01 Apr 2014 On ObamaCare I Admit It: Paul Krugman Was Right, I Was Wrong

As the Obamacare exchanges have reached 7 million enrollees, it’s time for me to confess: so much of what I’ve written about ObamaCare is wrong.  So much of it was a futile, misguided attempt to refute the true ObamaCare guru, Nobel laureate Paul Krugmam.

Krugman got so much right in just these two paragraphs:

Yet even as Republican politicians seem ready to go on the offensive, there’s a palpable sense of anxiety, even despair, among conservative pundits and analysts. Better-informed people on the right seem, finally, to be facing up to a horrible truth: Health care reform, President Obama’s signature policy achievement, is probably going to work.

And the good news about Obamacare is, I’d argue, what’s driving the Republican Party’s intensified extremism. Successful health reform wouldn’t just be a victory for a president conservatives loathe, it would be an object demonstration of the falseness of right-wing ideology. So Republicans are being driven into a last, desperate effort to head this thing off at the pass.

Now that ObamaCare is, indeed, working, I admit to my anxiety and despair. My conservative ideology has been refuted.  As I now see the light, I will no longer be working to head ObamaCare “off at the pass.”

Although this post wasn’t about ObamaCare, Krugman still nails it:

…bear in mind that both Koch brothers are numbered among the 10 wealthiest Americans, and so are four Walmart heirs. Great wealth buys great political influence — and not just through campaign contributions.Many conservatives live inside an intellectual bubble of think tanks and captive media that is ultimately financed by a handful of megadonors. Not surprisingly, those inside the bubble tend to assume, instinctively, that what is good for oligarchs is good for America.

Alas, I am a shill for those oligarchs.  But no more!  I will today be sending the Koch brothers my letter of resignation.  I hope Paul will be pleased.

Finally, Krugman properly quotes Charles Gaba about the 7 million enrollees: “For the moment, however, none of [the objections] matters. This is an outstanding number any way you slice it.”

So, I will celebrate today, not only because the ObamaCare exchanges have reached 7 million enrollees, but because I am now officially a disciple of Krugman

And before you grind your teeth too hard, be sure to look at the calendar