Twice in two days President Obama has called out Mitch McConnell in speeches, as he unveils his plan for revenge for McConnell’s goal of making Obama a one term president.
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President Obama: More people without insurance have gained insurance — more than 3 million young Americans who have been able to stay on their parents’ plan, the more than half a million Americans and counting who are poised to get covered starting on January 1st, some for the very first time.
And it is these numbers — not the ones in any poll — that will ultimately determine the fate of this law. (Applause.) It’s the measurable outcomes in reduced bankruptcies and reduced hours that have been lost because somebody couldn’t make it to work, and healthier kids with better performance in schools, and young entrepreneurs who have the freedom to go out there and try a new idea — those are the things that will ultimately reduce a major source of inequality and help ensure more Americans get the start that they need to succeed in the future.
I have acknowledged more than once that we didn’t roll out parts of this law as well as we should have. But the law is already working in major ways that benefit millions of Americans right now, even as we’ve begun to slow the rise in health care costs, which is good for family budgets, good for federal and state budgets, and good for the budgets of businesses small and large. So this law is going to work. And for the sake of our economic security, it needs to work. (Applause.)
And as people in states as different as California and Kentucky sign up every single day for health insurance, signing up in droves, they’re proving they want that economic security. If the Senate Republican leader still thinks he is going to be able to repeal this someday, he might want to check with the more than 60,000 people in his home state who are already set to finally have coverage that frees them from the fear of financial ruin, and lets them afford to take their kids to see a doctor. (Applause.)
Yesterday, the president also hit McConnell without ever saying his name during his ACA speech, “Just the other day the Republican leader in the Senate was asked what benefits people without healthcare might see from this law, and he refused to answer. Even though there are dozens in this room and tens of thousands in his own state who are already on track to benefit from it. He just repeated repeal over and over and over again, and obviously, we’ve heard that from a lot of folks on that side of the aisle.”
I’m not suggesting that President Obama is carrying a grudge, but McConnell is in serious danger of losing his Senate seat in 2014. If McConnell was to lose his seat, the main source of Senate Republican obstruction would be gone.
During the 2012 campaign, President Obama often referred to McConnell’s stated goal of making him a one term president. President Obama would never help McConnell by suggesting that he wants to see him defeated. Instead, he appears to be getting a bit of revenge by helping Alison Grimes with these statements in his speeches.
Mitch McConnell wanted to make Barack Obama a one term president, but it looks like President Obama is out to make Mitch McConnell a former senator.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
