What’s In A Million?

When those Americans lost their policies, what was the mantra spewed by Democrats?  It wasn’t just that those policies were inferior, it was that number was a tiny amount of people when you consider all of America.  In fact, president Obama just didn’t think 5 or 6 million people losing their plans was a small amount, he arrogantly dismissed the fact that 8-9 million people might lose their policies [or have them changed from what they had and liked] when then minority whip, Eric Cantor pointed that out to him at the so-called health care summit in 2010.   President Obama responded cavalierly with a smirk on his face, “Keep in mind, that’s 8-9 million people out of more than 300 million Americans.”

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When the presidential spokesman Jay Carney was questioned by Nicole Wallace [from the George W Bush administration] about the president lying to the people that “if you like your health insurance plan you can keep it”, Mr. Carney said it is just a sliver or cut of the [small] 5% of the people on the individual market who are affected.  [note: Carney starts his statement about the 2:20 mark]

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So, when caught in his own lie, this president and his presidential spokesman call millions of Americans losing their health insurance plans a small “sliver” and we must “keep in mind that is out of 300 million Americans.”

Now we turn to the present.  It is only a few weeks away when we were initially told that it would take at least 7 million Americans to purchase plans from the ACA exchanges to make this law viable. Of course, that number changed to 5 or 6 million when it was almost certain that the 7 million number would not be reached. 

Now it looks like it has changed again to almost any number of people that get their health insurance through the exchanges will be deemed a success by this administration.  Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius, testifying before the House, Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, said seven million was not the goal and now “she would define success as “millions of people having affordable health care” through private insurance and Medicaid”.  [not only has she redefined what success would be she adds Medicaid to the number--What?, you mean before Obamacare there was no such a thing as Medicaid?]

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So, let’s get this straight.   Five million people losing their health care is just a small amount, just a sliver in the face of 300 million Americans, but five million getting health care through the ACA exchanges is “millions of people” and that will be deemed a great success.

Here is another way of saying how the administration looks at the American people: anyone who lost their health insurance is not worth talking about because they are just a tiny amount; but when those exact same people then must go to the exchange to buy Obamacare, they all of a sudden become those Americans the president is “fighting for.”  

So, what’s in a million?  To president Obama and the Democrats it depends on which million you’re talking about.