Obamacare woes frustrating Democrats' 2014 prospects

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

Obamacare woes frustrating Democrats' 2014 prospects

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chaotic launch of President Barack Obama's healthcare law has Democrats in Congress increasingly anxious about its potential impact on them in the 2014 elections and scrambling to protect themselves if the program's problems persist.

Particularly nervous is a group of 16 Senate Democrats who are defending their seats next year, as Republicans will seek a net gain of six seats to try to take over the 100-seat chamber.

Some of the Democrats, such as New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen, represent states where enthusiasm has been high for the Affordable Care Act. Among other things, the law aims to provide inexpensive health insurance to many of the estimated 15 million Americans with little or no coverage.

Others, such as Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, represent conservative states where skepticism has been fueled by Republican attack ads discouraging participation.......,

Administration officials have said most of the site's problems will be fixed by November 30.

Even so, Shaheen gathered nine other Democratic senators to encourage the White House to extend the initial enrollment period beyond March 31.

"The rollout of the new law was a disaster. The administration had three years to prepare," Shaheen told Reuters. "They clearly dropped the ball."

The senator is feeling pressure from voters partly because she was a vocal advocate of the healthcare law, which could help about 130,000 uninsured people in her tiny state, as well as many others who have insurance that does not cover preexisting health conditions or that has significant limits on benefits.

Shaheen is widely seen as having a strong chance of winning a second six-year term next year. But several other Senate Democrats running for reelection, including Pryor and Landrieu, are likely to face tough challenges from conservative Republicans.

Obamacare's stumbles are a particular problem for them as they defend a landmark law they helped write and still believe in.

LIMITING THE DOWNSIDE......,

Landrieu said Wednesday that she was crafting a bill to allow anyone who is satisfied with their current insurance to retain it.

Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat who is not up for reelection next year but whose state is increasingly trending Republican, has called for a one-year delay in requiring individuals to sign up for health insurance, echoing arguments made by many Republican lawmakers.

Of the 10 Senate Democrats urging an extension of the March 31 deadline for people to sign up or face a penalty, seven, including Shaheen, face reelection next year.....,

But the snafus have raised her and other Democrats' political antennae.

If "getting too far out on a limb" for Obamacare started to feel risky and the limb began to crack, said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, Shaheen is "going to get closer to the trunk of the tree.

"That's what we're seeing" in the proposal to extend the Obamacare enrollment deadline, Scala said. While looking out for her constituency, "I think she's trying to limit her personal downside," too.

The frustration among Democrats is also evident in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives. They are not likely to win enough votes to take over the 435-seat chamber, where the Republican majority has voted more than 40 times to repeal Obamacare, claiming it will destroy jobs and raise medical costs.

Some Democrats describe feeling let down by the administrative shortcomings.

Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland told Reuters that he offered some firm advice to Obama during a recent meeting.

"I think what the president has to do (is) ... own the problem," Cummings said. "Then he's got to say, step-by-step, exactly how it's being fixed and what kind of progress is being made."

TROUBLE AHEAD?........,

Several of those Democrats proudly voted for the healthcare act, said spokeswoman Andrea Bozek. "Now it's time for them to be accountable for the failures of this law."

http://news.yahoo.com/obamacare-woes-frustrating-democrats-2014-prospects-050410897--sector.html

________________________________________________________________

I smell blood in the water = 2014 looking like it's gonna be a good year for the GOP...?

Edited November 2, 2013 by Crashed~N2~Me

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Obama can play dumb. For him it is easy AND he does not need to get re-elected.

I am beginning to believe that the Republicans only did the whole "shut down of the government statues" thing in order to reinforce that the Dems are the ones forcing this Reidcare on us.

when the "end of November" date comes and goes (I presume that means November 30 but it could just be a rough estimate) and the website is not fixed (it won't be, massive government SNAFUs are never fixed in 6 weeks...they haven't even had the 2nd meeting within 6 weeks) The Dems are going to run from this like a house on fire! They will have 6 more weeks to un-@ss this thing before the primaries begin. By the end of November, a few million more people will be informed that they are stupid and actually need to pay 2 times the premium and 3 times the deductible for "better" insurance than they have been happy with all along. Dumb@sses.

[Darnell 8,478]

I concur - the DEMS will have problems for elections and even campaigns,

over this Debacle.

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

I gleaned this from another article (this morning)...,

"He assembled a winning coalition with broad support among constituencies that don't reliably vote Republican. Exit polls show that Christie carried a majority of women and split Hispanics with Buono. He improved on his share of the vote among blacks in 2009 by more than 10 percentage points.

Christie's advisers saw his ability to draw support from Democrats, independents and minorities as a winning argument ahead of 2016, pitching him as the most electable candidate in what could be a crowded presidential primary field."

http://news.yahoo.com/christie-mcauliffe-winners-slate-elections-081410629--election.html

----------

5 years of O's administrative incompetence puts his approval ratings equal to W's + ACA = I think the GOP can stake many flags if they follow Christie's model.

[lostinblue 1,989]

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

& it looks like ACA is gonna end up just like the Death Star =

But no surprise here - It was built by O & the Dems = destined to fail.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Crashed~N2~Me

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

2014. The choice between the people who created the mess or the people who couldn't fix it.

You've already had the bad and the ugly, maybe Charlie Sheen should run and you can have the mad.

[GandD 5,966]

Yeah we should go back to the good old days where if you were lower middle class and had any pre-existing conditions, all of your money went to healthcare costs, assuming you could get it. Oh well, get a better job right guys? Yeah! #### 'EM!

[Teddy B 17,252]

Yeah we should go back to the good old days where if you were lower middle class and had any pre-existing conditions, all of your money went to healthcare costs, assuming you could get it. Oh well, get a better job right guys? Yeah! #### 'EM!

As long as they have there's, who cares about anybody else? You can't afford healthcare or have a pre-existing condition that's not covered? Too bad, go curl up in the corner and die! This is murica, where only those lucky enough to have insurance survive.

I've said numerous times that I don't care for this ACA plan, I'd much rather have a single payer system and remove employers from the mix altogether. But that ain't happenin anytime soon, so if it's the ACA or nothing, I'll take the ACA. It is much more important to make sure all people have access to the medical care they need, than it is for a minority of the people to be inconvenienced by a change in plans or higher rates. I say #### the selfish ones who do nothing but complain about this ACA. Peoples lives are much more important than peoples money. Be happy that other people can now be healthy and not have to lose their homes and life savings to do so..

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Yeah we should go back to the good old days where if you were lower middle class and had any pre-existing conditions, all of your money went to healthcare costs, assuming you could get it. Oh well, get a better job right guys? Yeah! #### 'EM!

No we all need to put abortion, prayer in school, free birth control pills, DOMA, more entitlement programs and all that other BS that they keep us all divided with and all vote our common interests. Throw all the bums out.

we need to--Do these things and nothing else Throw all the bums out and start over

Fix Healthcare so that all have access without bankrupting themselves

Reduce Spending/Balance budget

Bring our troops home and have a standing military big enough to defend our Country, not be policemen for the world

Stop illegal immigration in a sensible way ( P.S. Fences and machine guns on the border ain't one of them).Punishing people that hire them is. We have almost as many illegals as we do unemployed..Common sense tells us that's nuts.

Cut entitlement program fraud waste,abuse, and spending and require those receiving substance to meet goals in order to get it.Stop generational welfare that has destroyed families.

Create a level fair flat tax system...No IRS No deductions

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

As long as they have there's, who cares about anybody else? You can't afford healthcare or have a pre-existing condition that's not covered? Too bad, go curl up in the corner and die! This is murica, where only those lucky enough to have insurance survive.

I've said numerous times that I don't care for this ACA plan, I'd much rather have a single payer system and remove employers from the mix altogether. But that ain't happenin anytime soon, so if it's the ACA or nothing, I'll take the ACA. It is much more important to make sure all people have access to the medical care they need, than it is for a minority of the people to be inconvenienced by a change in plans or higher rates. I say #### the selfish ones who do nothing but complain about this ACA. Peoples lives are much more important than peoples money. Be happy that other people can now be healthy and not have to lose their homes and life savings to do so..

I would rather have socialized medicine also, but Obama care is not going to give any access to shat, It's more big insurance. It's going to make things way worse. Insurance is the problem..We just gave the devil the keys to the car. Yes Obama care is worse than doing nothing.

[GandD 5,966]

No we all need to put abortion, prayer in school, free birth control pills, DOMA, more entitlement programs and all that other BS that they keep us all divided with and all vote our common interests. Throw all the bums out.

we need to--Do these things and nothing else Throw all the bums out and start over

Fix Healthcare so that all have access without bankrupting themselves

Reduce Spending/Balance budget

Bring our troops home and have a standing military big enough to defend our Country, not be policemen for the world

Stop illegal immigration in a sensible way ( P.S. Fences and machine guns on the border ain't one of them).Punishing people that hire them is. We have almost as many illegals as we do unemployed..Common sense tells us that's nuts.

Cut entitlement program fraud waste,abuse, and spending and require those receiving substance to meet goals in order to get it.Stop generational welfare that has destroyed families.

Create a level fair flat tax system...No IRS No deductions

What does it mean to "throw the bums out?" What section of the government would oversee this and determine who was a bum? Then, where do you throw them? How do you amend the bill of rights to not cover people classified as bums? Or are you suggesting bums aren't people?

[JohnR! 5,495]

Obamacare woes frustrating Democrats' 2014 prospects

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chaotic launch of President Barack Obama's healthcare law has Democrats in Congress increasingly anxious about its potential impact on them in the 2014 elections and scrambling to protect themselves if the program's problems persist.

They should be and should seize the opportunity to fix the glitches wit the ACA. The recent elections proved the American people dislikes the Teaparty Bullies even less than they dislike the ACA...

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

What does it mean to "throw the bums out?" What section of the government would oversee this and determine who was a bum? Then, where do you throw them? How do you amend the bill of rights to not cover people classified as bums? Or are you suggesting bums aren't people?

The bums I was referring to were both democrats and Repubs,

The throwing out part would be done at the ballot box

Don't need to change the constitution to vote do we?

They should be and should seize the opportunity to fix the glitches wit the ACA. The recent elections proved the American people dislikes the Teaparty Bullies even less than they dislike the ACA...

Glitches...

You and Obama kill me...

Glitches he said.OMG really

[GandD 5,966]

The bums I was referring to were both democrats and Repubs,

The throwing out part would be done at the ballot box

Don't need to change the constitution to vote do we?

Glitches...

You and Obama kill me...

Glitches he said.OMG really

Oh, you mean, throw all the politicians out. So you propose only laws created through referendums?