Arthur Schaper: Dems Lynch-ed By Obamacare

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Friday, April 25, 2014

Arthur Christopher Schaper, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) is a different kind of Democrat. He was a pro-family party guy as a state rep, but moved to the left once he got elected to Congress, according to one conservative activist in the Commonwealth. Still, compared to the rest of the Congressional Delegation, Lynch is the most conservative Massachusetts Democrat out there.

A politician with a true working-class background (an ironworker, as well as the son of one), then a lawyer, Lynch can claim some sympathies with the working man of South Boston and its environs (but hopefully not Southie’s homeboy/jailbird James “Whitey” Bulger)

Unlike many of his Democratic colleagues, Lynch called out the Benghazi talking points as inaccurate and required further investigation:

They certainly weren't accurate. I don't know what the process was there. But absolutely, they were false and wrong. They were. There were no protests outside the Benghazi compound there. This was a deliberate and strategic attack on the consulate. It [the talking points report] was scrubbed. It was inaccurate."

Ouch! In 2016, Republican National Committee strategists should broadcast Lynch’s indictment of the Obama Administration’s scrubbed talking points along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s flippant frustration “What difference does it make?”

Later, Lynch blasted IRS officials for the ongoing scandals uncovered by the House Oversight Committee. Appalled at the threats to the freedom of speech and the press because of IRS efforts to stall, silence, or punish conservative group seeking tax status, Lynch launched into Lerner and her cohort:

In my view, these and other blatant violations of freedom of expression serve to illustrate what is at stake when a federal agency for whatever reason targets US citizens based on their political beliefs. Such a practice compromises one of the better arch principles of our democracy.

A Democrat who honors free speech and slams the IRS: has hell frozen over?

Beyond his subdued agreement with House Republicans in their efforts to expose a culture of corruption among White House officials, Lynch stands out as more conservative also because. . .

This South Boston Democrat, representing a notorious section of a notoriously liberal-Democratic city and state, voted against Obamacare.

That vote alone deserves a standing ovation, and serves as a reminder that Obamacare was not just controversial upon passage but unpopular among Democratic lawmakers, not just every Republican and a (growing) majority of Americans.

During the 2013 special election Democratic Primary to replace US Senator John Kerry, Ed Markey slammed Lynch for voting against Obamacare.

Markey might want to take back his smug, progressive arrogance. Lynch’s blunt honesty about the devastating consequences of President Obama’s legislative legacy further distinguishes Lynch from the Massachusetts Democratic delegation, as well as the national conference. While House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi suggested that Obamacare would be a plus for her party, Lynch was not so kind. Assessing the rising fallout of the Affordable Care Act on the Democratic caucus in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, Lynch launched into sober realities about Obamacare to his liberal colleagues :

We will lose seats in the House. I am fairly certain of that based on the poll numbers that are coming out from the more experienced pollsters down there. And I think we may lose the Senate. I think that’s a possibility if things continue to go the way they have been ... primarily because of health care.

While the Democratic Party attempted to shed its anti-war past with an Obama Presidency dedicated to “good war” Afghanistan (with dismal results), the party of compassion in health care and universal coverage is losing that coveted status, which started with “New Deal” Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman to pass universal health care in the United States. Following the watered-down amalgam of Obamacare, Massachusetts residents and insured Americans throughout face higher premiums, fewer opportunities for care of consultations, and state exchanges staggering from failed launches to misplaced health insurance forms to endless hours of waiting to speak with technical support.

While Lynch tries to downplay Democratic losses in the US Senate, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews charitably indicated that they could lose five, and up to ten seats. The Washington Post predicted a worse outcome, with thirteen seats, including the more liberal Oregon as well as Colorado, Michigan, and even New Hampshire in play.

Lynch’s dire warnings rest not just on the President’s unilateral scaling back of “unpalatable” provisions like the employer mandate, along with the individual mandate (for individuals in severe financial straits), but also the worst to come, like 40% taxes on “Cadillac plans”. “It will be the first time in this country’s history that health care will be taxed.”

Despite the damage that Obamacare will do to Democrats in 2014, Lynch acquiesces that the law cannot be repealed, as many are (supposedly) getting health insurance for the first time. However, health insurance does not mean access to health care, and as Obamacare continues to miss the mark on its promises, Democrats in Washington may wish they had voted with Lynch against Obamacare.

If Congressman Lynch’s predictions are correct, Democrats will face a voter-lynching in November.

 

Arthur Christopher Schaper is a teacher-turned-writer on topics both timeless and timely; political, cultural, and eternal. A life-long Southern California resident, Arthur currently lives in Torrance. Follow him on Twitter@ArthurCSchaper, reach him at [email protected], and read more atSchaper's Corner and As He Is, So Are We Ministries.

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