Bill Ayers: "Obama Is A Pragmatic Moderate Politician"

[CASHAPP]

Obama has always been a cautious pragmatist. He's no doubt a liberal on certain issues, but is far more interested in "what can be achieved" than any strict ideological stance. He supported single payer healthcare during his days in Chicago yet passed a healthcare law that benefits insurance companies. Because that's the only thing that could be passed, and also because the bill is cleverly designed to be a Trojan Horse for single payer sometime in the future.

Go back to his HLR days, when his liberal friends were upset he gave conservatives more seats than liberals. Dude has always been focused on building a coalition and getting "something" done.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Piff Perkins]

What do you mean by this?

State wise, the law offers "innovation waivers" to states to create their own alternative healthcare law as long as they meet some specific guidelines (like covering x amount of people, doesn't increase the deficit, etc). Vermont is currently creating their own single payer plan, and California will likely try in the future. States are essentially being paid to make the law better for them.

Federal and state wise, the Medicaid expansion in the law raises eligibility requirements for the program, thus allowing more people to get free healthcare. The general idea is that the ACA puts in place a blueprint for Medicaid to be further expanded to cover an even higher amount of income brackets. This could also help pave the way for a "Medicare for all" type plan, which allows people to buy a heavily subsidized government plan that offers much lower prices due to the government directly negotiating with hospitals. Essentially, cutting the middle man (insurance companies) out.

I can understand why insurance companies allowed the bill to pass: it's going to earn them a lot of new customers, and thus a lot of money. But they have to realize that this law is going to be expanded, assuming it doesn't blow up due to glitches/bad website/poor design/etc. When Social Security was first introduced it only covered widows and orphans; now it covers old people in general and is a pillar of the US entitlement system. I think it's inevitable that a more liberal congress, electorate, and president will build on the law within the next decade or two.

Just watch, sooner or later a large state is going to implement single payer through Obamacare, and that governor will run for president based on that success. Vermont is too small, so I think it could be California.