Speaking at the National Press Club regarding their 2014 midterm defeat, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) admitted what Republicans have argued for years — Democrats should never have passed ObamaCare. Schumer, who sounded more like a Republican Tuesday morning, said Democrats did not have a mandate to pass the deeply unpopular law and made a mistake when they put the economy on the back-burner for the law.
“Unfortunately, Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them,” Schumer said. “We took their mandate and put all our focus on the wrong problem — health care reform.”
But not so fast. Schumer, who never read the bill and is responding after-the-fact, said he still believes in ObamaCare, but he now thinks Democrats suffered politically by not first tackling the recession. Taking over one-sixth of the economy, he said, “wasn’t the change we were hired to make” in 2008.
After passing the stimulus, Democrats should have continued to propose middle-class oriented programs and built on the partial success of the stimulus. But unfortunately, Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them. We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem — health care reform. The plight of uninsured Americans and the hardships caused by unfair insurance company practices certainly needed to be addressed, but it wasn’t the change we were hired to make.
Americans were crying out for the end to the recession, for better wages and more jobs, not changes in health care. This makes sense, considering 85% of all Americans got their health care either the government, Medicare, Medicaid, or their employer. And if health care costs were going up, it really did not affect them. The former care act was aimed at the 36 million Americans who were not covered. It has been reported that only a third of the uninsured are even registered to vote. In 2010 only about 40% of those registered voting. Even if the uninsured kept with the rate, which they likely did not, it would still only be talking about only 5% of the electorate. To aim a huge change in mandate at such a small percentage of the electorate made no political sense. So when Democrats focused on health care, the average middle-class person thought the Democrats are not paying enough attention to me.
Les Mason / November 26, 2014
I’ll be the first to say I’m happy as hell to have insurance after 10 years of not having due to a pre-existing condition called a broken back 20 years ago.
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JozJag / November 26, 2014
I am delighted you have it too. But at the same time I am not delight to be paying 800.00 per month from what was 300.00. That extra cost is due to the fact that others are paying for those who could not get insurance or who could not afford it. That is not fair, that is redistribution of wealth and socialism.
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OnderVrager / November 26, 2014
Is there any other problem with the pre-Obamacare health care insurance industry that was remedied by Obamacare?
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duh, duh / November 26, 2014
That does not keep you from getting treatment, dang, it is called writing a check.
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Xanderoth / November 26, 2014
Everyone loves pre-existing condition allowances from Obamacare- but it just isn’t insurance. The definition of insurance is to provide payment for care for things that might happen, not that have already happened. Pre-existing condition coverage is just free healthcare.
No one buys car insurance to cover their accident last year. Fire insurance for the house that burned down last summer. Healthcare is different because these conditions persist for years or a lifetime- but don’t call it insurance. It is not insurance- it is just free healthcare coverage.
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duh, duh / November 27, 2014
Free health care provided by your neighbor. Just another type of welfare.
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curiousgeorgie / November 26, 2014
My deductible went from 2400/year to 6700/year. My prescriptions are not covered. I basically get 1 physical/year, a mammogram every other year and a gynecological visit every three years. Everything else is out of pocket. I am less than thrilled.
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Anthony P. / November 26, 2014
Les, while I’m glad you now have insurance it wasn’t necessary to turn our entire country upside down to do it or to write a 2500 page law that no one who voted yes for it even bothered to read to understand what they were voting for. Had they just tackled our deplorable economic problems first and gotten input from outside the ‘groupthink’ mentality, they would have been able to craft a bill in a few months that all Americans would have been proud of.
As it is, now that you have insurance I (along with millions of other hard working Americans) now have to fork over $265/month for less insurance that my employer used to give us for free–though it wasn’t really free. My Union counterparts & I took considerably less money over the last 20+ years in order to have 1 of the best benefit packages in my industry. We still have a good plan but it’s not even close to what it once was and now I have to fork over a car payment or a college tuition payment instead which means that something else will have to be eliminated from my budget to pay for it.
They could have done something as simple as tack on an additional $10/month fee to every employer provided plan which would have been more than enough to cover the uninsured and still have plenty left over. But then again, that would make too much sense and nothing this current administration does makes any sense at all except to the lemmings that drool over every single word of the ‘chosen one’.
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Jeremy D. Pike / November 26, 2014
It’s amazing how many actions governments take that are not at all mandated. And apparently government is only restricted by the whims of the voters and not that old Constitution thing we have forgotten about.
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JozJag / November 26, 2014
Trust me, I have not forgotten and I will remember that when it comes time to vote in 2016.
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joyer29 / November 26, 2014
The senator is correct. There was not a mandate to pass health care reform, even if some people were helped with the law. There was a more pressing problem at the time, but Obama and Pelosi saw it as an opportunity to pass legislation that was unpoplar to the majority at the time.
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Jerrytmi / November 26, 2014
The likes of Schumer and Polosi need to go from the Democratic party. They drag the party down like a boat anchor.
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JozJag / November 26, 2014
I don’t they can can drag the party down any more than the voters did this month.
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duh, duh / November 26, 2014
I think it is the socialism thing that is your problem.
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JozJag / November 26, 2014
ya… that socialism thing….LOL.!!
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totalcrap2009 / November 26, 2014
You mean like the kind of corporate socialism that makes it legal for a company facing bankruptcy to liquidate its employees’ pension funds in order to satisfy the company’s debts?
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duh, duh / November 27, 2014
Education helps, socialism is what put the company in charge of your pension. Bankruptcy Law, passed by a democrat controlled congress is what allowed the liquidation.
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totalcrap2009 / December 23, 2014
I’m sure you can provide references to back up what you pulled out of your backside, right?
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Dr80ew . / November 26, 2014
Hey Chuck. You should be next. Gtfo the Senate.
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Bailey Katts / November 26, 2014
You MORON!! You should resign immediately, if not sooner!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You agreed with Obama all along, despite the people of this country saying they didn’t want this. You sir, and I use that term lightly, are a disgrace!! I suppose next you’ll say you didn’t agree with the immigration blunder, either????
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Romefan99 / November 26, 2014
Whatever Chuck! Health Care reform was not a priority? How do you think not doing ANYTHING to stave off rising healthcare costs and uninsured Americans was less important than the economy. DUH!! ITS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ECONOMY!! Sick unhealthy people cant work. If there are no people to work there is no product. If there is no product there is nothing to take to market. If there is nothing to take to market the business closes and fails. Sounds like simple economics to me. BTW. The economy has been growing ever since the passage AND implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act.
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duh, duh / November 26, 2014
The same number, if not more are still not insured. And the costs are higher and getting higher, just what was fixed. And no the economy has not been growing, the fed has been printing money at record levels and lending it out for zero interest. Do you have any ideal what QE was and is.
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Anthony P. / November 26, 2014
Rome, you make it sound as though the entire country suddenly was stricken by the plague! You got it half right about simple economics but that’s about it. The economy hasn’t been growing, just as duhduh says there’s that little thing called quantitative easing that was propping up the economy. As for your rising healthcare costs, unless you’ve just come out from a 3 year nap you’d know that healthcare costs are now rising faster than they were before this obamanation of a law. More people who had insurance have seen their deductibles rise markedly while getting less in return and paying more than they were previously. But you go ahead little lemming, and keep believing the propaganda from Comrades Obama & Pelosi.
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nyctuber / November 26, 2014
Oh, really. The GOP/ Blue Dog D (Schumer) plan? Do nothing. Apply to every single aspect of life in the US.
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Anthony P. / November 26, 2014
Listen, genius (yeah I’m talking directly to the lemming who goes by the name nyctuber), just because that’s what the socialists in your party keep saying doesn’t make it true. In fact, Chuckie boy here stopped 1 step short of saying EXACTLY what the Republicans were calling for when Obama, Pelosi, Reid & yes even Schumer forced this ridiculous sham of a law down America’s throat. Allow me to refresh your short & narrow-minded memory–the Republicans instantly put out a bullet list of insurance industry reforms that would have worked just fine without costing us TRILLIONS and without changing our system. The list included covering the uninsured, most of whom were uninsured be caused that’s exactly the way they wanted to be. The remaining few who were booted from their insurance would have been able to get it with the Republican plan. Their plan was quite simple, since it was less of a plan and more of common sense reforms such as allowing insurance purchases across state lines which brings about incredible competition–the very competition needed to drive down rates. It also included malpractice reforms, something the lawyer lobby special interest group (with all those powerful Dems in their back pockets) definitely did not want to see.
Also, the Republican plan would have been easy enough for all to read and comprehend, heck even some Congresspeople would have been able to read it–quite unlike the monstrosity that was drawn up which consists of over 2500 pages and which not 1 single Democrat bothered to read before they voted on it. Remember that comment by Comrade Pelosi? You know, “you have to vote on it before you find out what’s in it” idiotic comment? A statement like that should be enough to get someone booted from office, yet her leftist followers not only continue to re-elect her but the now Minority party in the House keeps making her Minority Leader.
So, nyctuber, the next time you decide to make a ridiculous comment the least you could do would be to have the faintest idea of what you’re talking about.
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nyctuber / November 26, 2014
Republicans did no such thing. Their brilliant idea was allowing insurance co’s to sell across state lines. Their plan for the economy was to literally let everything go bankrupt. Take your meds and have a nice nap.
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Anthony P. / November 27, 2014
Have another dooby when you come up from Obozo’s lap. First off, it was Dems like Barney Frank you ran the country into the ground with their free giveaways and relaxation of Senate banking rules. In fact, that problem goes all the way back to Hillary Clinton beating Al D’Amato and being instantly placed as chair of the Senate Banking Commission. She relaxed numerous decades old rules which helped set in motion the debacle of 2008.
You need to stop believing the Socialist propaganda spewing forth from the leftists if you want to have a clue as to what is really going on in the country. Otherwise, you run the risk of being just another stooge for radical leftists who seek to destroy this country by taking down the Constitution.
But it’s probably too late if you’re so far left you think Schumer is a Blue Dog Dem.
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nyctuber / November 27, 2014
Barney Frank did no such thing, The 2008 crash was the direct result of Gramm’s deregulatory legislation which Clinton was foolish enough to sign off on and Bush loved. F&F collapsed thanks to dried up revenues after the collapse. I’d really advise you to steer away from the ‘Socialist’ spiel, it’s not at all based in fact and reeks of desperation. Republicans have done absolutely zilch for the US since the advent of Reagan’s trickle down insanity.
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Anthony P. / November 27, 2014
The socialist ‘spiel’ is entirely fact based, progressives just hide behind a different name to try and appeal to the naive youth and ignorant, unobserving masses. When Venezuela’s system is more appealing than ours, you’re a socialist. I find it interesting that the very same people who mock others for placing names or labels on people are the first to call people neocons, deniers, etc. and despise when the tables are turned on them.
As for the history lesson, obviously you’ve bought into the propaganda so nothing I or anyone else has to say could possibly cause pause in your thought for just 1 moment to consider the possibility that your facts are skewed. There’s plenty more I could say on the root cause of the economic collapse of ’08 and the 6 years of stagnation that followed and continue, unless you happen to be 1 of the chosen few on Wall St., but it’s awaste of time trying to enlighten true believers.
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nyctuber / November 27, 2014
The only actual beneficial programs since the Depression have been D/ Progressive. You peeps can cry all you want about the safety need being ‘failed’ or ‘bankrupt’ whatever, but it worked and still does. The problem with right wingers is that they really are extreme far right, and really do live to deregulate and privatize everything. Crying ‘Socialists/Marxists/Communists’ is the only way to create a scary sounding false equivalency. The problem with the ACA is that it’s far too Right wing. Far too many concessions were given to R’s, who predictably voted unanimously against it like children. A Public Option would have been cheaper and better. Nothing on the R ‘bullet list’ was remotely sane. It never is. Lol@ trying to claim R’s arent completely owned by WS they block all of the regulation to regulate it and relentlessly try to make it even less regulated than it was pre-crash.
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Anthony P. / November 28, 2014
There you go ladies & gentlemen, there’s how these Socialists/Marxists/Anarchists think! A bill illegally passed that 60% of the country despise is too far right for these people. Don’t let their gentle ‘progressive’ moniker bs fool you for 1 second, their idea has ALWAYS been to turn the U.S. into a China/socialist Europe combo or a North Venezuela. They love those leftist ideas but wouldn’t want to live in those countries because they don’t have the freedom we have here.
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nyctuber / November 28, 2014
Lol it passed in spite of an R blockade, yet the bill itself is based on their Mandate and is full of concessions. You’ll need to make up your mind, your side (R) voted to repeal it 50 times yet you now apparently support it. Lol@ not being able to give up the ‘Socialist’ diatribe. You clowns apply the same logical fallacy to the safety net.
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duh, duh / November 26, 2014
So when is chuck u going to repeal it.
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Samuel Bernard Johnson III / November 26, 2014
Hello my fellow Americans,
The number one priority as set forth in the November 2008, elections and what was a mandate for the Democrats was as followed:
1. Job creation legislation;
2. Restore the middle class;
3. Pass immigration reform that secured the United States Boarder first, after which tackle the issue of determining who was here, remove those who failed to come out of the shadows, for those who came out of the shadows they were suppose to pay federal and state taxes until such time that there immigration application was approved and/or denied and yes they were suppose to be placed at the back of the line.
Number three was suppose to occur within the first one hundred days of President Obama being the 44th President of the United States.
Finally, while it is good to have insurance we must not forget that having a full time job that comes with employer benefits, such as health care, retirement saving options, education benefits, etc. are far better than having just healthcare insurance under The Affordable Health Care Act. Moreover, many of us only like two components of the legislation, which are if you like your doctor you can keep him/her and the pre-existing medical condition exemption. As many of you know we lost the if you like your doctor you can keep him/her.
For the above-referenced reasons The Affordable Health Care Act as failed and as in keeping the our United States Constitutional privileges we let the Democrats know that we did not like what they did in going against our grass roots movement of “Moving Forward!” given that they passed The Affordable Health Care Act in the night with no transparency being provided to the American people.
As always, I write to you first as an American and second as an Independent. Support the American first movement over party affiliation!
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Jim Brumfield / November 26, 2014
And why does it always have to be major reform??? Why not fix small parts, things there could have been bipartisan support for. Now I can’t afford health insurance, or should say the health insurance I can afford is too expensive and pile of crap. So not going to purchase .
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duh, duh / November 26, 2014
Amazing how the big democrat senate and house, could not pass amnesty, something they have lied about repeatedly.
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curiousgeorgie / November 26, 2014
It seems that Chuck is afraid he is going to lose his career politician job.
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DocE / November 26, 2014
Hard for me to understand the ACA naysayers. We carry auto, real estate insurance that are required to protect property, ourselves, others. I have done so for 50 years and never used it. Oh there was the short in the electrical panel that required a $500,000 home repair, paid for completely by the home insurance! Why is healthcare for everyone such a stretch in the US? We are all literally a heartbeat, or a moment of distraction while driving, away from a medical disaster. You may not be able to imagine how costly healthcare is. Health care is not really affordable by any single person, just the population. Let’s embrace it and move on to solve societies other problems.
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shatzy48 / November 26, 2014
I don’t recall “Chuckles” voicing any opposition to ACA unless it was behind lots of closed doors. As a party leader he should have been more forceful about stimulus if that’s the way he felt. But we know how things worked out with all those “shovel ready jobs.”
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Aaron / November 26, 2014
If more people had jobs, then getting insurance coverage would be less of an issue. It’s about the economy, stupid!
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butchus / November 26, 2014
45,000 americans dying prematurely solely due to lack of health insurance was enough of mandate. paying twice as much per capita for a substandard healthcare system that failed to cover 50 million americans was enough of a mandate.
the old system was a disaster only getting worse
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Chas Holman / November 26, 2014
” We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem — health care reform,””
Says the guy with the incredible tax payer paid for Cadillac Health Care plan (for life)..
Screw Chuck *(I got mine) Schumer….
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