Obama Mounts Desperation Tour to Sell ObamaCare

An old rhetorical question asks: "If social Security is such a great deal, why is it mandatory?" A topically apt paraphrase of this would be: "if ObamaCare is so good for health care, why is the president still struggling to sell it five years after it became law?" What does it say about a policy that people refuse to take advantage of – and I use the word "advantage" very loosely – without significant arm twisting? Even though it has been made flat out illegal not to purchase health insurance, millions of people are still staying far, far away from ObamaCare’s insurance exchanges, because they know that the legal penalty will actually be less painful than participating in the government-controlled health insurance market.

Enrollment numbers for the health care law have always fallen below expectations, so much so that the Department of Health and Human Services has had to revise their projections downward again and again, moving the goalposts to create the illusion of success to anyone not paying even a little bit of attention.

In an embarrassing attempt at damage control, President Obama is embarking on a media blitz with the goal of trying to get more people to sign up on the crumbling exchanges. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad; a sitting president entering his last year of office trying, unsuccessfully, to convince the American people that his "fundamental transformation" has made their lives better. The fact that such a strategy is even necessary is proof that it hasn’t.

It’s not at all surprising that even the full force of law is not enough to get people to enroll in the exchanges. Prices for the plans, both in terms of deductibles and premiums, are soaring. The health care coops established as a part of the law are folding. The subsidies promised to both individuals and companies are drying up, exacerbating the cost problem. As more and more data becomes available, it has become undeniable that ObamaCare has made life worse for most Americans. If the president thinks he can convince people to act against their own best interest simply because he goes on the radio and says everything is great, he’s demonstrated beyond all doubt just how out of touch he is.

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