Little sympathy for Obamacare supporters

At this point, one might almost feel some sympathy for ardent supporters of the Affordable Care Act.

Almost.

Their life, after all, has been no day at the beach since Congress passed and the president signed the bill to give everyone lots more health care for lots less money, with the added benefit that we could all keep our doctors and our insurance plans.

Early on, when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Congress had to “pass the bill to find out what’s in the bill,” every thinking person we know — even the die-hard Democrats — was taken aback. And yet, despite what we all learned in high school government class decades ago, Pelosi got away with it, and as a result, five years later, we are still finding out what’s in the bill.

Then there was the “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana Purchase” — vote buying in the Senate that was so blatant that even Ben Nelson found it embarrassing and asked that the special provision for Nebraska be extended to everyone. Hard-working Nebraskans were offended to be associated with the slimy wheeling and dealing in Washington.

Then there was the long line of delays and exemptions from Obamacare — dozens at this point — that the president agreed to, even as his supporters talked about “the law of the land.” Turns out the law of the land in this case can be parceled out at the whim, and at the political advantage, of the president. Again, many of us were taken back to our high school civics days asking, “Can he do that?”

Apparently so.

And now, in perhaps the crowning blow to the concept of the vast government providing vast benefits at vast savings, we have the Veterans Administration hospital waiting list debacle. If ever there was a living, breathing example of the kind of problems many of us see in Obamacare, and in the “single payer” system our Democrat friends ultimately desire, the VA scandal is it.

Waiting months for an appointment, hopelessly overworked health care providers, endless paperwork and bureaucracy, big promises from the politicians and the bureaucrats with little knowledge of what it actually takes to deliver, and now allegations that veterans have died waiting to be admitted to VA hospitals — it’s all part of the government program that serves the most deserving among us, the people who fought for our country, our veterans.

The best question we have heard in months is this: If they treat our veterans this way, how will Obamacare treat the rest of us? Suddenly, when we hear about veterans dying waiting to be admitted to VA hospitals, the prospect of rationing health care doesn’t seem so far-fetched. How else could it work?

So, considering all the problems, we can almost feel some sympathy for the Obamacare supporters.

Except for the fact that they still seem bound and determined to cripple the best health care system in the world.

— North Platte (Neb.) Telegraph