Happy 5th Birthday, Obamacare

Five years ago, on March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans tried to disparage by calling it Obamacare.   The name stuck.   Those who hate it, say it with a derisive sneer;   those who approve and who benefit from it, say it with appreciation and pride.

As Jonathan Cohn notes (Huffington Post)

"Five years later, by any reasonable and objective criteria, 'Obamacare' has achieved a great deal. The percentage of adults without health insurance has dropped to 12.9 percent . . . [or] about 16.4 million people who might not otherwise have it. . . .

 “Meanwhile, the budget deficit is coming down, and . . .  the Affordable Care Act has contributed significantly to that reduction. . . . "

In one of the greatest political denials in recent history, Republicans still refer to it as a "disaster" or a "train wreck;'    and they have voted more than 50 times to repeal it.

Not a single Republican voted for the bill, and none seems willing to come to the celebration either.    Sooner or later, the sheer number of people whose lives have benefitted from the ACA are going to realize that the Republicans are blatantly lying about that "train wreck."

So . . . let them come up with something truly better (if they can).    So far, every sketchy idea they have put forther would only make things much worse.

Ralph