That's almost 20X your count, and 10X your time, here on DU. I have my own concerns with the ACA, and have never been shy about saying so. Perhaps you could decide to disagree with the poster without claiming some kind of territorial privilege. I'm wondering if that's the way you were treated when you arrived here a short year and 1800 or so posts ago. I hope not.
I disagree with you. It's simply a false statement to say, "it would never have gotten through Congress." That's an opinion. It could have been a prediction, if it had been allowed to GET to Congress, and then we could have determined the validity of the prediction. It didn't, though. It wasn't even allowed in the room when the ACA was being crafted. In those circumstances, it's not possible to say what might have happened if it HAD been part of the conversation.
I believe it's likely that single-payer would not have been part of the final outcome. It's presence, though, might have pressured the group that crafted the ACA into at least allowing a public option, and, once having been allowed at that table, it would BE at that table for every future discussion, instead of locked out of the room, and the realm of possibility. Notice my use of the phrase "I believe," clearly acknowledging that it's my opinion, not some sort of pre-determined fact.
I believe that trying to shut people down who advocate for the better option instead of the lesser evil is counter-productive. I also think that saying you prefer the better option, and then advocating for the lesser evil, is what has caused the Democratic Party's inexorable shift from the left to the neoliberal right, and that is no step forward on any front.
Meanwhile, my ONLY concern when it comes to health care is just that: Health CARE. The ACA is not about CARE, it's an insurance mandate. If there is a net advance in the number of people who can get CARE without sacrificing their rent, food, utility, and fuel budgets, I'm okay with it. That doesn't mean I'm going to pretend that having insurance means that one can afford care, that I'm going to ignore the reality of deductibles and copays, of the private insurance industry's profit motive, or of how that motive sets up obstacles to TRULY affordable CARE.
That would be dishonest and disingenuous.
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