The Affordable Care Act, the immensely successful program that has become President Barack Obama’s signature law, has come under fire again by the deranged right. During a gathering in New Hampshire on Saturday, Republican hopefuls took shots at one another while attacking Obamacare.
The summit was called “the unofficial kickoff of the 2016 process” by Republican operative Mike Biundo, the individual behind Rick Santorum’s campaign. The Saturday meeting saw a number of hopefuls jockeying for a position in the rubber chicken circuit lime-light, including big names like Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, and Ted Cruz. Someone not in attendance was Jeb Bush, who was targeted for his position on immigration.
The speakers discussed a number of issues, ranging from the party’s problems with Hispanic voters to the party’s future, to Paul Ryan’s recent budget.
Donald Trump, accompanied by Donald Trump’s hairpiece, was on hand as well. Trump was just one of several speakers – like Rand Paul - who seemed to be retreating from the broad, sweeping Ryan Budget, which the House recently passed.
“His whole stance is to knock the hell out of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I would leave it alone. I don’t want to hurt people.”
Trump even echoed some of the Democrat’s concerns regarding the Ryan Budget, saying, “leave my Medicare alone.” Meanwhile, Ryan himself continued to defend his budget, claiming that the Republicans are, “unified around the common principals of the plan.”
Meanwhile, Huckabee appeared to be embracing it, in a plausibly deniable way; he thinks that it’s a “starting point,” but added: “There are a few things I would change.” What things are those? Your guess is as good as ours. Best not to commit to something that might prove to be unpopular too soon.
Of course, no discussion of the Republican Party anymore is complete without mentioning their near universal opposition to Obamacare. Never mind that Obamacare was their idea to being with; you either toe this party line or you get chucked on the sidewalk. Ted Cruz, speaking to the crowd, said that Kathleen Sebelius resigning as a result of the rocky rollout of the ACA wasn’t enough: “We are going to repeal every word of Obamacare,” Cruz said. Given that there’s a fine line between “hopeful” and “delusional,” perhaps we should be calling Ted Cruz a “Presidential delusional” rather than a “Presidential hopeful.”
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