as david says, obamacare is a dog-whistle issue for conservatives to get riled up over. meanwhile, liberals (and even most left-leaning moderates) look at it and go, "ho-hum, better than nothing i guess." that's why it's a winning issue for conservatives.

~joshua

What I will say about Obamacare is that the reason I believe it is a winning issue for Republicans has little to do with whether it will work or not.

It also has little to do with the details.

It has everything to do with it being the representative issue for them against big government.

It's a moral argument and a defining issue for them.

For the exact same reason, it's a losing argument for the Democrats.

Why? Our moral stand would have been single payer. That, I'd defend whole hog and with passion as would most progressives.

Defending the ACA, however, is a much more difficult moral argument for me to make, however, because we compromised so many progressive ideals.

-David

Michale got himself chucked off the Daily Banter site where the discussion was going on.

But in deference to you...

"ObamaCare" is the only "winning" argument the Republicans have in 2014.

Are they going to run against the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan?
Are they going to run on "guns, law, & order"?
Immigration?
Debt/Government Spending?
Economy?
Unemployment?
Government Spying?
Abortion?
Gay Marriage?

What else they got?

The whole racism debate is getting tedious. I didn't write on the Trayvon Martin case once, I think, and I gave it a pass for a reason. So can we please keep these comment threads relevant to the column written?

And, yes, Michale, I am looking in your direction...

-CW

That's ok.

I also see you still haven't managed to explain how so many of our 2.3 million+ prisoners are people of color when more crimes are committed by white people.

On a lighter note ...

http://unrealnewsonline.com/2013/07/16/facebook-reports-more-unfriending-and-blocking-sunday-than-any-day-in-its-history/

:)

-David

"P (President) emphasized that you have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to."
- H.R. Haldeman's diary, President Richard Nixon’s White House Chief of Staff

Look up the Tawana Brawley case..

for every edmund perry there's an amadou diallo. for every tawana brawley there's a rodney king. trayvon martin is interesting because as a case of racial inequality it's somewhere in the middle. maybe zimmerman really did believe he was justified, and maybe a jury would have agreed with him even if the prosecution had made a better case for manslaughter. but the reality is that a white kid doing the exact same thing in the exact same place at the exact same time, even wearing the exact same clothes, would not be dead. regardless of whether or not you want to acknowledge it as true, that's the reality.

i thoroughly read every link you provided to the "rioting" over the zimmerman verdict, they were all much ado about very little. breitbart's ghost can spin it all he likes, but except for a few stragglers who are using the event as an excuse to do what they'd probably be doing anyway, there's really not much going on.

yes, there are people who exploit our country's racial injustice to their own ends, from lawyers and politicians to thieves and vandals. but the existence of those people does not negate the very real inequality experienced by people of color on a day-to-day basis in almost the entire US. my friend phil is the gentlest, kindest human being you'd ever meet, but on a trip to new orleans he got arrested and put in jail for essentially standing in the wrong place while being black. if i had been in the same place doing the same thing, i'd have been told to move along and be on my way. you're going to sit there and say that problem does not exist?

Never admit a mistake if there's someone else to blame.
-Rule of Acquisition #51

I am amazed that anyone responds to nonsense like this. Where are the moderators?

LOLOLOLOL. You can't seriously be stupid enough to believe this 'fact'?

You seriously need to stop reading Drudge...

Actually, probably best not to answer that question when dealing with some of the loonies...

Look up the Edmund Perry case..

Look up the Tawana Brawley case..

You are absolutely correct..

We *DO* have a racism problem here in the US..

And that problem is racist black (so-called) "leaders" agitating racial hatred for profit..

THAT is the ONLY racist problem we have here in the United States.

And, until reasonable and rational people start calling these assholes out on it and holding racist morons like Sharpton, Crump and Jackson accountable for their despicable and perverted acts, we will continue to have a "racism" problem here in the US..

Yea, I know, I know. No one here will address THAT issue because there isn't any WAY to address the Perry/Brawley/Zimmerman issue w/o admitting ya'all are wrong..

Michale

I thought ya'all were "warriors" for the middle class, not in the pocket of business/corporations???

What gives?? :D

Michale

Obviously you didn't read my response.

My response dealt with the DEMOCRATS who have a problem with ObamaCare..

Even the guy who WROTE ObamaCare calls it a "train wreck"...

Funny how you completely ignore that...

Further, you neglect to address the FACT that 74% of businesses are eliminating full time hours so as not to penalized under ObamaCare...

And you claim that is GOOD for the working class??

How so???

Michale

and then Michale illustrated your point perfectly in his response!

Anyway, it is going to be interesting to see how all this shakes out. I think there's a very good chance that the repubs will overreach in a big way. Coz, the thing is, this is about people's healthcare--their ability to afford it and be able to count on it. If the pubs run around (as I agree, they will) shrieking about how this or that is screwed up, without offering solutions and without even acknowledging that solutions are needed, I think they will seriously turn people off. As you point out, this is something people will experience directly and that changes the dynamic dramatically.

And, after awhile, I think they'll make crystal clear that they aren't part of the solution so they are definitely part of the problem.

It will help if Dems are aggressive in their defense of Obamacare and if they take the offense on how the repub are trying to sabotage it.

And I will remember to look for the moment when the talking points go out and all of a sudden "Obamacare" is retired.

Considering all that has been said about it.... FROM DEMOCRATS!!!!

I think the chances of people "liking it" are Slim and None....

And Slim just logged off...

ObamaCare is a "train wreck"..

That's a direct quote from the Democrat who wrote it...

Considering how it has decimated the hours and pay of Americans working middle class???

I don't think anyone has to worry about Americans "liking" Obamacare...

Michale