One of the defensive cries we are hearing from the left over the outrage at Obama’s repeated lies about being able to keep your health insurance is that it doesn’t matter because Obama will never face another election. That is true to a point, but hitting the iceberg of his credibility is certainly going to contribute to the lame ducking of his agenda. Regardless, legions of Democrat lawmakers also made the same promise about being able to keep your insurance, and you can bet this will matter a lot in the 2014 midterms.
The Hill has rounded up a number of those Democrat quotes, but you can also bet that Republicans everywhere are scouring constituent letters and videos of Democrat town halls, floor speeches, and television appearances for anything said by any sitting Democrat Senator or Congressman that sounds like this:
It not only means making sure you can keep your family’s doctor or keep your healthcare plan if you like it, but also that you can afford to do so,” [Harry Reid] said on the Senate floor on July 28, 2009.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) made the same promise two days later.
“Many people say: ‘I like my health insurance right now. I don’t want to change. I don’t want to go into Medicare or Medicaid. I like what I have. Would you please leave people alone?’ ” Durbin said.
“The answer is yes,” he added. “In fact, we guarantee it. We are going to put in any legislation considered by the House and Senate the protection that you, as an individual, keep the health insurance you have, if that is what you want.”
Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said on June 10, 2009: “If you like what you have today, that will be what you have when this legislation is passed.”
Murray was defending the legislative initiative from Republican criticisms that it would force thousands of people to switch plans.
Unlike the government shutdown, the wake of devastation hitting millions of families who were repeatedly lied to by the Democrat Party will resonate straight through to the 2014 midterm elections. Obama can wrist-flick this with “shop around” and Democrats can pretend that forcing you to buy expensive coverage you don’t need (like maternity and pediatric care) is a good thing, but this goes directly to credibility and trust.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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