Recent Articles

“Democrats who voted for their party’s signature domestic achievement dropped like flies throughout the evening, adding credence to Republicans’ claim that the American public wants them to repeal healthcare reform.”

“Voting against the health care law may have saved a few moderate House Democrats who managed to survive an overwhelming Republican wave Tuesday night. Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), Larry Kissell (D-N.C.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Mike Ross (D-Ark.) are among the 11 Democrats who opposed the bill and survived in a midterm election in which voters identified health care as their second most important issue.”

“While it’s impossible to isolate the effects of that one vote given all the factors that contributed to Democratic losses, an initial analysis suggests that those Democrats in competitive districts who voted against the legislation fared a lot better than those who voted for it… 40 percent of the Democratic ‘no’ votes in McCain districts won reelection, whereas just 6 percent of ‘yes’ votes were able to survive.”

“If anyone ever doubted the extent to which Congressional committees could turn good intentions into a bureaucratic nightmare, they need only to look at PPACA’s premium subsidy provisions and their potential impact on insurance exchanges.”

“While hospital leaders admit the economy sparked this problem, it says the Obama Health Care Reform Act gave the hospital a one-two punch. While more people may soon get more health coverage, Obama’s plan cuts reimbursement dollars for hospitals at a time administrators say they could use them most.”

“Many of the House Democrats who cast the deciding votes on health reform are expected to lose on Election Day.
President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) needed every vote they could muster to push the bill through the House in March. The legislation passed 219-212, but for some Democrats, that vote could prove to be their political death.”

Sen. Russ Feingold is trailing in his re-election bid largely because of his vote for ObamaCare. “In most races around the country, the issue of healthcare reform has taken a backseat to more pressing concerns about jobs and the economy. Not in Wisconsin, where Ron Johnson, the Republican challenging Sen. Russ Feingold (D), has made health reform repeal a topic central to his campaign-trail message.”

“All signs point to an electoral rebuke of epic proportions tomorrow for those who sponsored and pushed ObamaCare through Congress in 2009 and early 2010. That would certainly be just. Because, months ago, ObamaCare’s advocates decided it was more important to them to jam the health care bill of their ideological dreams through Congress than it was to secure the consent of the governed for a more balanced, consensus plan.”

ObamaCare directs states to set up exchanges to manage its new insurance subsidy system. “But states view the project as an enormous undertaking, requiring them to design a system, develop the information technology and put it into action in just three years amid tight budgets.”

“But while the Post implies that it’s largely these Democrats’ waffling that’s gotten them into trouble, the Democrats who switched to yes are hardly the only ones who are struggling. Those who voted yes on Obamacare all along are also getting clobbered. By my last count, the other Obamacare-supporting Democrats who are running in districts that lean Republican (by any margin) or lean Democratic by no more than 5 points (based on the past three presidential elections), are winning in only 8 of their 30 races (27 percent). Meanwhile, Democrats in these same districts who voted against Obamacare are winning in 10 of their 15 races (67 percent).”