insurance
- Obamacare eliminates lifetime caps on benefits
- Obamacare allows you to keep your children on your plan until age 26
- Obamacare prevents insurance companies from denying your coverage or dropping your coverage once you have enrolled and paid premiums
- Obamacare eliminates co-pays for preventative services that save money in the long run
- The Republicans only answer to solving the problems Obamacare addresses is to repeal it, allow all the old abuses and put the insurance companies back in charge
You may say I'm a dreamer...
RSS Feed