Inside the Beltway: A tale of two Boehners

“As we reflect on the lives lost last week, we must also, as the President urged, consider how each of us can play a part in making our country worthy of the memory of those little children.”

That came from White House adviser David Axelrod, in an email referring recipients to my.barackobama.com/Newtown, a campaign site that includes a donation function for President Obama “for the next four years.”

THE DIAGNOSIS

“If ObamaCare is such a great idea, why are so many governors — including several Democrats — refusing to play along? What do they know that the administration isn’t telling the rest of us? So far, not one part of ObamaCare has worked as planned. Almost immediately, the administration had to distribute huge numbers of waivers to companies because its initial rules would have forced them to drop their low-cost plans,” points out an Investor’s Business Daily editorial.

“ObamaCare’s high-risk pools promised to cover hundreds of thousands, but ended up attracting almost no one. The small-business tax break has been a complete bust. Insurance premiums are already spiking. And now states are in open revolt against two key elements of the law. Under ObamaCare, states were supposed to agree to set up so-called insurance exchanges — which would act as a clearinghouse for government-approved health plans and distribute the insurance subsidies included in the law.

“But just 18 states have agreed to build them. The rest — which include eight run by Democratic governors — are leaving it to the federal government to do the dirty work of setting up these massively complicated exchanges. That’s a remarkable vote of no confidence on a central element of ObamaCare, and one that’s caught the White House completely by surprise.”

POLL DU JOUR

• 68 percent of Americans overall say it is “unacceptable” to cut funds to Medicaid to avoid the “fiscal cliff”; 50 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of conservatives, 85 percent of Democrats and 85 percent of liberals agree.

• 55 percent overall say it’s unacceptable to cut funds to the military; 76 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of conservatives, 42 percent of Democrats and 37 percent of liberals agree.

• 24 percent overall say it is unacceptable to raise taxes on people with annual incomes more than $250,000; 47 percent of Republicans, 41 percent of conservatives, 10 percent of Democrats and 12 percent of liberals agree.

• 56 percent overall say President Obama should compromise with Congressional Republicans over fiscal cliff negotiations.

• 34 percent say Mr. Obama has a mandate to carry out his agenda presented during the presidential campaign.

Source: An ABC News/Washington Post poll of 1,002 U.S. adults conducted Dec. 13 to 16.

• Puzzling situations, optimistic forecasts to jharper@washingtontimes.com.

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