While Republican presidential candidates adolescently argue who has the biggest male anatomy, Democrats and President Obama are busy debating serious issues and successfully addressing two enormous challenges that Americans really care about: jobs and health insurance. Our President summed it up on March 4: “Our businesses have created jobs every single month since I signed that job-killing Affordable Care Act.”
Despite inheriting the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, Obama has overseen the fourth largest net jobs gain of any president, while decreasing the uninsured rate to historic lows. Let’s first dig deeper into the Republican-promised train wreck of ObamaCare that never was.
Since ObamaCare became law six years ago, 20 million adults under 65 have gained health insurance of some kind. These impressive numbers are supported by a National Health Interview Survey and from Gallup surveys. We’re now at the lowest uninsured rate since data started in the 1960s. Momentum continues, with an additional 2.4 million gaining insurance since last fall. Since 2010 over six million previously uninsured young adults (19 to25) now have health coverage.
FamiliesUSA put the importance of health insurance coverage into a cold hard fact: You are 25% more likely to die if you’re uninsured. It’s that simple. But let’s put a face to it, in the real-life example of Brent Brown.
Brent Brown is an “ardent Republican” from Wisconsin who recently introduced President Obama at an event. Mr. Brown told the President and crowd that he was “very vocal in my opposition to you – particularly the ACA (ObamaCare). I am so very sorry. I was so very wrong.”
Brown: “I have a ‘pre-existing condition’ and so could never purchase health insurance… Only after the ACA came into being could I be covered. I would not be alive without access to care I received due to your law… You saved my life.”
No one could’ve said it better. We Montanans should be proud our state had the wherewithal to expand Medicaid. Now 70,000 Montanans join the 20 million Americans across the country who’ve gained coverage. These are our neighbors, friends, and family members. Because of ObamaCare lives are being saved.
But what about jobs? Surely ObamaCare’s been a job-killing behemoth? How could a Democratic administration oversee the creation of a single job, let alone the fourth highest ever?
Well, whether you research Wikipedia, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or other reputable up-to-date sources, you’ll find our economy has added 9.6 million net jobs since Obama took office, despite hemorrhaging 800,000/month as a welcome gift from GW Bush. The latest jobs report demonstrates continued strength. This February, 242,000 jobs were added, with upward revisions to the prior two months. There’s been 72 straight months of private sector job growth, smashing the old record. The jobs situation is closing in on what economists call “full employment,” with unemployment holding steady at 4.9%. More folks are participating in the labor force, and the “underemployment” U6 number is falling too. Wages over the last year are finally outpacing inflation by a healthy margin, but not rising fast enough. Worker’s wage growth is not keeping pace with productivity gains. Turns out some employers and corporations are pocketing the difference. What a surprise!
Lest one think that the Democratic presidency of Obama is a fluke in regards to over-achieving job creation, please go to Wikipedia and scan the job creation under various presidencies since the 1920s. Who are the top four? In millions, first you have Clinton (23), then Reagan (16), Carter (10), and Obama (9.6). No doubt Obama will soon overtake Carter for third all-time.
You can pick and choose a starting or stopping point, but you’d be hard-pressed to find any sequential Republican combination that beats Democrats for job creation. Start in the 1920s: Dems 82 million versus 34 million for Republicans. Take the last six administrations—3 of each party—and you’d see 250% more jobs created during Democratic administrations.
When you assess the stellar job growth under Obama it’s no fluke. Like previous successful Democratic administrations, Obama has enacted fairly traditional liberal economic policies. ObamaCare is an unabashedly prime example—in the vein of Medicare and Social Security. Looking at individual job sectors, healthcare has consistently been a leader in job creation. It’s a 2 for 1: ObamaCare is getting more Americans insured, providing affordable and accessible healthcare, while simultaneously creating innumerable well-paying jobs—an economic boon.
So while presidential contenders on the right spew hate and toss vulgar, un-presidential anatomical barbs at one another, Democrats will stick to the business at hand: move America forward, keep America great, and allow us to be healthier and more productive citizens with ample opportunities to better ourselves. I dare say if Reagan were alive today he’d spurn these dishonorable Republican candidates and vote for Hillary. Bernie would be a stretch.
Van P. Keele
Hamilton
Dr. Marc Sabin says
Obama Failures
While Democratic presidential candidates argue which is better, to be a corrupt criminal who allowed United States secrets to be sent over an unsecured server and to engage in being a traitor to the country or to be a socialist who has no idea of the costs involved in trying to give away free college, free health care and free marijuana for all who want it, Republicans are busy debating serious issues and successfully addressing three enormous challenges that Americans really care about: jobs, health insurance, and lowering taxes for all.
Our lazy and feckless President has ignored the increase in the labor participation rate which is due to many factor, Obama touts the low paying jobs he claims to have created. NOTE – Pres. Obama – you don’t create jobs, small businesses do!
Since Obamacare became law six years ago, millions of adults lost their jobs because their employers simply could NOT afford to cover employee’s health care. Thus, millions are not covered by any health insurance and many have lost the plans they had. Remember the lie told by Obama? You can keep your doctor and hospitals?
According to this site below, 4.2 million Americans lost their insurance that they once had. http://insider.foxnews.com/2013/11/07/how-many-americans-have-lost-their-health-insurance-under-obamacare
This statistic is backed up by this website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/22/crisis-nearly-five-millio_n_242953.html
And according to Town hall Magazine, more Americans have lost their health insurance than enrolled in Obamacare: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/10/25/great-news-more-people-have-lost-health-insurance-than-enrolled-in-obamacare-n1731987
And according to PBS: About 44 million people in this country have no health insurance, and another 38 million have inadequate health insurance. This means that nearly one-third of Americans face each day without the security of knowing that, if and when they need it, medical care is available to them and their families. http://www.pbs.org/healthcarecrisis/uninsured.html
You are 25% more likely to die if you’re uninsured and that is true but President Obama could not care less. He wanted to force a broken health care system into play and achieved this evil goal without ONE Republican voting for Obamacare. What does that say about the Democrats?
How does Obamacare affect jobs? Easy! There are such poor paying jobs available that many middle class Americans cannot afford to have the high premiums and deductibles of this awful health care insurance.
Our country is facing the worst job and employment opportunities since the great depression. Obama has overseen the largest loss of jobs to other countries than any other president in the last four administrations. Recently FORD, CARRIER, EATON and other corporations have moved businesses out of the US, to Mexico that will provide tax breaks and cheap labor for these corporations. American corporations pay the highest corporate tax rate in the world. They simply cannot compete against foreign corporations with the taxes they are forced to pay due to Democratic laws that were voted on this last 8 years.
Obamacare is an unabashedly a prime example of the worst of government programs. Medicaid was supposed to take care of those who had no medical care and now that is going broke as almost 55 million Americans are on that program. Medicare was supposed to provide good healthcare for senior Americans who worked their entire lives in order to receive health care and Social Security was intended for good but now it is going broke thanks to both parties who do NOT know how to stop spending! Our national debt is almost 20 trillion dollars and if Obama had his way, it would be even higher.
Looking at individual job sectors that affect our GDP one can see that Obama has been terrible for the economy. Lest one think that the Democratic presidency of Obama is a fluke in regards to low job creation, just look at the GDP in America and in fact the world today. According to LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – “…World manufacturing sector growth stagnated in February as falling prices failed to stimulate new orders, pushing factories to trim workforces, and dealing a blow to policymakers who are struggling to stimulate their economies.”
So while presidential contenders on the left toss lies and promises of freebies around like a football, Republicans stick to the business at hand: move America forward, keep America great, and allow us to be healthier and more productive citizens with ample opportunities to better ourselves much like Ronald Reagan proposed doing many years ago! Vote TRUMP 2016 and let’s make America great again!