We were never going to default, as I said over and over during the shutdown. Whereas there are 5mil+ people who have lost their insurance plans and plenty of middle class people who can't afford anything on the exchange. So yes, I could definitely see why this has done so much damage.
I realize most people aren't fucked by the ACA, my point is that from a money perspective more people were hurt more by the ACA than the shutdown.
That we even got so close to defaulting -- political prose or not -- is cause enough for serious concern. You don't play games like that with the global economy (though for some politicians in DC, it was war, which is even more unsettling). It's like going to the G-20 and waving an automatic rifle around promising war even though you end up doing nothing; it harms your reputation and makes you look like a complete loon who simply cannot be taken seriously. Every time we do this we damage our standing in the world just a little more. It gives even more credence to, for example, global economists and other superpowers throwing up their hands and realizing that yes, it is time to stop making the USD a reserve currency. You can't possibly tell me that there's no risk to this type of behavior the GOP is
solely responsible for, that it isn't damaging to the American public like some ACA rollout woes have been (and frankly the ACA 'damage' to the American health insurance policyholder is really overblown, UNLIKE unprecedented perverse obstructionism by the GOP which is a lasting, real threat to our nation).
The ACA, despite its issues and Obama's inability to ensure a smooth rollout after three hard-fought years (an embarrassment to say the least) still ties into a just and noble cause: ensuring as many Americans as possible have access to health care, and are granted protections against the worst practices witnessed in the insurance industry.
What does the shutdown speak to? Unadulterated greed, hatred, ideology. It did nothing for the economy. It did nothing for political discourse. It did nothing to help any single American or improve their quality of life,
yet it cost us at least $24 billion and, again, only further hinders our reputation and credibility. It never had a goal other than being as obstructionist as possible, US economy and government be damned.
As for PPACA, every major social program rolled out in the US has had problems. That doesn't make it an inherently
bad thing particularly when you take a step back and look at what it was designed to do.
I'm tired of people blaming Obama's leadership qualities or lack thereof. Maybe he's not as good of a leader as we would have hoped, but there comes a point where you, as a member of the House, as a Senator, as a Governor, as a fucking lobbyist, have to be a rational human being and not resort to such barbaric tactics just because you don't like the guy in the White House. What we've seen this year by some of these people is beyond the pale, and there is absolutely no justification whatsoever for it. NONE. The only way Obama can be a "good leader" to an alarming amount of people is if he completely rolls over and gives into GOP demands.
