The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare”, is the signature legislation of President Barack Obama’s first term in office. It is widely heraldaded as a major successful step towards universal health care, a long standing goal of the Democratic party. The legislation was passed by party-line votes in both houses of congress in 2010 and deemed constitutional by a highly controversial 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court in 2012. Proponents of the bill believe that it will provide universal health care coverage to US citizens, help to balance the federal budget, and reduce the costs of healthcare nationwide. Those in oppostion believe that it will not cover everyone, stifle innovation, lead to health care shortages, increase the cost of healthcare, and dramatically increase the federal deficit. Given the US Government’s record of batting 1.000 on horribly failing to provide efficient services and controlling costs when it takes over a private sector enterprise, we agree with the oppostion.
The issue by topic: