http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...e-albatross/DXKt7O0xSo6ARTBUM8kkUI/story.html
The Affordable Care Act turned four this week, as unpopular as ever. It has been underwater in hundreds of national polls, frequently by double-digit margins. Americans donât like it any better now than they did back when Democrats muscled it through Congress over unified Republican opposition.
By its proponentsâ own empirical benchmarks, Obamacare has been a debacle. The rosy promises about no one being forced to change doctors or health plans have been ditched. So has the enticing prospect of $2,500 premium reductions for every family. Instead, the âAffordableâ Care Act in most states is driving up underlying premiums, even doubling them in some parts of the country.
Voters rewarded the GOP for standing fast against the law four years ago, and there is a growing sense that theyâre going to do so again this fall. Obama has been warning Democrats for months that they are likely to âget clobberedâ at the polls this November. Itâs not just widespread disapproval of the presidentâs signature legislation that makes his party so vulnerable â itâs the intensity of that disapproval. âThe people who favor Obamacare, which is a minority, arenât really that enthusiastic about it even if they favor it,â says political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. âBut the majority who oppose Obamacare are much more charged up, and theyâre the people who tend to turn outâ for midterm elections.
The Affordable Care Act turned four this week, as unpopular as ever. It has been underwater in hundreds of national polls, frequently by double-digit margins. Americans donât like it any better now than they did back when Democrats muscled it through Congress over unified Republican opposition.
By its proponentsâ own empirical benchmarks, Obamacare has been a debacle. The rosy promises about no one being forced to change doctors or health plans have been ditched. So has the enticing prospect of $2,500 premium reductions for every family. Instead, the âAffordableâ Care Act in most states is driving up underlying premiums, even doubling them in some parts of the country.
Voters rewarded the GOP for standing fast against the law four years ago, and there is a growing sense that theyâre going to do so again this fall. Obama has been warning Democrats for months that they are likely to âget clobberedâ at the polls this November. Itâs not just widespread disapproval of the presidentâs signature legislation that makes his party so vulnerable â itâs the intensity of that disapproval. âThe people who favor Obamacare, which is a minority, arenât really that enthusiastic about it even if they favor it,â says political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. âBut the majority who oppose Obamacare are much more charged up, and theyâre the people who tend to turn outâ for midterm elections.
