The popular vote thing is the sour grapes of every loser and given the tenets of the electoral college it is utterly irrelevant. Last I saw the delta was about 200k. Mighty slim. The mandate occurred elsewhere. The House and the Senate come to mind. The bigger mandate is evidenced by Hillary's defeat despite the enormous political machinery at her disposal through the liberal media. Prior to the election a study done by the mainstream media showed a 91% media bias for her. The mandate is also evidenced by who beat her: a dirty little egomaniac.
Not sour grapes at all - I'm not denying the legitimacy of the election. I'm making the point that, on the whole, more Americans voted for HRC than Donald Trump. Assigining arbitrary state line boundaries around certain grouping so people doesn't change that fact. As for the House and Senate, Democrats picked up seats in both chambers. Note that I'm certainly not claiming that this is an overwhelming mandate in the other direction - it's not. But it's fundamentally incorrect to assume that the American people as a whole (or even as a majority) are behind the Trump agenda.
Too many people are still drinking the Obamacare kool-aid. No matter how you feel about it, it is not and never was sustainable. It was shriveling up after just a few years. This ridiculous mantra about 20 million people being insured is a joke. I see these people in my office every day since I accept all of the ACA exchanges. Their deductibles are huge and they are already poor. They can't afford anything outside of a simple office visit and most of them are unhappy since Obama lied about them being able to keep their doctor. Most other physicians in the area do not take the exchanges (because they pay poorly).And none of them have this mythical $75 dollar a month plans. They are paying at a level nearly as high as just getting regular high deductible plans. What will happen to these 20 million if Obamacare goes away? Well, the obvious think is to allow catastrophic care plans again. Duh. The other issue with the ACA is that it burdened physicians with MOUNTAINS of meanigless bureaucratic paperwork. Net result? Our ability to see patients went down by 20%. That means that there are 20% fewer appointments available. The burden became such that we quit working on nights and weekends. It does not matter what kind of insurance you have if you lose access to your physician. All as a direct result of the ACA.
Now, if you feel that what we need is a single payer system then say so. Demand it. Straight up. Quit hiding behind hybrid bureaucratization and just socialize the system. But, it did not work for Hillary the first time and after the ACA Americans will not stomach it. And here's a hint: They shouldn't. you want to know what socialized medicine will look like in the US? The Veterans Administration. It is THE model for how the US does socialized medicine and it is quite simply a nightmare and a disgrace. And it has been for 40 years! Need another vision of socialized medicine in the US? Just think about your typical experience at the DMV or the Social Security Office. That's all you need to know. But, if that's how liberals think we can solve our health care issues, by all means, go for it.
Frankly, it is so bad, it needs to go regardless whether we have a plan to replace it or not. And that is no less insane than saying "pass the bill, then read it", right?
We concur - saying "pass the bill, then read it" would be insane if that's what was said in chambers. Of course, that's not accurate. Here's what was actually said (to a nonprofit association, not to Congressional lawmakers, by the way).
“You’ve heard about the controversies, the process about the bill…but I don’t know if you’ve heard that it is legislation for the future – not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America,” she told the National Association of Counties annual legislative conference, which has drawn about 2,000 local officials to Washington. “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it – away from the fog of the controversy.”
As to your other contentions, I defer to your expertise and first-hand experience regarding the effects you've seen. For what it's worth, and I believe I conceded this before, I believe implementation has been poor. I believe that fault falls on both sides of the isle - on the Democrats for promising things that could not reasonably be delivered, and on Republicans for trying to hamstring and impede the deliverables that actually were possible. That said, I hope you will accept that from my position (again, as an employer, multiple business owner, and annual group plan administrator) that there are fundamental aspects of the ACA that people do appreciate, and will be problematic to eliminate.
So here's my takeaway. First, I by and large disagree with many typical conservative positions. Second, that said, my disagreements fall heavily on the social side of issues, not necessarily the fiscal or administrative side. My sincere hope is that, freed of being the "opposition party" who is forced to oppose ideas simply because they come from Democrats, the Republican congress can do a better job of actually governing, rather than impeding, and that they will prioritize things that can, and should benefit most Americans, and not waste time pushing a social agenda that frankly, most of America disagrees with. If they are really for small government, and efficient government, let's see it.
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