Reality of Obamacare
As the reality of Obamacare’s full, enactment grows closer, the roar of disapproval is widening throughout the country and medical community.
The Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act last June. President Obama and his administration promise it will be a thorough health-care overhaul aimed at lowering insurance costs for consumers.
Admirable ambitions, but unfortunately just six months after the court decision, there is at least one right-wing still attacking the Affordable Care Act daily in TV ads.
Why?
America’s Voice
America’s Voice, the producers of such ads, has an ambitious advertising plan that includes two new commercials advocating the law’s repeal. They will begin appearing on cable news channels including Fox News and MSNBC, as well as other stations, like the History Channel.
Betting the increased publicity will bring in hundreds of thousands in donations, the organization is spending $20,000 a week with a goal of $100,000 weekly within months.
The commercials are designed to prompt people to sign a petition repealing Obamacare. So far they have gathered over 35,000 new signatures a day, says Ken Hoagland, chairman and founder of Restore America’s Voice. The donations so far have completely paid for air time. It is encouraging other groups to act on their coattails.
Media Analysis Group
According to Elizabeth Wilner, vice president of the campaign media analysis group at Kantar Media, a marketing strategy firm that tracks ad spending, “Advertising about this particular policy has just had an unusually long life span, if not a uniquely long life span. I can’t remember anything like it.”
Up until these ads were released, the only anti-Obamacare commercials were anti-abortion ads whose slogans often include repealing Roe v. Wade. Wilner says, “It’s unusual to see TV advertising about a policy that has already been enacted; it’s even more unusual to see TV advertising about a policy that has been both enacted and upheld by the Supreme Court.”
On the other side of the coin are proponents of the Affordable Care Act – the U.S. government-funded (taxpayers) the Department of Health and Human Services. Although they maintain their ads are strictly educational, the highly controversial and unpopular law is actually being defended by the very same people who are against it.
The HHS insists they are spending much less than the opponent groups.
Affordable Care Act
Varying organizations have spent far more campaigning to block or repeal the Affordable Care Act than to support it. That means over $235 million since Obamacare was passed (barely) in March, 2010.
Hoagland was quoted as saying that in his 30 years of working on grassroots campaigns, he has “successfully advocated for repealing other legislation, including the 1988 health-reform law, the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act. A second law canceled the act’s major provisions a year later. I’ve seen public pressure reverse legislation before. It can be a game changer when average people get involved.”
There is approximately nine months to go before complete enactment of the law.
Three years after its passage, the law is riddled with flawed language, expensive and intrusive law that was enacted over the objections of most Americans. The mere idea that taxpayers are forced to pay for ads supporting the legislation is outrageous.
Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama
More Republican groups are getting on board and supporting the ads. The Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama produced “Oppose Obamacare” commercials in 2011, funded by a right-wing political action committee, but the ads ended with the election.
That reality hurt.
The ads will advance the cause. The enactment will provide Americans a real look at its inner working and how it affects them individually. With the midterm elections less than year after Obamacare is law; the results could be highly destructive to the left-leaning politicians or any who actually voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
Democrat’s 2014 Waterloo
The target is to motivate consumer frustration following its implementation. The dramatic effect the law will bring to small businesses and employees could be catastrophic to not only the president and advocating Democrats, but the nation’s economy and its health system overall.
The Affordable Health Care Law could be the Democrat’s 2014 Waterloo.
