A winning streak for Obama…… and for the Congressional Budget Office which predicted accurately the success of Obamacare during its first open enrollment period. 12.8 million is the number. Around 13 million was the prediction. So much for Republican denialistas.
While we’re at it, let’s note that unemployment has dropped to about a percentage point short of what is usually considered “normal.”
Given the unwillingness of Republicans on the Hill to assist in expanding employment (not to mention back a sensible minimum wage), it’s astonishing Obamanomics has achieved as much as it has. We’re talking about a triumph in a shameful era during which Republicans have tried to nullify two Democratic presidents. Both of which have managed to survive.
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At least one analyst sees Obamacare as a probable savior of the Senate: saving the Senate, that is, from drowning in tea.
The Republican strategy for 2014 rests heavily on a mass effort to pretend the millions of people benefitting from the Affordable Care Act simply don’t exist — or at least that those who are benefitting from the law’s “free stuff” are vastly outnumbered by ordinary hard-working Americans who have been victimized by job crushing big government and Obama-mandate-crazed tyranny.
But that illusion is getting harder and harder to sustain — and this may prove increasingly true even in red states. In the wake of the announcement of eight million Obamacare enrollments, Elise Vieback has a terrific piece this morning explaining that enrollments have beat administration expectations in the majority of states with competitive Senate races … GregSargent,WaPo