Obamacare Class Warfare in Kentucky The View from the Roasterie LV: December 16, 2013
Truly, truly, truly, I have a very hard time hanging out in the middle of the country without starting to weep uncontrollably...
Greg Sargent: Obamacare class warfare in Kentucky:
Republicans are rolling out an attack on Obamacare that sounds a lot like the Romney 2012 “free stuff” argument... to characterize beneficiaries... particularly... Medicaid expansion as “shiftless freeloaders” enjoying “free health care,” all ”on the backs of hardworking Americans.”...
The handling of Obamacare by McConnell’s Dem opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, is worth considering in this context. It reflects the fact that red state Dems are approaching the health law in a more nuanced way than conventional wisdom suggests. Grimes is criticizing parts of the law, and is not embracing it--far from it. But she isn’t running from its general goals, either. Something more subtle is going on.... Here are a couple recent Grimes statements about Obamacare....
Instead of finger-pointing, instead of blaming, instead of attacking the presidential branch, let’s actually — or the executive branch — let’s actually attack the problem that exists here in the commonwealth and find a way for 640,000 [to get health insurance...]
There are 640,000 Kentuckians who previously did not have access to insurance... we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
The 640,000 Grimes refers to are the total number of Kentucky residents who are eligible for the Medicaid expansion or are uninsured and must buy insurance, many of them eligible for subsidies.... The class warfare attacks on Obamacare will continue... stoking class warfare and resentment are central to other attacks on the law, too.... Here’s what I expect to see. Grimes will avoid talking about Obamacare where possible, and instead will focus on the minimum wage, pocketbook issues affecting women (equal pay), and McConnell’s decades in Washington. Where necessary, she will call for “fixes” to Obamacare problems....
Kentucky may prove to be an interesting testing ground for a Democratic balancing act... enrollment has been a success, and many beneficiaries are poor and rural.... Dem governor Steve Beshear is one of the most aggressive advocates for the law.... You can see the potential for a more direct argument later about the consequences of repeal. Thus far, nearly 72,000 Kentuckians have enrolled, over 56,000 through the Medicaid expansion, and tens of thousands are eligible for subsidies. Over the months you can picture enrollment piling up to a critical mass that would make it easier for Grimes to argue that repeal would kick all of these people off of insurance, and harder for McConnell to stick to his “free stuff” frame.
