Twisted grammar and changing vocabulary are the stuff of the GOP anti Obamacare crusade and Obama's stumbles

Twisted grammar and ever changing vocabulary are the stuff  of which the continuing GOP crusade to destroy Obamacare is  made and the Democrats have their stumbles, too.  The anti Obamacare talking points get the present tense of verb mixed up with future tense.  Some words, like “replace”  disappear from the  talking points, new ones emerge like “repair”. Old words, like “lie”  get new definitions.

One GOP approach is to   turn present tense into a future certainty.  The lines go like this.” No one has signed up for Obamacare now, they will not do it later”, ignoring that. a working web site and  penalties have not even kicked in yet..Another line is.. “ No young, healthy will sign up so it will collapse of its own weight”, though 98% are insured  in Massachusetts, the state system after which Obamacare was patterned.   If  “the tech surge” succeeds in fixing the web site , their verb tense will   become past perfect.

Since Rep. Joe Wilson  interrupted   President  Obama’s 2009 State of the Union speech with, “You lie”, “lie”  has also become a standard GOP phrase.  Mitt Romney, interviewed on NBC’S  Meet the Press  Nov. 3, used the less inflammatory  words,”fundamental dishonesty” instead of “you lie”, but the meaning was the same.

When is a “lie” a lie ?  When it is true at the time when it is told but  it is not true now?  That seems to be how  the GOP defines it. When Pres. Obama made his statements before mid March 2010 when the law was passed it was true at that time,  that” if you liked your insurance,  you could keep it”.      Not explained then ,if the individual insurance you had then is not the one you have now or your policy terms changed in the meantime  and it does not meet new standards, you may have to get a new  policy..   Pres. Obama’s  sin, for which he apologized November 7 was  not qualifying his statement with the adjective  “most”  will keep their insurance, and then doing nothing to clarify  then or later.  

 The President has promised to fix the problem for those who have hardships because of the cancellations.   What would happen without changes ? All would get better, more comprehensive  insurance, about half would  even qualify for a subsidy and pay less  and  others  would pay more. It is the latter the President hints he will take administrative action to help.

For the most apolitical, factual explanation of how Obamacare will impact you personally, go to What's up with Obamacare and my health care? - CNN.com  at  http://www.cnn.com/20  . It is a good way to get real  in future tense. Remember Colorado manages its own marketplace and web at: www.connectforhealthco.com and it is up and running. Do not go to the federal site.

In the Nov. 3 interview,  Gov. Romney did add  a new word to our  health care reform  vocabulary: “repair”   .  “Repair” should  not mean a “fundamental change”.   

 “Repeal and  defund”, the “throw the baby out with the bathwater” approach,   will be only  a whisper  by March 31, 2014 when many  have signed up. Taking away better understood  and valued  benefits from so many will be a tough sell . “Delay” will still be on the tips of some tongues,  but expect no action unless the federal web site is not “repaired” by the end of November.  There is still plenty of time between December 1 and  before the end of March to sign up customers.

 “Replace”  used to be coupled with the word “repeal”, but it  has disappeared from the GOP  lexicon.  Nothing Republicans  ever proposed  in the past four years “replaced” what Obamacare offers: insuring 30 million uninsured and protecting consumers , while providing  a plan  to pay for it without adding to the deficit.