March 13, 2017
Dear Mr. President,
You tweeted today that "Obamacare is a disaster" and that "Obamacare is imploding." You also seemed quite frustrated that the media is ignoring it. Well, that's because it's not a disaster nor is it imploding. So it's a non-story.
A disaster is a sudden event such as an accident or natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of life. An implosion is a collapse inward as if from external pressure. (Both definitions thanks to Merriam Webster.) And although you really seem to like these words and throw them around an awful lot, they are neither true nor applicable to Obamacare - which is why the media doesn't respond to your tweets about it.
Obamacare is by no means a perfect system. Far from it. And for sure there are people who have been hurt by it (hurt in the form of higher premiums and loss of doctor choice but not, like, actually physically hurt). There is no perfect system that works for everyone. But by and large and in very general terms, Obamacare has provided health insurance to 20 million people who didn't have it before. And that benefits everyone.
You held a listening session for the "victims" of Obamacare (which was really a master-work in political propaganda by the way) where you blamed the press for, "making Obamacare look so good." (Is there nothing you can't blame the press for?!) But really what those people seemed to be "victims" of is unregulated insurance companies who's only goal is profit. It's not the Affordable Care Act that is making insurance companies raise their premiums. Is that not clear? You can re-read my letter of March 8 where I mention my theory that health insurance is a legal form of racketeering.
The real irony here is that you bad mouth Obamacare so much as the root of all evil...but Republicans complain that your proposal is too similar to it! Really, you've modeled your proposal off of Obamacare with just a few minor tweaks. So what's it going to be; is it really a disaster that's imploding and destroying our American way of life, or isn't it? Because you seem to like it enough to base your own bill on it.
I'm just looking for a little clarification here.
Confused in Vermont,
Amy Beaton
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