Ky. Gov. Steve Beshear
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat in a state that voted overwhelmingly for Mitt Romney and has sent to Washington two of the most conservative Republican senators,
makes the case for Obamacare, reminding people that what's really important is that it will deliver affordable health insurance to millions of Americans who don't have it today:
It’s no coincidence that numerous governors — not just Democrats like me but also Republicans like Jan Brewer of Arizona, John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Snyder of Michigan — see the Affordable Care Act not as a referendum on President Obama but as a tool for historic change.
That is especially true in Kentucky, a state where residents’ collective health has long been horrendous. The state ranks among the worst, if not the worst, in almost every major health category, including smoking, cancer deaths, preventable hospitalizations, premature death, heart disease and diabetes.
We’re making progress, but incremental improvements are not enough. We need big solutions with the potential for transformational change.
The Affordable Care Act is one of those solutions.
For the first time, we will make affordable health insurance available to every single citizen in the state. Right now, 640,000 people in Kentucky are uninsured. That’s almost one in six Kentuckians.
Beshear, who wrote those words for the
New York Times Op-Ed page, had a simple message to politicians who would rather blow up the government than let Obamacare work:
So, to those more worried about political power than Kentucky’s families, I say, “Get over it.”
The Affordable Care Act was approved by Congress and sanctioned by the Supreme Court. It is the law of the land.
Get over it ... and get out of the way so I can help my people. Here in Kentucky, we cannot afford to waste another day or another life.
On Jan. 1, to millions of Americans Obamacare will no longer be some abstract thing: It will be the way they manage to get health insurance and the security that comes along with that. When that happens, the moral stakes of this battle will become clearer to most Americans, and easier for Democrats to explain. Ted Cruz may have the wrong priorities, but when he says that the GOP's only chance to stop Obamacare is to stop it before it starts, he's right. A little more than three months from now, Republicans won't be talking about getting rid of Obamacare: They'll be talking about getting rid of health insurance for millions of Americans.