The Real Scandal

ZOMG!!! It's the biggest scandal ever! It's THE SCANDAL of 2013!!!! And ZOMG... It's working?!

Much has been said in recent weeks about Obamacare (aka the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) and its many (alleged) blunders. Here's what hasn't been bludgeoned to death in the media: The federal ACA Web site has improved dramatically since its initial glitchy debut on October 1. Oh, and 100,000 Americans were able to sign up for health insurance last month on that federal ACA web site. And we now know that the ACA's costs going forward will be even less than originally projected.

So how did a law that only became a law less than 4 years ago and was largely based on conservative health care policy proposals become the hallmark of "failed liberalism" and "Obama's failed presidency"? Think about it. As Desert Beacon noted yesterday, the bulk of the ACA's features have rolled out smoothly and are now much appreciated. Even the features (cough- the federal web site- cough) that didn't initially roll out smoothly are working better now. And the vast majority of Americans are still using private health insurance. So it's preposterous to call the ACA "failed" today, and it's quite a stretch to declare it "BIG GUV'MINT SOE'SHUL'IZM!!!"

While the usual G-O-TEA politicians and their favorite media pundits have been screaming about the latest and greatest haute faux scandal of the past month, they've been skillfully avoiding what's perhaps the real scandal of today. While Republican "leaders" have been complaining about a law that was passed during the 111th Congress, they've tried to avoid their own record of failure. The 112th Congress is now on record as the least productive session of Congress ever, and so far the 113th Congress is on track to match that record of FAIL. They even tried to (mis)use Obamacare as an excuse to shut down the government and threaten national default!

And now we're supposed to believe G-O-TEA politicians when they say they just want to "clean house"? They can't even agree on an alternative to a law that's based on what was originally their own alternative to "Hillarycare"! This makes absolutely no sense. They keep grinding government to a screeching halt, they fail to accomplish even the most basic tasks of governing, and they can't even come up with their own health care ideas (beyond empty platitudes that led us into trouble in the first place)... But now we're supposed to acknowledge they're "right about Obamacare"?

No, they're not. And really, all this "much ado about nothing" that's defined the 112th & 113th Sessions of Congress is the real scandal that we need to address.