The Republican message machine learned that people are a lot more likely to listen and remember what you’re saying if what you’re saying connects to things they care about. Democratic messengers, on the other hand, always seemed to bring a knife to a gun fight.
Tag Archives: Obamacare
Recasting the Medical Morality Play
Many Americans have an unhelpful habit of viewing the health reform debate as a morality play where those who treat us, usually doctors and hospitals, are viewed as the good guys and those who pay for those services, generally insurance companies or government programs like Medicare, are seen as villains.
When a physician suggests another test, we assume that they’re trying to be helpful rather than merely increase their income. When an insurer refuses to pay for a test proven unreliable or has a less expensive alternative, we assume that the decision comes from heartless profit-maximizing bean counters.
Read MorePosted in General, Health, U.S. Also tagged Affordable Care Act, Choosing Wisely, health insurance, healthcare reform, Medicare, Steven Brill Leave a comment
Maybe We Don’t Have a Spending Problem After All
House Speaker John Boehner recently confided in an interview that what astonished him most during his marathon negotiations with President Obama on avoiding the fiscal cliff was when Mr. Obama said to him, “We don’t have a spending problem.”
When I read that, I was reduced to sputtering indignation: “We don’t have a spending problem??!! What planet is that man living on??!!”
And yet, just a couple of days later, I read a column by Matt Steinglass in the January 8 issue of the Economist that made me realize that Mr. Obama was entirely right. We don’t have a spending problem; we have a tax problem.
Read MoreGovernor, Heal Thyself
If an entire state could be crazy as a box of frogs, it would be Arizona. If a whole state could be crazy and brag about it, it would be Texas.
Read MoreThe Roberts Ruling: Timidity or Strategy?
“Th’ Supreme Coort follows th’ election returns.” So said Mr. Dooley, Finley Peter Dunne’s fictional Irish bartender in 1901.
Mr. Dooley had a point. Our justices, secure in their life tenures, may insist that they are impartial interpreters of the law, but they can no more ignore political realities than can any other members of our national government.
Read MorePosted in Campaigns & Elections, Culture, General, Health, Political Rhetoric, Politics, U.S. Also tagged Affordable Care Act, Alito, Franklin Roosevelt, John Roberts, Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Mr. Dooley, Supreme Court, Thomas Leave a comment
America Still Needs a Serious Health Care Debate
We’ve been subjected to everything from snarky bs to thermonuclear rhetoric, but we’ve never heard an honest, fact-based discussion about health care in the United States; what the problems are; what happens in the future if something isn’t done; and of course, the best way to fix it.
Read MorePosted in Campaigns & Elections, Culture, General, Health, Political Rhetoric, Politics, Supreme Court & Judiciary, U.S. Also tagged Affordable Care Act, America’s health care system, Congress, health care 3 Comments
Obamacare Prescription: Keep Calm and Carry On
The basic premise of the complaint, as I understand it, is that the infrastructure is not as far along as some would like, which may lead to confusion when major elements become effective next year, that Americans remain ambivalent about the bill because they don’t know what it does for them and that this lack of enthusiasm – coupled with continued GOP opposition – will yield a bad result in Congressional elections next year.
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