General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Obama should do nothing... [View all]Do you think the ACA helps? You can compare it to universal healthcare and find all the faults in the world with it - but that isn't a valid comparison because there is no evidence universal healthcare was ever a viable option. It's like comparing a job that pays $50,000 to one that pays $500,000 - sure, a $500,000 job would be great ... but that doesn't make having a $50,000 job bad does it?
It certainly would beat not having a job at all.
The problem is that it does help. The ACA is helping millions of Americans. It might not be the most ideal situation but compared to what we've had, yeah, it is - and it's the first major step in insuring Americans, even if it's through a for-profit system. Moreover, it also provides many Americans with insurance that IS government-run - specifically through state expansion of medicaid.
My point stands: To some, it's all or nothing. But politics has never been all or nothing. FDR had to scale back huge chunks of his New Deal program because A) it wasn't viable and B) it wasn't constitutional. He had to limit what Social Security could cover, failing to offer a true living wage, and he certainly didn't reform healthcare. That doesn't make him a bad president. The fact Social Security didn't cover EVERY American back when it was established doesn't make it bad policy - especially when it's compared to what we had before.
Social Security STILL doesn't cover everyone and it's still limited in its scope. My mom is on Social Security and she can't live on it - but that's not FDR's fault and we don't consider it a failure because it doesn't provide everyone the income needed to survive completely. We could - but again, do we fault FDR for not establishing something from the onslaught that helps everyone? Do we fault LBJ for not expanding Medicare for all? Of course not...