A lifelong Democrat with family roots in the party and a personal history of activism, Burke Beu has given up on ObamaCare.
Apparently, it took a lot for Mr. Beu to lose faith with his party’s signature achievement of the Obama era.
He voted for President Obama in 2008 and then lost his job during the Great Recession. He voted again for President Obama in 2012 and then lost his health insurance because of ObamaCare. He regards ObamaCare as the reason his party received such a thumping in the midterms.
He writes in today’s Wall Street Journal:
ObamaCare is a failure. For anyone who thinks this is a misprint because no Democratic activist would make such a comment, let me add that it is too big, too complicated and too expensive. Without a public option within its network of exchanges, ObamaCare is a giant blank check to the insurance companies that pushed it through Congress. It punishes responsible consumers like me and treats younger individuals as fools who are expected to pay the bills while not paying attention.
Now we learn in videos that came to light this week that Jonathan Gruber, MIT economist and a key architect of the Affordable Care Act, proudly relied on his perceived “stupidity of the American voter” as the basis for designing ObamaCare. Such comments, along with the program’s notoriously dysfunctional website and false assurances that people can keep their previous health plans, are insults to every citizen regardless of party.
Contrary to Medicare, which was quickly accepted at a time of economic vitality as a meaningful complement to Social Security, ObamaCare was the sequel to an overpriced economic stimulus package that didn’t stimulate very much. Those least affected by the recession benefited the most from the stimulus. I think that’s called “trickle-down economics” when Republicans do it, and the economy continues to struggle for good jobs and a real recovery. ObamaCare is part of the problem, not a solution.
Beu has not given up on his party, and he urges Democrats to “get over ourselves” and begin anew with health care reform. He favors outright repeal of ObamaCare and believes the Democrats should work with Republicans to get enough votes to override a veto.