Carissa:)
5-1-14
English 10
Argumentative Essay
Opposition Against Obamacare
Obamacare, also know as the “Affordable” Care Act, is a
U.S. law aimed at reforming the American health care system.
The Obama administration started campaigning this law in
2008. It was signed into law to reform the healthcare industry
by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 and upheld by
the Supreme Court on June 28, 2012. America has undergone a
government shutdown because of this health care reform bill.
There have been millions of controversial debates over this
and many opinions, but it all comes down to one question: Is
the passing of Obamacare bad for the American public? There
are many elucidations that incline towards no. This law is
socialistic, incompetent, imprecise, and above all,
unconstitutional.
Obamacare will require the taxpayers to fund insurance
payments to Americans who do not have enough money. The
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a recent report,
“those receiving free health care will have less incentive to
work because their health needs will be assured.” Does this
mean the American public will become lazy?
The Democratic Party’s vision in America is now to
support people rather than providing opportunities for folks to
support themselves in the market place.
“We want people to have the freedom to be a writer, to be a
photographer, to make music, to paint. People would no longer
be job locked by their policy but have the freedom to follow
their passion,” Nancy Pelosi said in February. Every day
working Americans will have to pay for that passion; is that
fair? No, if people have enough passion to pursue a career, then
they should have enough passion to work for it. What happens
when all of America cannot afford to pursue their dreams
because premiums are too high? America is a free country, but
many people do not understand the concept of “freedom.”
America is not a country where every citizen can get
everything for free, including health care. This is a country
where every citizen has the freedom to pursue happiness, not
receive it.
“You will not see your taxes increase one single dime,”
Barack Obama said, while campaigning Obamacare in February
of 2009. Obama also solemnly pledged on June 5, 2008: “In an
Obama administration, we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500
for a typical family per year…. We’ll do it by the end of my first
term as President of the United States.” Unfortunately, Forbes
experts have reported that in its first ten years, Obamacare will
boost health spending by “roughly $621 billion,” on top of the
amounts American citizens would have spent without this
“misguided” law. How did Obama present the idea that citizens’
taxes will not increase? Perhaps he did not consider
Obamacare a tax.
In Obamacare, if one does not buy the health insurance
policy, he or she will get fined. Obama disguised this as a
“penalty” rather than a tax, because he said he did not want to
raise taxes. In the Constitution, Articles One and Two restrain
the government from forcing Americans to purchase anything,
unless it is a tax. In an interview with President Obama, George
Stephanopoulos asked, “The government is forcing you to
spend money, fining you if you don’t. How is that not a tax?”
Obama never answered directly, but instead denied repeatedly
and said that it was not a tax. Most Americans wonder how
Congress got by with passing the federal healthcare bill with
the mandate forcing Americans to purchase health insurance
or else be penalized. Congress got through by ignoring the
Constitution. When the U.S Supreme Court had the chance to
rule on the insurance mandate, the court changed “penalty” to
tax, and put it under the tax law, ruling it constitutional
(amarillo.com)
Most Americans consider Obama’s promises to be lies.
This can be seen if most people remember the countless times
Obama said, “You can keep your plan, and you can keep your
doctor.” According to heritage.org, there are 1,492,000
insurance cancellations (and counting) as of October
2013..Obama also promised Americans that “premiums will go
down.” In a recent report, Forbes said, “Obamacare will
increase health spending by $7,450 for a typical family of four.”
Last but not least, the Obama administration declared, “it is
easy to sign up for Obamacare.” It is obvious there are too
many problems with the website (healthcare.gov) as when it
first opened, Americans could not sign up. The problem is not
just with the website; it is the whole law. There are now higher
costs, cancelled plans and America is becoming a weaker
economy. As Senator Ted Cruz said, “If Americans really
wanted Obamacare, you wouldn’t need to make a law to make
them buy it.”
Exemptions from the law being granted to unions and to
certain companies and individuals intensify the tension in this
country. In 2010, supporters did not want anyone to read
Obamacare. “It’s going to be very, very exciting, but we have to
pass the bill so you can find out what is in it,” Nancy Pelosi said.
Most people thought it was a joke; they did not believe
Congress would pass something without reading it. But to
cover their backs, Congress exempted themselves and their
families from the law. Barack Obama himself is exempted. In
fact, Obama, Congress, the Justice Department, the Supreme
Court, federal judges, and 1,200 corporations and unions with
the addition of their families are all exempted from Obamacare.
If the health care reform plan is so great, why does it exempt
the President, Congress, senators and their families?
Tiger Artus, who supports Obamacare, stated on
Debate.com, “By regulating insurance companies and forcing
Americans to have insurance, it becomes more of a regulated
system.” This is true, but does America want that? When the
Founding Fathers brought together this nation, they discussed
diplomatically the effects a large government can have on
America, and they ruled that there would be little power in the
government. With this law, Obamacare, there would be too
much government power, especially when it concerns the
health care of every American citizen. “Socialized medicine is a
keystone to the establishment of a socialist state,” Vladimir
Lenin once said. In other words, if one controls a person’s
health care, they control the person. Many Americans fear that
Obama may be trying to change this capitalist country into a
socialist nation, due to the fact that he is socializing health care.
America is one of the most successful nations because of the
fact that it is a capitalist government rather than socialist. If
anybody changed that, America will become a weaker
economy.
Politicians and journalists have some potentially great
arguments against and for Obamacare. At Debate.com, 72% say
the health care bill is bad for the American public and 28% say
it is not. Of those 28%, people had to say: “the only real reason
that Republicans don’t like it (Obamacare) is because it came
from a Democrat” and they also established arguments such as
“Why would anyone oppose providing affordable healthcare to
all Americans?” Supporters of Obamacare also suggest the idea
that every U.S. citizen should be entitled to six basic benefits:
clean air, clean water, safe food, protected borders, a K-12
education, and healthcare. “We got to start over. At this point,
starting over, stopping Obamacare is the essence of
pragmatism,” Senator Ted Cruz said. Some Americans disagree
with Ted Cruz and have stated that they would rather have
representatives revise the law instead of omit it completely.
Although there are many oppositions to Obamacare, there are
still people for it. According to Susan J. Demas, a writer for
Mlive.com, “More than eight million people have signed up on
healthcare exchanges, and the uninsured rate has plummeted
to its lowest level since Gallup started recording it in 2008.”
Bill O’Reilly said, “Republicans despise Obamacare because it
expands big government and forces people to buy insurance.
Democrats love it because it subsidizes health insurance for
the poor. But after four years, it is clear the Obama
administration has not been able to sell Obamacare.“
Americans have heard the arguments for and against
Obamacare, but it is time to decide is it is working or will
provide as America’s health care system.
Obamacare is not good for the American public because it
is unconstitutional to tell Americans they have to buy health
insurance. It has already been available to everyone that works
hard and gets a job. Most Americans wonder why they should
have to be under this plan even if the President himself will
not. It is also against American values to socialize health care. If
people want to buy health care, they will. The Governent
should not have to force someone to buy something they do
not want, especially if that citizen lives in a free country.