A Majority of Americans “Hate” Obamacare (and why this should worry the GOP)

Republicans love to say funny things like:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what…. There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government…who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they’re entitled to health care, to food, to housing, you name it…. These are people who pay no income tax…. My job is not to worry about those people—I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives…

They also like to explain why they lost with logic such as:

It’s a proven political strategy, which is give a bunch of money to a group and, guess what, they’ll vote for you.

And they also hate Obamacare. They love using their megaphone, known as Fox News, to reiterate this point with headlines such as:

Poll: Obamacare a Bigger Worry Than Sequester

(This is all under the presupposition that we, the Tyrannical Democrats, actually give a shit what people think). Of course, if anyone actually read the bottom print of the article, it would be clear that this poll is from a small town in Pennsylvania.

But okay, okay – too much digression from my main point. People hate Obamacare, here are some statistics:

• Just over a third think it makes the country better off [1]
• More than 60% of the country thinks we’re worse off or no different [1]
• 45% of voters want their Governor to cooperate with HHS, and 11% are undecided [2]
• 47% (hmm….) of Americans support a full repeal [3]

Alright, yes, I’m “cherry-picking” statistics here. But that doesn’t matter, I’m not trying to make a logical argument (I am trying to understand the Fox News mind, after all). These statistics come under headlines that demonize Obamacare and everything associated thereof.

Do the Republicans not understand that they’re logic is screwed up at a very, very fundamental level? Obamacare is, by far, the President’s largest “free handout” to the “takers”. It’s the most “anti-business” galling, socialist paradise that the 47% better love. Except they don’t. So here’s their argument:

1. Obama won because he loves giving stuff away.
2. A majority of the people want him to take his stuff back (again, whether the polls are unbiased etc. is irrelevant)
3. And therefore, somehow, we conclude handouts are why the 47% voted for Obama.

My point is that, yes, Democrats probably have stronger priors with regard to social spending (though the size of our government declined most rapidly under Bill Clinton, by a whopping 3.9% of GDP). However, plain entitlements like healthcare are not the reason most of the country voted Obama.

They sensed a sense of hope, perhaps misplaced. The idea that maybe America is for everyone. The principles behind Obamacare – social justice, equal opportunity for children – is what they voted for.

So, Republicans, in the future, when you want to make a crappy argument, please don’t use its contradiction as proof thereof.