Ted Cruz waxed on for some 21 hours about the dangers of Obamacare. But as offensive as Cruz is to many people, myself included, I can say honestly that I have been trying very sincerely to understand why conservatives are so dead set against Obamacare. I think I have finally figured it out. You may have done so already. It has taken me a little longer.
The reason it has is because their opposition simply didn’t make sense to me. I could not believe conservatives just didn’t want poor people to have insurance, especially since people with insurance have to pay when those without it show up at the hospital emergency room. I could not believe they truly believed Obamacare would take away the freedom of small business owners with 15 or more employees by requiring them to provide healthcare. After all, businesses that do get reduced rates and every penny they spend on employee insurance is tax deductible. I could not believe they actually believed requiring young people to have dirt cheap health insurance violates their freedom, especially since if they end up going to the hospital for a medical emergency (as do the poor) they will get treated at the expense of those of us who do have insurance.
No, none of this made sense to me. But, then, I heard a clip from a conversation between Ted Cruz and Rush Limbaugh that helped me see the real reason they oppose Obamacare. They believe it is another government handout to poor people! Both of them said so. They talked about the need to stop Obamacare before it goes into effect because once it does it will be more difficult to throw people who are receiving government subsidies to buy insurance off the program. Of course! That’s it in a nutshell. Obamacare includes financial assistance to people who cannot pay for insurance without help. Since conservatives believe people who receive public assistance are lazy, feckless, and moochers, they think Obamacare is just another example of the “Nanny State” that is ruining our society. They also believe government help is a disincentive to poor people to go out and find a job, even though most of them already have a job. And they oppose Obamacare because they don’t want to pay taxes that help people get something for nothing. That’s why they have offered no alternative. They don’t want any program that includes government helping people get insurance.
Once I realized this, I understood that what is going on today among conservatives is not a policy difference with liberals over how to help people more efficiently. It is about not helping people at all. It’s all about believing lending a helping hand is a good thing or believing it’s not. Nothing more. I say that because at the end of the day, poor people who get help are still poor. They have not become rich, or even middle class. They are still poor. Helping them doesn’t make life easier for them. It’s just helps them live.
So now I see where conservatives are truly coming from. This fight over Obamacare is not about freedom. It’s not about costing jobs. It’s not about hurting small businesses. It’s not about costing the average American too much money. It’s about whether or not you believe those of us who have a lot should help those of us who have little. Personally I do. It’s okay if you don’t. Just have the decency not to call me an appeaser, a Communist, or an enemy of freedom. I’m simply an American who was on the winning side in the last election while you lost. I think the least you can do is accept the results and move on.
