30 Sep 2013 Black Conservatives Speak Out on Beginning of ObamaCare Enrollment
Washington, D.C. – With Congress at an impasse and President Obama threatening to shut down the government rather than make concessions regarding his very unpopular federal takeover of private health care, black conservatives with the Project 21 black leadership network remain highly critical of ObamaCare and President Obama’s unwillingness to compromise.
“ObamaCare will invariably lead to a centralized, rigid health care system that will insert the government as the decisionmaker and destroy the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Cost control will become the driving force. There will be a transfer of wealth — not from rich to poor, but away from the middle class. They will become dependent on the government,” said Project 21’s Dr. Elaina George, an award-winning, board-certified practicing otolaryngologist. “People will find themselves in the unenviable position of not being able to afford medications, tests or procedures because they cannot afford to pay their portion. Even though no one can be turned away for preexisting conditions, they can still effectively be priced out of care because the premiums and the out-of-pocket expenses are too high.”
On October 1, except in places where implementation has already failed, such as Colorado and the District of Columbia, people can begin to comply with ObamaCare’s individual mandate. President Obama pushed back the mandate for employers past the 2014 federal elections. Conservatives have suggested a similar postponement of the individual mandate, but President Obama is willing to shut down the government to prevent this.
“It’s laughable that ObamaCare proponents are now arguing that the fact that it is a law means that it is sacred and cannot be repealed. Really? I’m sure glad my ancestors and others fought and died to repeal bad laws so that I can live free today,” said Project 21’s Christopher Arps. “There’s at least one liberal senator willing to say that ObamaCare is a looming disaster, so there’s likely others who have been waiting for someone to go first. For instance, a huge divide exists between organized labor and the White House right now. How can principled liberal senators — especially those who are also in more conservative states — sit idly by while ObamaCare destroys the 40-hour workweek?”
A recent USA Today/Pew poll found that 53 percent of those Americans surveyed disapproved of ObamaCare. A similar 53 percent also said they disapproved of the way the Obama Administration is handling health care policy.
“Promise after promise was made by President Obama and this administration in order to get the monstrosity that is ObamaCare passed. Now that it is the law, we see that Nancy Pelosi was absolutely correct when she said we’d really get to see what was in the bill once we passed it,” said Project 21 Co-Chairman Horace Cooper, a former leadership staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives. “This law will lower the quality of care for many Americans who already have health insurance, and it will lead to significant increases in the cost of the care they get in the future. It is likely to continue exacerbating the elevated unemployment among 18 – 30 year olds and place a further drag on the economy. Government-run health care has always been a bad idea. The execrable version that progressives imposed on America in 2010 is beyond awful.”
Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for nearly two decades, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research (https://nationalcenter.org).
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