How has Barack Obama as President helped, and/or been good for you personally, as an individual?
Directly because of Mr, Obama, I have changed from a life-long Democrat...to a Republican...thank God. that was a good thing ! .And look Summertime answered your question and claimed" Republicans think only of them selves" Do you remember when Summertime came on here and said all those who don't vote the same as she....should" forfeit their right to vote" talk about being a big hypocrite...God save us from those who think like her. She despises me because I call her on this and other remarks she has made (i.e. encouraging people to go commit acts of violence on members of the Tea Party ) It is just as important to expose people like her as it is to expose the sleazy underbelly of Obama himself.
Did President Obama “misspeak” when he repeatedly claimed, "if you like your health care plan, you can keep it"? Was it a lie? Will there be any political consequences now that it appears to be untrue?
At the moment President Obama made that statement, it was technically the truth - since he was basing that on what his team was proposing. It was not yet law, and Obama was trying to “sell” and also “explain” the proposal.Later, there were those in Congress who insisted that “big insurance” be allowed into the room, before they would ever consider voting for it. These congressmen insisted that Blue Cross, and Cigna, and all of the others be allowed into the negotiations. The major insurance corporations, who already were making the entire health care system in the U.S. such a disaster. [NOTE: I will leave it up to the reader to guess what political party those members of Congress might have belonged to, and remember that some members of Congress take a lot of money in contributions from those “big insurance” corporations.]At the moment Obama made that statement, it was true. He was describing his own plan. Before it was law.After big insurance was allowed to enter into the negotiations, that began to change. And, change. And, change.(The same is true of Obama’s other statement, that he made, where Obama claimed “you can keep your own doctor.”)Once the major insurance providers were allowed in, the ACA was now subject to something that would allow those major corporations to “stay alive,” and “keep their profits rolling in,” and “satisfy their corporate board.” The ACA was diminished, and altered, and changed, and modified.The ACA is flawed. It needs to be be fixed. However, right now, the Republicans will not touch it (since they spent the last six years campaigning on how it was the worst thing since cyanide — a terrible exaggeration.)So, as of today, we are stuck with a very flawed law. It is (honestly) better today, than those days when anyone with a pre-existing condition could not even get health coverage. But, it is far more expensive than it needs to be because “big insurance” is still collecting a huge chunk of everything that happens, every time you go to a doctor, or go the E.R., or visit a hospital, or dare to have a surgery.The rest of the planet has figured this out. The U.S. is the last “advanced” nation on this planet that still does not have the balls to tell the major insurance corporations that they can go fuck themselves.
Which political party cares more about middle class / poor?
Both claim to care about that group of people. However, Democrats actually have addressed the economic issues facing middle and low income earners with policies directed at those groups. Republicans on the other hand, approach the issue differently. They expect that non-governmental economic factors offer the best solutions to help everyone's economic well being. They believe that when the wealthy are doing well the trickle down effect of wealth will gradually benefit the poorest as a result of the increasing wealth of the richest. Republicans do not believe that government should be involved much in the process. You have to decide which approach by government actually helps those in the middle and low economic classes.