Anti-Obamacare Democrats and the November Midterm Elections

On March 23, 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Act (PPACA) or more commonly known as “Obamacare”. It is the byproduct of efforts from Congress to implement a reform on the U.S. health care system. The law included various provisions in health care such as Medicaid eligibility, insurance premium subsidies, incentives for business who effectively provide health benefits and strengthening medical research. Despite of its good intention, a lot of citizens and policymakers have rejected the bill stating that it is too expensive and will violate the freedom of citizens.

It was remembered that during the time where the House was about to finally pass the Obamacare bill, about 34 Democrats opposed it with 31 of them running for reelection. Some of these notable democratic personalities are Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, Bobby Bright of Alabama, Glenn Nye of Virginia, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, and Glenn Nye of Virginia. Most of them have been constantly running television ads bragging about their “No” stand to the bill. Nye even stated that the bill will cost the American people too much money.

Currently, there are two petitions in the House to discharge the Obamacare bill. The first one was sponsored by Rep. Stephen King of Iowa which aims to simply repeal the act. The second one came from Rep. Wally Herger of California which not only repels the act but also replace it with other alternative proposals. While most Republicans decided to pick one petition, not a single one of the 31 Democrats have signed either of the petitions. Glenn Nye opposed the bill because he said it was very costly back then. With the projected cost rising to over $2.7 trillion, Nye seems to be a little confused by not signing the petition to repeal the act.

If these Democrats are strongly opposing Obamacare, why didn’t they sign any petition to repeal the act? Are they seriously opposing Obamacare or are they just doing this so as to get enough political support for their campaign? With the November midterm elections fast approaching, political candidates are busy persuading the public about their agendas and platforms. It has become a test for these policymakers to behave according to their principles especially if they are under pressure of criticisms from the voting sector. If their views are strongly opposed by public opinion, will they still be willing to fight for it or will they instead find some cover in order to get the much needed votes.