Prominent Democrats have been lining up to rue the day when they went all in on the Affordable Care Act. First, Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer said it was bad politics from the get-go. No votes in it. Then, Senator Harry Reid, who will be losing the title “majority leader” and the various emoluments that go with it in a couple of weeks, lamented the roll-out. If the bureaucrats had handled that one right, then the Democrats might have held on to their majority.
Now, the leader of those bureaucrats and, thus, the person responsible (notionally) for the roll-out, Kathleen Sebelius, says that its a branding problem. The name by which most people know the bill – “Obamacare” – has become toxic.
“Obamacare, no question, has a very bad brand that has been driven intentionally by a lot of misinformation and a lot of paid advertising, and I think we may need to call it something in the future different, but it’s working,” she said at an event hosted by Politico.
So what should it be called. Maybe Dr. Gruber has some suggestions.
