The "Killer" Legacy

What was Obama thinking when he pushed and shoved, cajoled and cave, wheeled and dealed to get Obamacare through some five years ago? Well, he thought he was building a legacy like Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He thought he was setting himself up to be the greatest president in the progressive movement by providing the final lynchpin in the liberal playbook....socialized medicine. Oh, he didn't get it all the way there, but he made sure that the insurance companies would fall apart under his plan in five to ten years, leaving the federal government as the only "single payer" health insurer around. How wrong he was.

What has been a reality was this legacy of Obama's has turned into his Elba. As Napoleon was exiled to Elba at the end of his reign, Obama has been banished to being a cheerleader for a failed foray into socialized medicine. And with it, the legacy of being the "great failure" as president. If only he would have listened to his critics instead of bashing them.

Obama didn't want to deal with Republicans when it came to Obamacare. Remember that back then, the Democrats had both the Senate and the House. And all he had to do was wheel and deal his way to get the majority votes in each of the houses for it to pass. He dodged some landmines along the way...the Supreme Court, which went waaaay out to left field to call the "penalty" of not participating in the individual mandate a tax (which Obama himself had fought against calling during the fight). He won a re-election campaign he should have lost had the GOP actually put someone who hadn't been the architect for Obamacare up against him. And now, the chickens have come home to roost.

You can't blame the GOP for sitting on the sidelines and throwing out the cat calls on this one. They've tried over 100 times to have Obamacare repealed. They're going to try the courts one more time, saying that all of the changes in the law need congressional approval and can't be done by the White House....that gives him too much authority. How that will play out is anyone's guess.

But it doesn't need to play out at all. Obamacare isn't going to be a viable alternative. It needs so much fixing that Obama can't do it by administrative fiat alone. No, he's going to need congresses help on this one. And he can't do it while the GOP controls the House. And he won't be able to do it if the GOP takes over the Senate in 2014. He better smell the coffee brewing and start realizing that he isn't going to be able to dictate his way out of this one. He is about three steps away from ruining the insurance industry himself, and putting most Americans squarely against him.

63% of Americans surveyed feel Obama has mis-handled the Obamacare rollout. 70% feel that the health care system under his plan is broken and needs to be gutted and start over from scratch. What's amazing is that 61% of those people are also very strong in their feelings. Over half the country feels Obama has lied to them (duh!?) and don't trust him with anything he says anymore. His approval rating has hit 39%, the lowest in his presidency.

Great legacy, isn't it?