One of the most prominent figures in modern American politics also has some strong things to say about Obamacare. He says “It is the craziest thing in the world” . . . and that those who fail to qualify for subsidies “are getting killed in this deal.” He goes on to say “people are out there busting it sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half.” It wasn’t Donald Trump who said this, or Mike Pence, or Karl Rove, or Rudy Guiliani – in fact, it wasn’t a Republican at all. It was none other than William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States and the spouse of the woman who wants to be the 45th. Mr. Clinton of course was overjoyed at the passage of Obamacare and has been, or was, one its strongest champions. He is not admitting that he was wrong – in fact, we doubt if he even believes what he said (although what he said is true), and we also suspect that what Mr. or Mrs. Clinton might do to remedy the situation will only make it worse, as it certainly would be more coercive, would be likely to increase the subsidies (and thus the overall cost) and would move further away from a market-based solution. Mrs. Clinton’s camp has gone into full spin mode, claiming that Bill meant to say Obamacare has made insurance available to 25 million people (which is based on the incorrect belief that insurance was “not available” for them before)but acknowledging that there is “a lot of work to do. . .to fix it to make it better for people.” President Obama’s Press Secretary Josh Earnest defended Obamacare, claiming that it had achieved 20 million newly insured Americans (note that is 5 million fewer than Mrs. Clinton's people said earlier the same day – not a small difference) and that it has – get this – “increased competition” which is not an easy thing to do when fewer and fewer companies are selling policies.
In fact, the Democrats, who rammed Obamacare through on a one-party vote by the thinnest of margins; thanks to some unscrupulous deals and shady promises, have been demanding that the Republicans bail them out of their plight – oops, we mean “come on board and make it work better.” The harshest fact of Obamacare is this: It barely passed, once, in 2009; and would not have passed in any Congress since.